Rheinmetall - serviceman friendly machine

February 21, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This is Rheinmetall portable typewriter, very similar to Richard Polt’s machine - serial no. 299178 so very close. It was made in East Germany in 1951 or 1952.

And it is not my machine!
Ha!

I found an advertisement and I went to pick the machine. So far I had not any Rheinmetall in my hands and I wanted to try one. The person selling it was very nice so we had a rather long conversation (tea & biscuits included!). And so I found that the seller did not really want to sell her but was desperate because the machine was not functioning properly and no one could be found to look into these problems.

Perfect!
Here I am!

For me such situations are really win-win! I can get my hands on the machine, look into her mechanics and solutions, play with her and possibly fix while I don’t need to keep her! Or find her new home!
That comes with all other by-effects: my wife is happy that I don’t bring YET ANOTHER MACHINE home, I don’t need to find space for it but mostly, MOSTLY: I know that once I fix the problem I am returning the machine to someone who will really use her and enjoy it.
Ain’t that a win-win?

The machine landed on my bench and I started investigations. First things first: cleaning. There was dust & dirt inside but luckily no one approached it with WD 40. Thanks for that!

Brushed off and blown out most of the dirt.
Next thing was segment flush - many keys were sticking, not returning to rest position after typing. Many were slow and stubborn in movement. Flush with thinner, followed with “typewriter soup” and air blasts solved the issue within half an hour.

I got curious on the function of these two latches on the back panel. They looked like asking for undoing…

Of course I opened them but nothing happened. I then recalled reading about this Rheinmetall solution for easy carriage assembly removal. OK, so what else do I need to unscrew to get it out? Yep, these two wide-head screws, on both sides of the carriage rails. No need to remove them, just undo a few turns - the assembly is held in place by small metal tabs underneath.

And the whole thing just glides out in no time!

Why, oh why is it not a standard on all other machines? Oliver, Adler and Blickensderfer being the only other I know to have such easy carriage removal but this Rheinmetall beats them all - entire escapement is right in front of you!
How cool is that?

That gave me access to deeper layers of the mechanical wonder, to further clean it. It also gave me direct clue why the ribbon vibrator was hanging occasionally during typing.

That’s correct - the pin should be inside of the arm below, not above. Fixed that!

I then checked if the ribbon is lifted enough for proper alignment with type slugs. Nope! It was too low now.

I corrected lift height with adjustment screw on actuator arm, close to the ribbon vibrator.

Another issue was that the draw string was too long. Upon closer inspection I found that someone repaired apparently broken string by tying an extension. Good job but the extension was too long, resulting in too low spring tension thus causing the carriage to slow down when closer right margin. Fast enough typist would then overrun the machine, piling letters at the end of the line.

I fixed that by cutting excess string and burning/melting new string end. Easy on removed carriage assembly!

I attempted cleaning key tops but did not manage to whiten out key legends: thick paint in engraved letters got cracks which took dirt in between. These machines are known for peeling key legends, resulting in empty engravings. I didn’t want to risk damaging otherwise complete legends so I just cleaned the obvious dirt and decided to call the remaining dirt a patina.

What was left was to install fresh ribbon. This machine has colour selector so I installed black-red, hardcore traditional ribbon.
Knots at the spool ends instead of rivets - they work equally well in tripping ribbon riverse mechanism.

Last but not least - waxing with Fulgentin. I took care not to wipe decals - even mild solvent like in Fulgentin will turn gold into silver-gray colour.
The enamel on this machine has many cracks. Apparently she spent some part of her life in bad conditions. Wax fills a bit these cracks and masks them, hopefully preventing further development.

Happy with the result I sat down to test type a few words.

What a joy! The machine is fast and snappy, very responsive. I would compare her to Triumph Perfekt or Torpedo. It is not as light as on Erika, rather leaning towards Olympias. Very good typer!

Before returning to her owner I took her home for photo session.

Carriage lock for transporting - on the left side of the machine.

Capitals adjustment screws are right there, on the carriage. No need to dive into intestines with strange tools.

