Smith-Corona Sterling - burgundy "flat top" beauty

February 18, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I have this machine since long.
For many months she was my favourite machine. She had some problems, as all these oldtimers do, but I could fix them easily.

The first and biggest issue was dirt. No surprise. To make matters worse someone sprayed the mechanism with WD40 or similar product which, together with dust, stalled the mechanism for good.
Nothing moved.

It took me several baths in “typewriter soup” to remove all the gunk.
On Smith-Coronas the job of a serviceman is easier than on most other brands: escapement mechanism is readily accessible and easy to clean or adjust. No need to disassemble the whole machine like on Olivettis.

Once cleaned all started to work nice and smooth again.

The usual burden of cleaning keytops was well worth it - it feels and looks much nicer when all nicotine and dirt is wiped off.

It adds spice that the key legends are yellow letters on black background!

There were two other issues to address: tab mechanism was sluggish and tend to stall. And the usual one: rubber feet were long gone. While having the machine on my bench I addressed them both in the same go.

Tabulator problem happened to be very easy to fix: the actuator rod jumped out of it’s guiding tongue, resulting in partial carriage release action. Arrow below shows where it should be. On my machine it was above the metal tongue.

Feet are of little special construction so finding exact replacement is hard. My machine had them hard as plastic and top parts broke when I tried to slide them out of their mounts.

I wanted to use this machine without it sliding around the table so I made my own version from available components.

Mounted on the machine they work like a charm.

Not only the typewriter stays in place upon fast carriage return or tabulating but the modern rubber-like components dump vibrations much more effectively compared to single-piece rubber blocks. At least in my experience.

Smith-Coronas are famous for their typing action. This machine is no exception - it is snappy and light, very responsive and extremely pleasant to use.

Importantly for me she is also a joy to look at.
No wonder they are very popular among typospherians.

I like how the profile is almost symmetrical.

This machine had certainly eventful life.
Marks and scratches constitute what I call “honest patina” and add charm and character to the thing.

Its burgundy colour is darker than rendered on photographs, I tend to think of it more as cherry. In poorer light she looks almost black but today the sun was bright so I took her for a photo session.

.Always a joy to look “under the hood”:

Body panels, after waxing, got back their brilliancy and the colours are more vibrant.

Machine which killed them all

December 19, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This is the youngest specimen in my arsenal. Normally I keep myself in 20-50’ time period, when typewriters had the aesthetics matching my taste but I wanted to try a Japanese machine, to see what it was that made them so successful.

It was Charles who planted the seed of interest. Among many to chose I picked this Brother Deluxe model for a set of features which are unique.

First of all - it is still mostly metal-body machine. Plastic inserts, with faux-wood texture serve only as decoration. Questionable in my eyes but hey! It were the eighties!

Once I looked inside I quickly understood what Charles meant by saying that Japanese have simplified and lowered production costs as much as possible - but still keeping build quality at reasonably high level.

All parts which could be pressed from steel plate are done this way. Instead of cast iron (heavy) or aluminum (expensive) almost everything is pressed profile, resulting in stiff yet lightweight frame.

The result is a handsome machine which clicks all the points for most people. At the fraction of the price of European or American machines.

Advent of cheap yet reliable Japanese machines has caused other manufacturers trying to compete by saving on features which once were their key-mark: design, quality materials, smoothness of action. Some manufacturers quickly went down, most other did not manage to compete.

And then came electronic machines and later computers. While many electronic word processors are still operational today the mechanical machines are much more attractive to modern user or collector. Not only their “clic-clac” charm but simplicity and serviceability are the key points.

What I especially like in this machine is the way the front cover can be removed for routine cleaning. Two clicks and the whole top is removed. No tools necessary, the mechanism exposed for blowing or brushing.

Another cool function is a Repeat Spacer. No other machine had that, as far as I know.
Very ingenious mechanism.

