Err...I just realized that the numbering of my SG-1's was off. I actually have 4 of these machines, and forgot about the first one that bought at a typewriter meet for $70 and is now in a box in storage. The guy who owned it had doused it in orange goo-gone remover everywhere (yes everywhere) inside it, and the keys stick whenever you type on it. It could probably be salvaged eventually, but he messed it up pretty good. It's a project for a rainy day...a long long time from now...
 

So at long last I have joined the SG1 club. I haven't had much luck with these typewriters over the past year or so of trying to find a good one:

1) SG1 #1 - purchased on eBay last year - seller misrepresented the condition. It arrived in a box, poorly packed, with much of it non-functioning. It can probably be fixed, but would take a lot of work to get it in tip-top shape, and there are a lot of marks on it.
2) SG1 #2 - purchased on eBay - seller placed it in a box, threw some wadded newspaper on top. Front got dented in so spacebar no longer works. Typewriter is very dirty, with a moldy smell. Needs a lot of TLC to bring it back to life. Carriage and margin issues. A parts machine?
3) SG1 #3 - Purchased on eBay - seller packed it very well. He removed the carriage and bubblewrapped that too. Shipped in a 2' square cube box. Arrived in excellent condition. This one has a wide 15" carriage, which I actually prefer to the shorter carriage. It's massive! It had a number of issues: a) margin release would stay on permanently - required removing the carriage to get the margin settings to work again b) clear tab button would stay down c) carriage had a raspy squeaky sound and was not working right. d) paper support was broken and taped with masking tape. e) paper clear see-through card holder metal adjustement sliders were frozen due to non-use. I tried to move one and it snapped off!

So I decided to fix #3 up, using parts from #2. Here's what I did:

1) Adjusted the margin release mechanism - now working perfectly.
2) Took the typewriter apart and fixed the raspy carriage issues.
3) Kept working with the clear tab button and it now works perfectly.
4) Replaced the bottom portion of the clear paper rest with one from typewriter #2 above. Now works perfectly.
5) Fixed the broken card support slider. Took them completely apart and cleaned both of them so they work great now. Replaced the broken tab with part from typewriter #2.
6) Very light oiling on a few parts to m

So I took a road trip to Detroit this week on some personal business, and decided to check the local Craigslist and antique shops for any cool typewriters. Everything I found was either too expensive, or too messed up to bother with.

Meanwhile, I received a text from a friend back in my hometown. They were at a garage sale and had come across some typewriters and wanted to know if I was interested in any. They sent me a photo. My eyes were immediately drawn to the Voss in the upper middle, but I was also interested in the Smith Corona Classic 12, and the small blue Brother. They had "best offer" on them, and $20 on the Smith Corona...


I was expecting them to want eBay prices, but they were actually open to letting all three go for $50, which I thought was reasonable. The unfortunate story behind all of these typewriters is that they were being sold by the brother of the previous owner, who is now incapacitated. His brother is deaf, and collected many things through the years, until someone broke into his home one night, beat him up with a crowbar, and stole $140 from his wallet. A sad story, and amazing that something like that can happen in our "civilized" society.





I picked them up the next day, and spent some time cleaning and adjusting them. The Smith Corona Classic 12 is very unique. It has a typeface that is GARGANTUAN. See image below...

The Smith Corona still needs some work to get it in tip-top shape, but the Voss was another story.

I decided to dismantle the Voss to get it working again. Many of the typewriter arms were bent, and not working properly. I spent quite some time adjusting, and finally got everything working. These are pretty impressively engineered machines. The sides pull off like a clamshell so you can work on it. I found it m

PS: bottom removed to show innards...