Touch selector, I suppose, is hidden under the machine. I set it on lightest touch - my preference. The owner can easily change that.

Nice and clean, smelling good!

It was a joy to work on so nicely done and well thought through machine!

Royal Arrow. Escapement problem.

February 18, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Design classic, Henry Dreyfuss-designed Royal portable.

They were produced for only 3 years, between 1947 and 1949, after which Royal diverted from Dreyfuss design towards more “flashy” form. Nice review of it is available here, from Tyoewriters Justice.

I didn’t realise until reading this article on oz.Typewriter page that it was also Dreyfuss who designed iconic Polaroid SX-70 camera!

My machine bears classic colours: black and grey. Tombstone-shaped keys and very ergonomic placement of all necessary controls makes this very compact machine a pleasure to use. And it has Swedish key layout!

It is one of few machines in my collection which came to me with no particular problems. Well, the bell was not ringing but it doesn’t count - it was easy to fix. I just cleaned the mechanism as a routine and the machine was ready to go.

At least I thought so.

Ribbon cover opens like a car hood - no need to place it on the side when changing ribbon or cleaning type-slugs. If Woody Allen had this machine he would probably not loose the cover!

My first impression when typing was puzzled: something was wrong.

Keys were sluggish and space bar was not always reacting properly. Definitely not something one expects from such famous machine.

I inspected closely all links in search for something bent or loose. Nope. All seemed to be normal.
Escapement then!

It was my first Royal portable so I was not sure what is “normal” and what is abnormal in the escapement mechanism. Upon closer inspection I found the source of binding upon key action: escapement trip.

This machine has the escapement buried deep inside. In despair I removed the carriage assembly, thinking that I’ll gain access from above. I did but could not figure out what causes the problem. There was no screw or link which I could adjust for this particular bind.

I put the machine on workshop shelf and it stayed there for months. Today I was looking through my collection and picking candidates for new homes - I decided to scale down a bit.
This unfortunate Royal was an obvious candidate: every time I looked on it it reminded me my failed attempt to fix it. It was typing so it was not broken but… it was not fully operational.

I took it down to try typing again. Still bad. Some letters were not printing and to get proper imprint I needed to bang on keys instead of lightly snapping them as on other machines.
No, I cannot give away such machine, not in that condition.

I browsed through repair manuals in search of information. No good. I then tried Youtube and finally I stumbled upon very recent videos from Duane, Phoenix Typewriter. What a timing! Just a few weeks ago Duane posted exactly this problem when working on Royal QDL! Which is exactly Royal Arrow with some additional features.
In his second video he shows extracted escapement mechanism. Excellent aid to understand what is going on there!

It is this thin and curved tab which got, most probably, bent during shipment! This happens when the machine is not properly secured against shocks. An energetick whack on the carriage end causes escapement failures - in case of this Royal luckily nothing broke but the shock was taken by this adjustement tab which is luckily made to be formed - the steel is not hardened.

So there we have it: this ball, marked with arrow below, was sitting on top of star on the star wheel, instead of being just slightly after it, like on the photo.

To adjust it back into position I needed to form the steel tab so that it will stop the pawl (which in turns stops the star wheel) in proper position for the ball-ended pawl to just miss the star.

To do that I needed to make a tool, to reach deep into the mechanism, grab a tab and bend it back to its proper position.

And there we go! With just that the machine came back to life! As Duane says: it looks we have a survivor!

Typing action became smooth and light, very pleasant indeed! What a difference!

It is again one of the machines which are a joy to look at and to use.

Colour combination together with no-nonsense design mark the hand of the great industrial designer.

It is a segment-shift machine so the shift to capitals is very light and smooth.

My machine has the original platen in still very good condition - the rubber is grippy and not hardened. Same with feed rollers - I didn’t have to do anything to them, they still grab paper with authority.

And most of all - this machine is very compact and lightweight, even though all panels and mechanisms are steel.

I’m not sure now that I want to part with this beauty!

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.