My naked typewriter - Hermes Baby with script typeface

February 27, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I avoid these machines.
I mean - typewriters with plastic body shell.

There is nothing wrong with them - don’t get me wrong. For most parts they are very good machines, even exceptional, like Tippa I once had. It is just that I don’t like how plastic ages, how brittle it becomes over time. It does not really develop patina, contrary to metal-bodied machines.

So how I happened to grab this one little fellow?

I got inspired by Joe Van Cleave who talks about connection (or interface) between human and machine. I think he has a point in describing this as a factor why typewriters are still with us and why they gain more and more popularity. Renaissance of a kind in our modern, digital era.

One of his short episodes can be found here.

I stumbled on Hermes Baby machine with plastic body shell. A newer incarnation of my favorite, old, all metal machines. Most importantly - it has a script typeface!

I cleaned and repaired it and decided to keep it out of the shell, naked.
Then I recalled Joe’s thoughts about typewriters as bio-mechanical extensions of our brains. He made a valid point - I agree with him. My small Hermes Baby is now even more in this tune.

Well, apart from that - it is a script typeface machine!

This overshadows whatever material the body is made of. I very much like this typeface and so far I only have one other machine with such font - happens to also have plastic body.

Besides - I had a plan!

The machine arrived in “typing condition”, with just three problems: very dirty (but no WD40!), rubber feet busted and right-hand platen knob was gone. Nothing serious really.

It took me a good half an hour to remove the mechanism from the shell. Unlike older Hermes Baby/Rocket with metal panels this reincarnation is sitting inside one-part shell. To remove the machine one needs to carefully slide it out, flexing the shell cautiously to pass by parts of the mechanism. Eventually, without breaking anything, I managed.

The shell consists of two parts: main body and carriage back cover. Plastic cover in style of Olympia Splendid closes the machine for transport.
Pistachio color holds nice, no discolorations or cracks.

I have an older Hermes Baby with standard typeface.
My diabolic plan was to swap bodies, thus getting metal-bodied machine with script typeface.

Guess what? It ain’t gonna work.

Even though both are Hermes Baby these are quite different machines.
Both share the same carriage-shift (or rather carriage-tilt) construction but many details differ. No wonder - the plastic-bodied machine, being newer, was made in Germany. Older Hermes is Swiss-made. Newer machine has color-selector which older one lacks.
Alternative could be swapping type bars between machines but nope! They differ in shape and length.
Re-soldering type slugs seemed too much effort as for now. Maybe some time in the future.

All right then, I dumped the idea and instead focused on fixing the new machine. First step, as always, was to remove the platen, to gain access for cleaning and inspection of paper rollers. All good here, no flat spots, just dirt.
The only platen knob left was the left one, with line ratchet decoupling mechanism.

Mechanism is maybe little exaggerated word: it is simply friction-based, no clutch or anything like that.

The right platen knob, also plastic, was gone. Only metal insert was still attached to platen axle. I turned a new one, from aluminum. I was considering plastic - or something as cool as Tufnol - but already at this moment I started considering leaving this machine bare-bone. Aluminum knob will match nicely, weight penalty being just a few more grams.

Pressed-in the original insert and voila!

The left knob was still functional but I figured it will brake apart anyhow soon. I detached it from the metal insert and moved ahead with fabricating a replacement.

And there we have both of them. Plunger screw acts as a stop for line ratchet release.

The platen had very hard rubber. As this is a fun project I decided to experiment with covering it with latex inner-tube. This is thinner than standard rubber inner-tube and offers options with the color.

Decided to go with greenish tube.

I sacrificed perfectly good inner tube from my sport bike. Mounted on the platen and tried fitting it to the machine. Zonk! It did not fit - it was too tight. Turning back to the lathe - to shave a bit of the original, hard rubber.

Initial diameter of the platen recorded.

Mounted back the inner-tube and tried fitting. All good!

Looks very good!

But the imprint was awful! As much as I like the color I had to strip the latex tube and substitute with good-old standard bicycle inner-tube. Latex, even though very thin, was too soft for this particular type face. Instead of crisp, sharp contours I got shaded letters which looked bad.

After all these back&forth actions I finally sat down and typed on still bare-bone machine. I noticed, to my surprise, how quiet it became! It seems that the plastic shell - which lacks any sound proofing - acted as a resonant box, rectifying sounds of the mechanism. Without it the machine sounds much quieter and almost like Remington Noiseless.

Well, that was a decisive factor: the shell will stay on the shelf, I will keep this machine naked. Fabricated new feet from modern, transparent polyurethane and there we have it!

Quite pleased how it looks without its shell, in fact!

My knobs match the overall feeling of “technical” machine.