Selling point for most potential buyers is that this small machine has all the functions one would expect in bigger, semiportables:

TAB function. Although you cannot define tabs, they are evenly spaced along the line to satisfy most users and the mechanism is kept simple and reliable
very nice, even, modern sans-serif typeface. My machine has Elite size font
Repeat Spacer - who does not love it!
Dual-colour and stencil selector
Lightweight!
Easy to clean
Margin release acts also as de-jammer

Pimping up my favourite ultra-portable Antares Parva

November 13, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This is my favourite ultra-portable machine. It beats Hermes Rocket/Baby in typing action and even Groma Kolibri - especially in weight class. Not as sexy as Kolibri but there was a potential to make it look better.

Hot-epoxy moulded cover was originally painted dull grey. Same with machine’s bottom. Handle was made in flexible plastic - which on my machine has developed cracks due to age.

I removed the dull paint, made leather handle and put cork under the machine, to make it look more like Italian machine (which she is) than Kriegsmarine piece of gear.

Here is the result. More details can be seen here.

Not only is she a great typer - functional design features make her stand out from the crowd.

The cover is made in a way that the machine can be nested in it, for very comfortable lap-typing.

A bit like in Rooy typewriter - but not compulsory as on Rooy - sitting in the cover the machine rises a bit, just enough for comfortable typing while it sits on one’s lap.

With “rabbit-ears” (paper support) in erected position she is a cute, little machine but very capable and pleasant to use indeed.

Pimping up Antares Parva

November 13, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

My typewriter collection has reached the boundary of how many machines I can squeeze into my tiny house.

It was high time to engage a hand brake - especially that I already have most of my desired machines. I still have many machines in state “as found”, waiting for my attention so I focus now on “curating” my collection, not expanding it.

My all time favourite ultra-portable typewriter is Antares Parva. Back then, when I got her, I was considering doing something with utterly boring bakelite cover. The time has come.

Paint was already flaking and judging from how oily the underlying surface is I think the cover is moulded in hot-epoxy process although it could also be bakelite. Small parts with already ablated paint reveal amber-coloured material with cork-like features embedded.

I decided to remove all the paint.

Tedious around small features like handle or latching holes the work went otherwise smoothly and quickly. Paint was not sitting very hard on this oily material.

Inside surfaces were holding paint much better but they also needed to be cleaned - this grey is utterly sad!

A few evenings later I arrived to this stage: the cover is clean and looks very good. Time to take care of the handle.

I cut out the original, grey plastic handle, to substitute it with a piece of honey-tanned leather.

Cut to size and temporarily mounted to check if all fits.

Leather is attached to steel core with tape, to hold it in place before sewing. Sanding and rounding the edges, for more pleasant grip.

I don’t have proper leather-maker’s tools so I use my woodworking arsenal: scribing sewing line with wood scriber.

After punching holes I use red thread to sew both parts together. Red stands out a bit, like in a sports car I imagine. This Italian machine is well worth it!

I’m very pleased with the result.

I move on to the last bit: machines bottom plate. It is aluminium painted in same, boring grey colour. I want to match the cover. Initially I thought about wood veneers but this is ultraportable machine so I need to keep things lightweight. Cork shall do the job well here.

Removed bottom plate with double-tape.

Mounted on the bottom plate, trimmed edges.

I redesign rubber feet to match the new cover better.

The cork I used has 4mm thickness. I put a chamfer on all edges to soften the look and feel and mount it on the machine.

And there we go!

With so small changes I got much more sexy-looking package.

Golden-leafed Corona 4

November 06, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I caught a cold so I stay inside my cosy and warm workshop. To keep spirits high I restored this magnificent Corona 4 machine.

Short outdoor session below. More pictures can be seen here.

Renovation and pictures of “guts & dirt” can be checked here.

Corona 4 "Goldie"

November 06, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This is my second Corona 4 typewriter but this one had certainly much harsher life.

When it came to me nothing was working. Carriage was seised, slugs could not reach the platen, draw band broken and wrinkled around intestines. Quite obviously the mechanism was clogged, the usual suspect is WD40 or similar.

I removed the platen & whereabouts and soaked the mechanism in paint thinner. After a while, a careful attempt to release the carriage was successful. I left the machine to dry a bit before moving further.

Before moving further I needed new feet. This machine is so low that without feet the mechanism collides with table.

Original rubber feet were mostly gone. I managed to remove one of them in almost intact state and use it to make my copies. I use synthetic rubber, sold in Biltema as “genomföringar” on electrical department. Three components form one foot, no glue needed - friction fit is holding them tight.

