You either love wrinkle paint or you put up with it hoping that a machine in shiny black comes your way. I happen to love the finish. It's very rugged, hides a myriad of metalwork sins, and can come in some very sober and serious colors. As great as I think this paint is, it is a magnet for dirt, grime, and crud. Dirt invariably make its way into the wrinkles and makes your typewriter look tired and grungy. However, the innate ruggedness of the paint makes it easy to clean. This is the process I use. Your mileage may vary.
To start with you need some simple supplies. A couple of soft cloths, a small Tupperware container, a household laundry detergent without dyes or perfume, an old toothbrush, a utility spray bottle, and a blue Olympia SM3 (or whatever you happen to have). As with the other How-To, I recommend you dust/wet-dust your typewriter first. It takes a minute and "Water is the best solvent."
This process assumes that your typewriter is clean on the inside. There …
To start with you need some simple supplies. A couple of soft cloths, a small Tupperware container, a household laundry detergent without dyes or perfume, an old toothbrush, a utility spray bottle, and a blue Olympia SM3 (or whatever you happen to have). As with the other How-To, I recommend you dust/wet-dust your typewriter first. It takes a minute and "Water is the best solvent."
This process assumes that your typewriter is clean on the inside. There …
It's great that you are able to start students out on typewriters and later provide them with the machine of their choice.
ReplyDeleteI know about personal preference. My Adler J4 has become mine. I like all the different ones I have, but even my Hermes 3000 machines are not as smooth as the Adler. Neither is the carriage on my Facti TP1. Perhaps I need to fully disassemble and restore the 3000s even though my first one is like new.
The Facit? I do not know if I want to tackle taking that carriage fully apart.
It does look complicated.
DeleteI got my Facit TP1 literally about 30 minutes ago, and am very very impressed -- I can't imagine a carriage smoother than this one!
ReplyDeleteThe story of Javier is wonderful. Thanks for sharing that, Ryan.
Love what you're doing, Ryan. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI know what my pick would have been---that copper Ambassador you've got! I became a fully-fledged typewriter owner when I went off to law school and needed something to type two 1500-word briefs on every week, something that wouldn't hurt my hands. I bought myself a Hermes 3000, and even though I've met many amazing machines, I remain to the core a Hermes loyalist.
ReplyDeleteI know what my pick would have been---that copper Ambassador you've got! I became a fully-fledged typewriter owner when I went off to law school and needed something to type two 1500-word briefs on every week, something that wouldn't hurt my hands. I bought myself a Hermes 3000, and even though I've met many amazing machines, I remain to the core a Hermes loyalist.
ReplyDelete