Clean and adjusted!

Most importantly it types very well! Even though the keys are equally close as on original Hermes I find these newer. shaped, white keytops easier on fingers and more pleasant to type on.

Siemag Meisterin - heavy player

February 26, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Relatively unknown brand, the manufacturer came to typewriter scene quite late. According to Will Davis this is the last brand to enter the market with hole new, “out of the blue” design.
We are talking 50-ties here.

My machine is Siemag “Meisterin“ typewriter (championess), top of the line, which was produced between 1953-1957 in Germany.

At the first sight you would say it is just a standard, office-size machine. On the second sight you will start to see some features which will make you curious. At least if you are like me.

Apart from being unusual as a brand the main thing which locked me was paper injector on the right side of the carriage. So far I had no machine with this feature and I wanted to take a look how it is done. No other person was willing to buy her so I took her!

I picked the machine myself - it was relatively close and the beast is so heavy that she would most certainly get damaged if shipped.

Upon arrival I instantly noticed why someone not interested in typewriters would not want to keep her as decoration. She is very heavy and she bears original, ugly color of green.
I like green, no problem, but this shade reminds me very much Soviet-era office machines. As Janne noticed - this is an “institutional color”.

Apart from ugly color and lots of dust on the outside the mechanism worked like a clock. Very heavy and authoritarian clock I would say - the action is light and very pleasant but you can feel that there is heavy machinery being moved upon each key stroke. Big Ben of typewriters.

This machine was built for very heavy usage. You feel it while typing - nothing shaky, nothing out of sync. Very best quality materials used in heavy duty construction to withstand the strain of 10 keystrokes per second!

I’m not even close to this speed while typing!

As a proper office machine it has digital tabulator on the top row.

Upon deeper inspection I noticed that the mechanism inside is pristine clean, no traces of dust or dreaded WD40. Thanks to “full-body armor” it was protected from dirt in the cellar of lady who kept the machine after her husband.

Rubber on the platen is in very good condition, still springy. Paper rollers in perfect condition, paper injector takes a sheet of paper without hesitation. Perfect!

But this color… Would it be in perfect shape I would leave it but there were a few spots where it started to show its age, wear& tear.

Inside the ribbon cover were rests of now totally decomposed sound dampening foam with embedded two strips of metal, supposedly preventing resonant vibrations.

And guess what - these strips of metal are lead! What else, right? As if the machine is not heavy enough already…

I had since long this idea to follow Richard Polt’s approach of stripping a machine to bare metal. I would not do it on a rare machine or otherwise nice but wearing an “honest patina” but this one was an ideal candidate. I just detest this color on that form!

So I went ahead and started mechanically scraping the paint from ribbon cover, aluminum cast.

It went like blood from the nose. I can tell that these guys who put paint on the aluminum knew how to do it properly: it sat well as hell. To avoid destroying the decal I attempted to remove it from the cover. It looked as if it was just held by two plastic pins on the back. Well, it didn’t - it was also glued so it snapped instantly when I carefully pried underneath. Too bad…

I decided that if I want to finish the job before retirement I need to get some help with proper chemistry. I bought the most expensive and ugliest smelling goo from proffs paint shop and gave it a go.

Left it overnight and evacuated myself from the workshop - the smell was unbearable.

The day after, when the goo almost dried, I started scraping the paint. It went much easier but the black primer underneath was still sitting strong.

I repeated the procedure hoping that next round of heavy chemistry will soften also the primer.

It helped, to some extend, but still a good amount of elbow grease was needed to reach bare aluminum. Next step was to properly wash parts treated with the paint stripper.

Work on the main body, steel cast, was much easier although equally messy.

Front covering panel, steel, presented another challenge: how to remove without damaging plastic markings and knob for color selector? The paint stripper would melt them.

Color-dots could not be saved: they were glued from behind and cracked when I was removing the glue. No big deal. Worth noticing that this machine has 4 modes of using the ribbon, unlike most which just have 3: black, red and stencils. This one has also middle selection which uses the middle of the ribbon so if one uses monochromatic ribbon it will last even longer!

Removed mechanism for ribbon selection to proceed with paint stripping.

Stripped and cleaned parts went into next phase: polishing with fine-grit paper and polishing sponges. My desired look is brushed-steel, Airstream-like finish.

To proceed further I needed to remove the platen, to clean underneath it and to get access for paper table. This prove to be a challenge - I’ve never worked on such machine. Some screws were so well hidden that I could not find a way to dissect this assembly at first.

Finally I got access.

Paper rest was bent.

Fixed easily by forming the stop-tab.

Paper table is held in place by several stop-rings, holding it in proper alignment so it rests just above the platen.