After removing whatever I could from the main frame I moved outside to clean the machine.

Since the mechanism was so clogged I had to rinse it several times. For the first few baths - and for the segment - I used just pure paint thinner. It happened to be International No1 which smells like hell.

Last rinsing was with low-aromatic white spirit with added some engine oil, my usual “typewriter soup”. That gets rid of ugly smell of previous baths.

Between each bath the mechanism was thoroughly blown through with compressed air.

Clean and almost dry the machine is moved back to my workshop.

I removed spring engine and inspected the spring. Removed rests of the old draw band and installed new. One does not need to be very exact with the length: as long as it is long enough to be at least partly wound on the drum when the carriage is in rightmost position. I tend to make them a bit longer so I have a few wounds left.

I wound the spring and attached the new band.
The machine came to life!

I started troubleshooting all remaining issues. Most obvious were paper feed rollers. Big, back rollers were in OK shape, only a few flat spots on one of them. The front roller was far gone and needed replacement.

I sanded back rollers on “poor man’s lathe” (drill machine & sandpaper) to remove irregularities. Front roller got cleaned from old rubber. While at the dirty job I sanded oxidised rubber from the platen, too.

Platen is hard as plastic but not cracked anywhere. I will keep it like that until I find a reliable place in Europe to do proper re-coating. Front roller will be covered with grippy and soft silicone tubing.

Installed on paper bail, mounted already on the carriage. Looks good!

I carried on troubleshooting.

Right hand side carriage release lever was not releasing the escapement properly. I found the problem to be bent stop tab. I formed it back to proper shape and life became good again.

Next problem was line advance ratchet. Single spacing worked fine but double spacing did not engage enough of the toothed wheel. I found the problem to be bent (again?) the bottom guiding surface for the ratchet arm.

I formed it so that the bottom tab was gliding effortlessly above it thus gaining enough reach to grab one more tooth on the wheel. Problem solved.

After dry fitting the platten I noticed that something is colliding with its surface. Tell-tale mark pointed towards right-hand support for the front paper roller. Yep - this guy was bent, too!

I formed it back to shape, hopefully fixing also the problem with uneven paper pressure.

Before putting the platen back I wanted to fix the clutch. It also was blocked by dirt or years of not being used so that it was all the time engaged. The mechanism is inside the platen’s core. I closed one end of the platen and filled the core with “typewriter soup”, in hope that it will unfreeze the clutch.

I left it for half an hour and poured out the “soup”. Yes, it did unlock the clutch but I also noticed that internal leaf spring is loose. Probably broken. I was not sure how to remove the ratchet wheel without destroying the wooden core so I left it for now. With this mechanism non functioning the platen has no “free wheel” function. I can live with that until I found a way to disassembly this part.

Part of this mechanism - movable left-hand knob’s conical axis - was frozen in the knob. Penetrating oil and hard fist slap has freed this part.

I cleaned it from dried oil, oiled and the platen was ready for re-installation.

Then came my least favourite job: cleaning the key faces. This machine has thin celluloid “glass” on top of paper cards. I usually clean them in situ as soft, brass tabs holding rings are fragile and I don’t have the ring tool to safely press them out. I wish they did it as Blickensderfer did - with spring rings.

My current way of working is to wipe them with non-diluted Ajax to soften the gunk. One has to be careful to not flood them - if the liquid goes below the “glass” the paper card will absorb it and become distorted. After doing 3-4 keys in a row I wipe them dry and work out the dirt from below the ring with wooden tooth-pick.

As a last step I wipe all keys with isopropanol.

After assembling the machine I tried all keys. Some were binding but it was not the dirt left in the segment. They were bent! Upon entering the guide they were binding on one or the other side of it.

It is hard to see but easy to feel which side is binding - just drive the type slug by hand towards the platen. It should enter the guide hardly touching it. Tolerances here are crucial for even print and seamless operation.

I patiently re-formed types which were binding. It is a tedious, delicate and repetitive process. Often one finds that the slug is no longer binding but the imprint is too low or too high or the slug will not sit back in its resting position due to collision with its neighbours. Sometimes neighbours also need to be corrected resulting in new binds.

