1 - Bassoonbloke
- Platen Punisher
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- From: South East London. UK
- Registered: 15-4-2014
- Posts: 57
Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Hello People,
Well I wasn't going to, but I came across an Underwood Standard 5 at the weekend for sale. It was in pretty good condition, but was incredibly gunked up with years of oil on top of oil (it seems that the previous owner worked on the idea that if anything was getting stuck or slow it needed to have loads of oil on it !!).
Well I bought the old Girl because I liked to look of Her and my Wife was after something to buy me for a Birthday present - very handy !!
Spent a lot of time cleaning and de-glooping (of course it's a proper word) and I can now type on the beastie, but it's going to take a lot more cleaning yet to get it looking and working properly.
No serial number yet but i'll post more info a bit later.
Cheers,
Alan.
- TypewriterGuy
- Typewriter Talk Vet
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- From: United States
- Registered: 24-4-2015
- Posts: 1,250
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
I can tell you how to take it apart (Well, all the way to getting all the type bars and ribbon advance mechanism out) if you want.
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- Bassoonbloke
- Platen Punisher
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- From: South East London. UK
- Registered: 15-4-2014
- Posts: 57
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Hi TypewriterGuy,
Thanks for the offer, however I will work it out for myself thanks. I've already had the carriage off and stripped and cleaned lots of the mechanisms. The whole lot was literally so gunked up that I could barely move the carriage, but I tested that the return spring and belt were both good. All of the keys were gunked up as well and barely moved, but they now work pretty well. So at least i'm getting there.
I'm going to check the serial number tonight to see what year it was made.
Cheers,
Alan.
- •
Thread Starter- Bassoonbloke
- Platen Punisher
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- From: South East London. UK
- Registered: 15-4-2014
- Posts: 57
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Hi All,
For those interested I checked my new Underwood and it has a SN: 623517 and the back plate says Feb 1912, which is interesting as it does not appear on any serial number lists I have seen for Underwoods.
I am still cleaning and stripping as needed.
As this is quite an early Underwood it seems quite basic, without things like variable line spacing, it also seems to be lacking the card holders, (but i'm not sure if these have been lost or were never fitted.). It has the side frame decals which all add to it's appeal.
I will try to post a few pictures if anyone is interested ( I know that thousands of these machines were made, so you may have all seen enough of them !!).
Also interesting that it was made and probably sold the same year that Titanic sank !
Alan.
- •
Thread Starter- Uwe
- Moderator
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,408
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
If that's the correct serial number, then it was manufactured in 1913. You can ignore the dates listed on the back panel of Underwoods; they're typically patent dates and don't have anything to do with the actual date that the machine was manufactured.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Bassoonbloke
- Platen Punisher
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- From: South East London. UK
- Registered: 15-4-2014
- Posts: 57
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Hi Uwe,
Went home and double checked the serial number and it is correct, so 1913. I'm quite pleased as this means that it is definitely quite an early version.
I have to say that I am intrigued because I had barely even noticed that the platen on my machine does not have a rubber coating, now I assumed that for some reason this was original as it has all the markings on it as though it has been used for a long time in this condition. Is it possible that this platen was produced for a specific reason or has the rubber simply perished and fallen off?
There is not a lot of spare room between the platen and the surrounding parts.
Assuming that the rubber is definitely missing I am going to put a couple of layers of heat shrink tubing onto the platen and see how that works out.
Alan.
- •
Thread Starter- TypewriterGuy
- Typewriter Talk Vet
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- From: United States
- Registered: 24-4-2015
- Posts: 1,250
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Somebody may have tried to make it more grippy in the past too many times... 
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- Bassoonbloke
- Platen Punisher
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- From: South East London. UK
- Registered: 15-4-2014
- Posts: 57
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Hi TypewriterGuy,
Indeed that really did get rubbed down to nothing !!
It is strange though as it looks like it has been in use as it is for quite some time.
Do you have any idea what the 'Naked' platen looks like under the rubber on a 1913 Underwood 5 ?
This one seems to have a very good finish and there seems to be a wrap around wood/board covering.
It seems to type fine with the usual two sheets of paper together
Alan.
- •
Thread Starter- Uwe
- Moderator
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,408
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Bassoonbloke wrote:
so 1913. I'm quite pleased as this means that it is definitely quite an early version.
The No. 5 was introduced in 1901, so the model was in production for over a decade before yours was manufactured.
I have to say that I am intrigued because I had barely even noticed that the platen on my machine does not have a rubber coating, now I assumed that for some reason this was original as it has all the markings on it as though it has been used for a long time in this condition. Is it possible that this platen was produced for a specific reason or has the rubber simply perished and fallen off?
Is the platen made of brass? A photo would really help, but it sounds to me like it's a specialty platen. Brass platens were used for typing as many carbon copies as possible at once, which accounts for the larger gap because the clearance was needed for all of that paper and carbon sheets. If it was a case of rubber delamination you would be looking at a wood core and there would still be some signs of the original rubber surface.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- thetypewriterman
- Key Master
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- From: Leiston, England
- Registered: 29-5-2013
- Posts: 900
Re: Ooops i've gone and done it again....
Is there any possibility that the platen is made from cork ? This was offered as an alternative to rubber. Not quite as grippy, but lasts almost indefinitely. A platen core without the covering would almost certainly be a hardwood cylinder on a machine of this era. You wouldn't be able to type on the machine if the rubber was missing from the wood core.
