Monday, December 26, 2011

Royal Companion


Original condition when purchased.

Left and right sides are really deteriorated.

Keys looked like the machine was immersed in mud.

Cobwebs

Nearly ready for a bath.


Typeface after the project was completed.

No more mud on the keys, but BACK SPACE got washed off.


New ribbon ready for typing.


Cobwebs no more


This is the machine on my not so tidy work bench.


Finished


The finished result is kind of nice.  The colors chosen do not clash with the original finish.  If I could find decals I would do the entire machine.  The original paint on the machine was so bad that even washing it damaged it.  It cleaned, but the result was like the old latex house paint that was too old and became chalky.  The result was letting the front and rear panels the original finish.  The aluminum housing has some flaws that the gloss paint brought out.  If the flaws were noticed before painting I would have smoothed them out with some auto body glazing.

The platen softened with treatment, but still shows typeface imprints.  This does not deform the print, but if I find a better one or decide to have this one recovered I'm sure the print quality would improve.  For now I use a backing sheet.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

7 comments:

  1. maschinengeschriebenDecember 27, 2011 at 5:40 AM

    Well done! I like the outcome in the end, although I might be distracted by the various colours. There are some interesting similiarities to my own Companion, especially the whole carriage handles look very similiar, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill MDecember 27, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    Florian,
    I thought very much the same about 3 colors on one typewriter as I much prefer only one and maybe a second for accents. If I get bored with keeping the not so nice Royal panel it may become copper to match the rest of the housing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CrystalDecember 27, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    That looks really fantastic! Your paint job was so nice! How do you take the key tops off like that? Do they snap on, or something?

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill MDecember 27, 2011 at 1:24 PM

    Crystal,
    The key tops on this machine and some of my other machines that are similar (plastic) just pull off with a bit of constant pressure and wiggling. There is a speciality pliers made to reattach them. I do not have one so I carefully press them on and I prop the key lever with a block of wood that will not let the lever move a type bar. Doing this carefully will not damage anything. I understand some typewriter makers did use a glue of some kind on the plastic tops and that is a more difficult procedure. If I get time I'll post a YouTube clip. That may be days, weeks or months away.

    ReplyDelete
  5. notagainDecember 27, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    I particularly like the dark lid contrast. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. CameronDecember 28, 2011 at 9:28 PM

    The new copper color lends itself very well to the distinctive design of the sides, especially. I agree that the whole machine might look best in that color.

    But what you've done is spectacular!

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJanuary 1, 2012 at 2:04 AM

    This was my first visit to your blog. You took such a sad machine and made it proud to sit on anyone's work bench! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to checking back in to see what you are up to!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)