After long time I managed to get all of them aligned to my satisfaction. Upon very close inspection some letters still do not print perfectly but I left it “as is” and decided to check if it is visible in print.

Final step was to install fresh ribbon. I got lucky with this machine that both original spools are in place and capping hats are not missing either! Spools use spring clams as ribbon holding mechanism - unlike most other machines where spools have hooks which puncture through the ribbon. Clamp mechanism is more difficult to put the ribbon on but otherwise very pleasant and straightforward. Same structure is used on Oliver machines.

Feeding the ribbon into vibrator is straight forward. Once done I rolled in a piece of paper, noticing that rollers do their job with authority and the page emerges straight and firm.
I sat comfortably and began to type.

Typing feeling is snappy and responsive. All worked fine even with quick typing. I used double paper to improve print on this otherwise very hard platen. The result is fine, typeface has its charm of old style font, almost serif style - a few letters have serif features.

Lastly I waxed the frame and panels with Fulgentine. Black became even darker and shine, many scratches disappeared and glossy finish came back.

Some “honest patina” is, of course, visible and I see it as an advantage. This machine is very old and well used! In current state it can still be used for many years to come.

Pleased with the result I took the machine for photo session.

Charming, little typer. In many eyes one of the sexiest machines. I concur. Same type of charm as Underwood 5 although totally different beast.

For comparison I took my other Corona 4 and studied both machines side by side.

Sitting side by side, with their antennas erected (no WiFi thou!) they are exactly the same. Only small differences like paper fingers or how linkage is drawn on the underside.

Corona 3 - foldable typewriter

November 01, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I finished restoration of this charming, foldable machine. She came to me in decent shape - for a machine circa 100 years old and not used for decades.

Restoration process can be seen here.

Below some pictures of the result.

Slightly compressed but still grippy, original Corona rubber feet.

In folded position - super compact.

Corona 3 - 100 years old foldable typewriter.

November 01, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This machine came to me from a lady who’s husband was using it for countless years. After he passed away the machine was not used much, gathering dust. Luckily the machine avoided hands of unskilled amateur who would spray her with WD40 so when I got her she was still typing although segment was cluged with dust and the mechanism was working with delay due to dried oil.

Apart from dirt there were only a couple of problems: platen was (of course) very hard and developed cracks. There were no ribbon spools. Draw band was reaching its end of life.

I started disassembling. Carriage assembly is removed very easy by just unscrewing 2 screws from folding brackets. Platen removal was standard - with set screws on the knob and platen. Body of the machine is its frame so there was not much more to remove to get better access to the mechanism.

Closer inspection of the platen revealed cracked rubber in many paces. Wooden core is visible due to shrunk rubber.

I want to use this machine so platen re-coating is a must. I used my standard technique: the rubber got sanded on lathe, to compensate for new rubber. Once done and cleaned it gets bicycle inner tube unrolled inside-out. Sanding to make it even and grippy and done!

Paper roller developed minor flatness so I sanded it to regain cylindrical shape. Rubber is still grippy and elastic so no need to replace it.

I cleaned the carriage assembly and noticed how bad the draw string is. Better change it already now before it snaps.

Out of curiosity I opened the spring motor to see in what shape the main spring is. No problems here - fresh as new. Very conveniently the whole escapement mechanism is right there, easy to access for cleaning and adjustments.

Main body cleaning followed. Flushed the segment and type faces with mineral spirit + oil, cleaned all key faces and rings, aligned skewed key legends.

Interesting to see marks left after typebar adjustements - old technique of punching the metal to locally deform it and thus slightly bend the whole shape.

Clean and oiled: carriage rollers, ribbon driving mechanism, hinges - in total 2 drops of oil on the whole mechanism. I assembled all parts and tried the action. Working fine now, no hiccups.

Body panels and frame got waxed with Fulgentine - avoiding decal areas, to keep them gold. Fulgentine, if applied on gold decals, turns them silver.

The machine came without spools which is quite unfortunate because this model uses proprietary spools, universal spools are too wide and will not work with ribbon transport mechanism.

