1 - Spazmelda
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- From: Ohio
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Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
I wasn't sure whether to put this in repairs or maintenance, so mods feel free to move it.
My mom came to visit and I dragged her to the antique mall yesterday. We came across several typewriters and she insisted on buying one for me. This one I had come across last time I was there, but wasn't sure about. Gave it a second look and tried out all the things I could think to try. Despite being very dirty it seems to be in pretty good shape. I want to clean it up, so I will give a little tour of its condition and ask for tips for cleaning. Oh, we got it for $75, btw. Thought I ought to add that. Not sure if we paid too much, but mom was eager to spend, so...
Here's a front view. This is already with a bit of cleaning in the basket area. I don't think this model came with spool covers. I do have the spools that fit, but the ribbon was torn and completely dry, so I just have some universal ribbon spools in there until I get the original spools cleaned and rewound.
The serial number, N189126, which I think puts it at 1926?
A close up of the slot thingies, forget the name of them: 
The decals seem to be in pretty good shape, front and back. I definitely don't want to damage these when cleaning.
It's pretty filthy. Looks like it was "well oiled" at some point:
The keys are in good condition, just dirty.
Then here are the spools that were in it. I threw the ribbon away:
I've got a few more pictures, but I think that's enough. So far I've just been attacking the type bars with some really dilute dawn on a toothbrush, then going back over with 90% isopropanol. As I'm doing this the keys are sticking more, I figure the grease and gunk is getting down in the mechanisms as I degunk, and it will just take going over and over.
The rubber is in good shape and seems to grip paper well. The right side ribbon spooling mechanism isn't working, but I can see the little doohickey that's not doing what it's supposed to. Some sort of prong that grabs the gear isn't moving. I think that will be fixable. The color selector works. The line spacing mechanism works. The margin tabs work. The bell works. Shift and shift lock work. The paint finish is in excellent shape compared to some of these I've been able to find online. Hardly any chips, only some nicks. I think with polishing it will shine up great. The chromed or nickled (?) parts have some rust spots, but that is something I will worry about later.
It's just going to be cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, for the most part. So any tips are appreciated! Thanks for reading. I feel like I've written a book!
Last edited by Spazmelda (18-3-2015 10:31:28)
- Uwe
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
Pretty simple really. I use Varsol for all internal metal parts (degreases and cleans), metal polish for plated parts, rubber rejuvinator for the platen and rollers (cleans and restores), and car wax for all the painted bits (cleans and protects). And as you already noted, stay clear of the decals. I've cleaned over a hundred machines this way with great results. For extreme cases I'd suggest dunk cleaning, but I don't think I would bother with this machine.
"slot thingies" = segment
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Spazmelda
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- From: Ohio
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
Thank you Uwe! Segment! Yes. Could not remember that for the life of me. I will try varsol.
Last edited by Spazmelda (18-3-2015 12:11:26)
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Thread Starter- Spazmelda
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
Urm... What exactly is varsol? I'm not finding much on it. Is it like mineral spirits?
Last edited by Spazmelda (18-3-2015 12:07:02)
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
What is Varsol?
I don't know where you're located, but it's available in almost every store in my area, usually in the paint department (Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc...). It's just a brand name, but it's been around forever and is extremely popular. It does a great job cleaning everything from the segment and carriage rails to the escapement.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Spazmelda
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- From: Ohio
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
I'm in the US. I went to Harbor Freight, Advanced Auto Parts, and Ace Hardware and nobody had heard of it. Everyone was very interested in what I was doing, lol. The guy at Advanced Auto Parts went as far as to call an old buddy who used to repair cash registers and put me on the phone with him. He was super nice, and he had also never heard of varsol. He recommended naphtha, which I think I had read somewhere could be used on old typewriters, so I picked some of that up. I've tried it on a small area and I will see if it seems to cause any harm. It took some petrified grease off right quick and dried right away. It's very smelly though.
Aside from that I got turtle wax polishing compound and turtle wax super hard somethingorother. I also got Mother's Mag & Aluminum for polishing the metal. The combo of the polishing compound and wax top really makes the paint gleam. I had to try it out in a small spot just so I could see what I had to look forward to. Going well so far!
Last edited by Spazmelda (18-3-2015 14:29:12)
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Thread Starter- Spazmelda
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
Uwe, or anyone else, I need to take the carriage off of this guy to get to the stuff underneath. Come to find out, by my googling, these typewriters aren't considered all that collectable, which maybe explains why I can't find much info about them.
Can anyone point me to a link that describes how to remove the carriage? I looked at the Navy Typerwriter manual, but it wasn't that helpful to me.
ETA: Nevermind. I think I figured it out. I was looking at the wrong place in the Navy manual.
Last edited by Spazmelda (19-3-2015 05:38:46)
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
Varsol is just a brand name, but since it's produced by Exxon I'm really surprised it isn't available in your area. However, there are probably countless other products that are essentially the same thing and it sounds like you found one; Varsol does have a strong smell, and it does remove solidified grease, oil, and dirt immediately, which is why it's great for cars, tools, and typewriters.
One word of caution when it comes to typewriters and cleaning products: Be careful not to get them on parts they were not intended for. For example, never get rubber rejuvinator on paint - it can destroy it. Likewise, you don't want to get car wax on the platen. Take your time and be careful. And try to have fun.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Spazmelda
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
Okay, sounds good. When my husband got home he told me that mineral spirits and naptha were chemically very similar. from what I could find out naptha tends to evaporate a little more quickly. It seems to be working fine, so I will continue with it.
Regarding not getting stuff on parts it's not intended for, I had a little bit of worry with this on the keys. I wasn't sure if the tops were glass or some sort of plastic, and I was using soft scrub on the metal and then the metal polish. Seems like neither of those products damaged the clear part so I'm not being as careful with them now.
It's cleaning up nicely. I'll post a picture or two when I get a little further. Oh, and I'm having tons of fun. It's awesome to see things cleaning up bit by bit.
Last edited by Spazmelda (19-3-2015 18:33:07)
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Thread Starter- M. Höhne
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Re: Restoring Woodstock No. 5 1926? Lotsa pics.
The thing to watch out for when cleaning keys is to fastidiously avoid getting any liquid under the glass or plastic because it will immediately discolor the paper that the letters are printed on and that will make the typewriter much less attractive and defeat your hopes in restoring it. Only touch a damp, not wet, cloth to the keytops and don't press so hard as to squeeze some liquid under the cover.
Other than that, Have Fun!