The carriage assembly free for cleaning and inspection!

Paper injector mechanism visible after removing the carriage side panels. Scale was bent and not visible, I will form it back upon re-assembly.

Dusting off the mechanism followed. Bottom shows heavy-duty pulling slabs for decimal tabulator.

Serial number is placed on the bottom, under space bar position. I might run it against Typewriter Database one day.

Rubber feet were busted - no wonder, bearing so heavy machine for 70 years.

As this whole project is an experiment I decided to make new feet from synthetic cork. It is really more rubber than cork so why not?

Nice thing with this material is that one can use wood-working tools to form it.

Cavities for rectangular washers chiseled at the bottom.

Original rubber feet were probably 1 cm lower but I decided to make mine a tad higher. The machine will be used on a table I made, we stand in front of it to type so little heightened machine makes typing more comfortable.
I can always cut them shorter if needed.

After polishing all metal panels, cleaning and re-assembling the machine came the last part - cleaning key tops.

Exposed bare metal might start oxidizing so I waxed the whole machine with Fulgentin.

Lastly I needed to do something with the broken Siemag-logo on the ribbon cover.

I decided to substitue it with wooden inlay, with aim to slightly warm-up otherwise very industrial look of the object.

I could have used veneers and just cut them with scissors but I wanted to add bulbous logo to match 50-ties esthetics of the machine.
Trying the shape fit in the cavity before round the edges.

And there we are - done!

Mounted monochromatic blue ribbon, to fully take advantage of triple-position ribbon selector.

Ready for service!

Triumph Perfekt - green/chocolade eye-candy

February 23, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This is my second Triumph, if not counting Triumph Tippa which found its new home with Marek.
The other machine is Triumph Monica which is a lovely typer but shell is made of plastic. Nothing wrong with that regarding functionality but I just don’t like plastic shells on typewriters, that’s just me.

This machine has metal-all shell. Aluminum, to be precise. Cast-aluminum, to be pedantically precise.
That’s my kind of babe!

It came to me with no particular problems under the hood, just standard issues: dust, dirt, hanging keys. It was typing out-of-the-box and once I saw the typeface… men, I rushed to my workbench to clean it so I can start using it!

To remove the platen one needs to unscrew both knobs, in opposite directions. No central rod like in old machines.

One-part body panel is held by 6 screws on the bottom of the machine.

Care is advised when lifting the shell from the mechanism - chrome plated trim at the bottom edge of the machine is held with tabs to the frame, it is easy to disturb it with careless removal. I saw many such machines listed for sale, with this part bent beyond repair. It can be, of course, repaired but it will be visible.

With platen removed I inspected feed rollers, expecting standard flat spots on worn rubber.
Nope! This machine is equipped with cork rollers!

They held in perfect shape for all these 70 years! No need to do anything to them, just cleaning.

This is my first machine with such rollers. I love them!
Yes, they do not grip paper with such authority as rubber rollers but they do the job. Once they engage they feed paper nice and straight.

Platen was in good shape - no cracks or dents. I sanded it a bit to remove oxidation and gave it treatment with rubber rejuvenator liquid. It doesn’t do wonders but I like to believe that it makes hardened rubber a tiny-tawny softer.

Segment flush and type slugs cleaning followed, standard routine.

Nice and clean, smelling goooood!

Escapement right in front of me - no need to mess with that now but good to have it accessible should anything happened.

Paper table was missing one spring which should hold it firmly in position. It did not matter much but I went ahead and fitted replacement while on it. It feels better to have a complete machine, ain’t it?

Key-tops cleaning as a last step. Chocolate-coloured, match beautifully sea-foam green shell!

There!
With clean machine and new ribbon I finally sat down to type a few words.

This typeface!
What a nice typeface!

It is similar to famous Oliver Fontype but - oh men - typing on this Triumph is so much easier and enjoyable than on Oliver! It became instantly my go-to machine when typing letters. Let my friends enjoy reading text typed with so balanced and harmonic typeface!

Photo-session followed. I like esthetics of 50-ties, with these rounded forms, like Buick-cars of that era.

The only complaint I can think of is that carriage return handle, being very pronounced and otherwise comfortable for its function is at the same time a bit in the way when I type.
I’m being picky here. It is just a matter of adjusting how my hands fly above the keys to make this problem disappear but at first I was hitting the handle when mid-line, typing enthusiastically.

I like these small details which adds class to the whole form. Even Swedish dealer decal is a plate, not a sticker.

And - as if nobody new - this German-made machine was IMPORTED to Sweden!
Who might have thought…

Stylish finish for color selector and tabulator settings. Black knobs to contrast with chocolate-brown keys.

And lastly a bit more of mechanical porn!

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.