I found Facit/Addo old spools, made of steel, which match the needed diameter.

Old ribbon is still very inky - almost too wet. I rewinded it to use later and moved onto modifying the spools. External clamping features are not needed on this machine and the central hole is too small to fit Corona 3 spool pins. These spools are riveted with the central pipe. Removing it - to gain needed 5mm internal diameter hole - is causing spools to fall apart.

I use transparent UV-hardened epoxy to mount needed parts together.

Strangely enough, this American machine is using metric threads on spool pins. Moreover - both of them are right-handed. I could use standard M5 nuts here but I got fancy and made my own, from brass. Some personal touch, I suppose.

Test typing in two colours. All good. This machine has no ribbon reverse. I thought that it would use the same mechanism as Erika 3 foldable that is: spool pins rotate in opposite directions, loosing one nut and tightening the other is doing ribbon reverse. But not on this machine: both spools turn in the same direction so in order to reverse a ribbon one needs to switch spools. Still the supply spool should have its nut loose, otherwise the ribbon gets slack. Only receiving spool should have tightened nut, to draw the ribbon and keep it tight.

I have not yet checked serial number on Typewriter Database but it seems that my machine is very early model. Later models had Erika-type ribbon reverse.

Some more pictures of this beauty.

In folded stage it becomes surprisingly compact and lightweight package.

Almost as small as Blick 5!

I’ll need to make a carrying case for her but for now I just enjoy using her! Not as smooth as later designs, not as easy to type as Erika or Remington but this machine has its charm.

Blickensderfer No.8. German Blick.

September 08, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

So far this is my first Blick.

I am fascinated by this design so I got this machine from Germany. Upon arrival it was totally non-functioning, mostly due to dirt and dried oil covering the internals.

By carefully exercising the mechanism, in conjunction to figuring out what all these levers should do, I got the machine to move. Reluctantly and with reservations it came back to life.

Thanks to (limited) YouTube clips and Typosphere I figured how to remove the carriage - very easily indeed, almost like on Olivers but to the right. My biggest surprise was that there is no drawband nor spring-motor in this machine. Instead Blick is using push-pull escapement. So no broken pull string nor broken engine spring - so common on Olivers.

After blowing some of the dust bunnies I reached under the machine to start taking it into parts.

Some missing springs, a few was found inside the carrying case laying loose below the machine.

Dirty but luckily with no surface rust. I remove them one by one.

Removing the type wheel was scary as it is hollow and entirely made of hard, vulcanised rubber. Being more than 100 years old it was sitting hard on its axle. With some isopropanol I got it loose eventually and managed to remove it without the damage.

There are two types of springs under the key levers. Those with short loop at the end are hooked onto the universal bar. Only handful of them, the rest - with straight end - are for each key lever.

I continue with removing the main push-bar. It is enough to remove one screw to tilt the side arm, the whole subassembly can be then slid out of the frame.

Now I gain access to the remaining springs.

By loosening three screws one can remove the plate holding key levers in place.

Here is the picture of the keyboard just before I start removing each key. Now I know that, apart from this I should have numbered the keys in the order I removed them. It would simplify re-assembly procedure as this single photo does not clearly say in which order they sit in their guiding combs - many levers are bent so as they pass over their neighbours but top-side view has this often obstructed.

Removing key-levers is easy: unhooking them from their respective, short bars and lifting out of the mechanism. A few dead spiders were found in the process.

To me one of the crucial parts of any typewriter: a bell. Here the bell sits on its own arm. I remove the subassembly for cleaning.

Left margin rail follows.

Almost there. I gained good enough access to internals for cleaning.

Should I stop here?

This front comb is chrome plated. I want to polish it properly. I move on with further dissection.

Back of the machine, under the carriage. Escapement is now fully accessible.

While figuring out how to proceed further I remove key tops for proper cleaning. Key legends are made of thick cardboard, sitting tightly in key cups, with convenient side-slots for lifting cardboard rings. Springy key rings are safe to remove, unlike more common design with soft, folded tabs which can easily brake.

Back to the front comb: I remove Figure and Shift lever.

Cast-iron keyboard frame comes next…

… but the locking lever - spring-loaded - must come out first.

