He entered a world crowded with thousands of parts stored in little drawers and dozens of manuals crowding shelves. Because of the wear and tear caused from continuous daily use, exposure to the environment such as heat, humidity, dust, paper and ribbon fiber, typewriters have always had to be attended to, or serviced by, a trained or knowledgeable person. However, it will tarnish again quickly so you need to paint it with a light coat of clear metal lacquer.
Typewriters have been in use since the early 1870s. Because of the wear and tear caused from continuous daily use, exposure to the environment such as heat, humidity, dust, paper and ribbon fiber, typewriters have always had to be attended to, or serviced by, a trained or knowledgeable person. In the early years of the typewriter, the operator was expected to keep the machine in good operating condition. Many typewriters came with cleaning kit, or at least instructions to show the operator how to keep the machine free of dust and dirt, while at the same time keeping it well oiled. As the typewriter industry grew and more dealerships began to appear, trained service men started maintaining and servicing these writing machines for the end user. I started repairing typewriters in 1966, when I worked for Yukon Office Supply in Anchorage, Alaska. The machine I first learned to repair was the Royal manual typewriter, model FP. To this day, I'm more comfortable typing on a old Royal manual typewriter than any other brand. In 1970, I acquired three old manual typewriters, from Jack Whitliff, a retired office machine dealer in Astoria, Oregon. One of the machines was a Blickensderfer 7, one was a Smith Premier 2, and the third was a Remington 7 understrike typewriter. By 1977, I had opened my own office machine business, which continues to this day and continued to collect and repair many types of old mechanical machines. For many years I only collected and repaired for myself, because I thought I was the only typewriter collector that existed. Gradually, I made contact with other collectors, and because none of them did any repairs of their own, I started servicing their machines too. Over the years I have managed to accumulate over 1800 typewriters, some of which are my private collection, some I use for reference when I need to completely dis-assemble a typewriter for restoration, and the remainder I use for parts machines. For many, many years now it has been impossible to call or write a typewriter manufacturer and order parts for typewriters older than 1960, given a very few exceptions, such as Smith Corona and IBM. During the past 30 some years, I have tried to keep every old black or unusual typewriter that came my way. A good many of my parts machines were made before the turn of the century, and way before the sinking of the Titanic. When there is no hope left, and the machine warrants the repair, I will have a machinist or casting professional make it for me. Do not let any repair scare you off from saving that old family treasure or rare flea market find, until you've called or e-mailed me and we've had an opportunity to discuss the machine's needs. I also purchase old typewriters, working or not, and would be happy to discuss any machine you may wish to sell.
