I know it has a ways to go, but I can't resist some before and afters.
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| And look at that, it even had a serial number. |
Soft Scrub and cotton rags was the way to go. (Thanks again to Richard's classic typewriter restoration page.) Even as I saw it happening, I could not believe this was the same machine, or that such a lustrous lacquer finish could remain under 75 years' worth of grease, oil, tar and nicotine.The shine you see here is the result of cleaning and rubbing only. There's no wax or polish on here at all.
It took quite some doing, though. I got it to this point after a nine our marathon cleaning session, and it took the vigorous application and removal of soft-scrub an average of 30 times in each area to get to this finish. I went through an entire bag of rags from the hardware store, plus three old tee shirts.
Even with it shining like this, I could keep going and still have sticky yellow-brown gunk come off on the cloth.
I still need to have a go at the paper ledge and a bunch of the chrome parts. Also, bringing this outside on a sunny day makes it clear it really would respond well to some further efforts.
Mechanically it's improved dramatically as well. It responded well to a bit of oil on the carriage, and when I pulled off the front panel and those "shoulder" pieces, it exposed more gears and linkages for me to lubricate. Now it zips right along without a breath of hesitation. I can almost match the WPM of my Selectric on this thing.
Beautiful job, Winston! Want to take a week's vacation, come out to sunny California and help me with mine? ;-)
ReplyDeleteARMS, thank winky face implies you're joking, so I'll ignore it. What part of California do you live in, and do you have room for two people and two small dogs? I would be happy to polish in exchange for some sofa-space for a week.
DeleteI like! I like!
ReplyDeleteWonderful work on a deserving typewriter, my good man! May it repay you with many years of faithful service (:
ReplyDeleteVery, very nice! Did the soft scrub do away with the Royal decal on the front of the machine? Really, this looks like it has a brand new paint job! Excellent work, and I hope it continues to work well for you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was kind of a shame to lose the decals (it took the one off the back too) but they really weren't in good enough shape to struggle to protect them. There's still a faint shadow where it was, so I might look into getting something printed up to re-affix there.
DeleteGood work! It is a joy to see shiny, reflective paint where before there was only dullness. I'm glad my site was useful.
ReplyDeleteYou could make the serial number pop by painting over the indents with red paint and then quickly wiping it off, leaving only the contrasting serial no.
ReplyDelete-Stay Classy, Will
ccrtypewriters.blogspot.com
I think I'll try this!
DeleteI like the results you folks get but I'm more of an "as I found it" (read: lazy) guy.
ReplyDeleteI may consider your cleaning for a bedroom idea though. Interested in seeing the Puget Sound area?
I thought I was like that too, but once I got started I was too astounded to stop. It was actually a nice task to do at the coffee table in front of a movie. (Just about the only way I can enjoy movies or TV these days is if I keep my hands busy at the same time.)
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