The machine looks now like it’s older brother Blick No.5, skeleton-typewriter.

Before the comb can be removed I need to unscrew Shift bottom screws. They determine how high the print roller moves so I measure their height before moving locking nuts.

Finally both combs can be removed.

A bit of wiggling and flexing was needed to get this guy out.

There I reached the mental stop: to remove last key levers I would need to unscrew them but that would require disassembling the heart of the Blick - and I was wisely advised not to do it, only if absolutely necessary.

Until I get another Blick - to have a reference in case I mess up synchronisation of the mechanism - I keep my hands away from Blicks’ heart. These remaining three keys will be cleaned in situ.

Bare bone machine (almost) ready for next step.

Key-base turned out to be brass - I clean them from dirt. Oxidation - by some referred as patina - will be back very soon so I don’t sweat over it.

Brushing with my mixture of white spirit & some engine oil.

Rubber feet are in acceptable shape after external layer of oxidised rubber is removed.

They are, however, not grippy enough and moreover they are too small to keep the machine from moving inside wooden case cavities. I decided to make new feet from fresh rubber compound, wider in diameter to mach the case.

There! Cleaned frame and remaining part of the mechanism which I didn’t dare to remove. I put back keyboard frame and space bar.

Moved to most tedious part: cleaning and polishing each key and keylever. That took me a while.

Key-top rings were originally coated black but on many keys the paint deteriorated and steel got rusty. To repaint them I needed first to clean the old, damaged coat and remove rust. After seeing the effect of cleaning I decided to leave them with white, bare metal tops for now. The machine will get some brighter accent with shiny keys. Jeweller-maker’s clamp helped a lot with holding these small rings when polishing.

Then came the time for springs - thin and tiny. I cleaned each one with soft abrasive pad.

After putting back all the keys I finally install their respective springs. Shiny and clean they please the eye, even though they live on the bottom of the Blick, not visible normally.

It turned out that only one spring is missing. I make a copy from thin-gauge piano wire.

The rest of removed parts got cleaned and polished, frame waxed with Fulgentine. Nice and shiny! I oil all parts which move under load leaving everything else oil-free.

Time for a carriage!

Unlike minimalistic Blickensderfer 5 this Blick 8 is a luxury machine - it even has carriage return lever integrated with line advance mechanism! I remove it as first, noting weak spring for keeping it in upright position.

Springy rod which decouples escapement and enables shifting the carriage is removed next. It holds in place small paper table which now can be removed, too.

To unscrew the line spacing wheel - almost like a knurled screw - I had to soak it for a few hours in penetrating oil. Meanwhile I continued dissection of the surrounding mechanism.

Unhooking springs is risky here as their ends are bent around their fittings. I decided to keep them hooked to avoid the risk of braking them.

Line advance wheel finally gave in!

Diving deeper into this side of the carriage.

Carriage release lever sits on a small collar washer. Good to not loose it in the process.

Blick is a fascinating machine also with regard how many adjustements are available to the user. Not only line spacing can be adjusted to whatever distance - unlike on other machines where only “clicked”, predefine spacing is available - here one can decide how early the ring will rang (black screw) before end-of-the-line blockade engages (spring-loaded tongue above) and stops the carriage from moving!

Front ruller is spring loaded on both sides, keeping the page pressed towards the platen. Off goes even this!

And so I ended up with bare, cast-iron frame, all accessible for cleaning.

Lastly I unscrew both holding brackets for polishing.

I always have doubts at this stage if I will manage to put all these parts back together…

After cleaning and chrome polishing, ready for assembly. The platen is in good shape, I only sanded it to remove oxidised layer of rubber. It is still rubbery after all these years!

Putting it all back was surprisingly easy. The last part is the type wheel. I clean it in isopropanol.

Quite a bit of old ink went off.

I fabricate a new ink roller by punching it from natural felt. I want to experiment with different types of ink, keeping the original roller reserved for black ink.

Oak-case got repaired, lightly sanded and varnished.

I used traditional varnish (Epifanes) as it was certainly what was used originally. The case is curing in the evening sun.

That concluded the restoration.

Ready for typing!

Bell-lever spring (for Ricardo)

On my machine the bell-lever is actuated by torsion-spring which is installed on lever´s pivot axle:

Spring´s one arm is extending through screw-head and is barely visible where the arrow points below:

Now when I look closely I see that there are two opposite holes which could indeed accommodate a small, “flatish” spring which could do the same:

I imagine on Bruno´s machine it is like that but the spring is too tall and is in a way of moving carriage.

German Blick

September 07, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This little fellow came to me from Germany. It is Blickensderfer No.8, with German-optimised keyboard layout.

We are now in the very beginning of XX century, around 1909. Strange as it may seem QWERTY keyboard was only recently de-facto standard. Most, if not all, typewriters had this layout already adapted. Only one manufacturer kept his ingenious idea of making it better, more optimised for particular language: George Canfield Blickensderfer.

Most people do not realise that QWERTY layout comes originally from limitations in machine design. If one places most commonly used letters close to each other there is a high risk that a fast typist will strike two letters quickly enough to tangle the hammers and jam the mechanism.

Remedy for that was to cleverly spread these letters among others so that jamming is less likely to happen. With typewriters development the mechanism became more and more clever as to avoid it to happen and in the end it was no longer a problem but QWERTY layout stayed.

Blickensderfer machines, unlike other standard, front-strike machines, had no problems with tangling hammers upon striking two adjacent letters at the same time.

There are no hammers!

Blickensderfer designed a machine which uses a drum with 3 rows of letters on its circumference. Each key stroke rotates the drum of appropriate angle and strikes the paper, printing the letter chosen. Not only the machine could be built smaller and simpler but one was also free to design a keyboard layout which is optimised to certain language.

So came DHIATENSOR keyboard for which Blicks are so famous.
Blickensderfer studied the structure of English language and determined that most commonly used letters in written English are DHIATENSOR. He placed them on the bottom row so that the typist did not have to move hands further for ca 85% of the time. The second row contains letters used for 13% of the time and the last row contains the remaining 2%.

Clever as it was it was already too late.

Its main competitors, mainly Remington, have already flood the market with their QWERTY machines. The public was reluctant to adapt something new but Blickensderfer persisted.

In the end, not to lose the market, even he was forced to adapt so he started offering his machines with “Universal” (QWERTY) keyboard in place of “Scientific” (DHIATENSOR) layout. However - customers were asked to sign a statement that they indeed want a Blick with inferior keyboard layout!

My Blick has German-optimised keyboard. Same principle but adapted to another language.

Another interesting design feature is that the machine does not use inked ribbon. Instead the drum, on its way to strike the paper, is directly inked by felt roller, soaked with ink, rolling on the face of the letter just before it is printed.

For “mechanically inclined” crank-heads like me the Blickensderfer is an extremely interesting mechanism. One can clearly see that the man behind the design was a genius. It is elegant, simple in its nature but damn sophisticated in details. As it was nicely by Lucas Dul here: it is a “violent hellscape of mechanical hatred”.

I am still working on print quality - so far the result is quite OK but it can be much better. I use stamp ink mixed with 85% glycerine (to keep it from drying too fast) in 50-50 ratio. Probably better ink and new roller will do the trick but for now it looks as on the picture.

When I got this machine it was not working. Layers of dirt and dried oil clogged the mechanism. As it was totally new mechanism for me I proceeded very carefully and eventually I got it to move. Apart from dirt, broken carrying case, missing some springs, lacking the case key and wrong feet on the machine all seemed to be in place. My journey through the mechanism is described here.

Below are some more pictures of the machine and carrying case after the renovation.

I plugged all unnecessary holes drilled in this nice oak case and re-varnished it. Teak plugs match nicely with old red oak and are hardly visible.

Original label was in good shape, new coat of varnish will protect it for years to come.

Barbarians who found this machine, locked in its case without the key, did not bother opening it properly but they broke the lock (and part of the case) to reach the machine. I needed to play locksmith a bit to fix the lock and make a new key.

A bit crudely carved in mild steel but the key works fine and the case is useable again.

With its new feet matching cavities in the oak base the machine sits firmly and can be additionally screwed from below for safe transport.

Dirt, grit, broken springs and almost completely disassembled Blick 8 can be seen here.