Hi, Noah!   Yeah, it's easy to get hooked, isn't it?  I don't know how many of us here are writers, but judging from this thread, I'm beginning to suspect more than a few. 

SoucekFan wrote:

That tool is designed for keychopping. It is definitely not an option. It is for people to break off the keys to make crappy steampunk jewelry.
 

Errrk.  Good to know, thanks.
 

Take a look and see if yours even has tabs on the key rings.  Mine doesn't, except for the shift keys, but as someone else pointed out, they were probably replaced during the working life of the machine.  The rings themselves are pretty fragile and liable to damage.

Of course, I don't have a key removal tool, and no access to one: however, I did a little experimenting last night, because my legends and surfaces need to be completely replaced.  Which is to say, held the bottom shaft of the key firm with a pair of needlenose pliers, and set a VERY small pair of channel-locks at about the right diameter for the key ring and pulled straight up as carefully as possible.  It did flatten the ring to an oval slightly as it popped off.  However, I could easily squeeze it back into shape--they are quite malleable--and it was easy to clip back on with the pliers.

If I were going to do more of them, without a proper tool, I would probably use a small block of wood underneath to support each key while bracing/pulling up.  There is someone who claims to have manufactured a different kind of removal tool here: https://squareup.com/market/scale-rtillery/item/removal-tool-for-antique-twpewriter-keys  His video is not very good, and I have no idea if his tool is worth your $10-20. However, it may be an option.

beak wrote:

  My method is crash it all out triple-spaced, and then sit with a pen and read and correct, perhaps massively.  Then retype.  That's usually all it takes for me to get the thoughts down coherently.

Double-spacing, while trying to scribble notes with a pen on a waffley paper that has no backing, so I don't actually scribble on the platen as I'm backing up two lines to change a phrase before I forget what I wanted to write....    Of course, then I really go over it later, after it's off the typewriter.
 

SoucekFan wrote:

Typewriter keytops/legends were often replaced by typewriter shops back in the day, especially on heavily used standards. Even when typewriter keys look like the factory original style, they could be replacements. The styles and materials for replacement legends and key tops vary. Often you will see the letters and numbers replaced, but some of the control keys (tabs,shift, etc) left alone. Yours sound like they were replaced at some point. A 1916 Underwood standard would have left the factory with glass covered legends with white background.

Thanks very, very much!  The plastic/cardboard stuff is so damaged anyway that I'm thinking I'll probably rip it out and try to replace it with something that looks as original as possible.  I don't know if I can get the rings off without damaging them: if not, I may use legends with white background and cover them with clear flexible plastic circles, like what you'd find on a clear-plastic binder, that I can just push into the rings without disturbing much.  Of course, if I could figure out how to get the rings off intact, and back on again, I'd love to try replacing the covers with plexi-glass or even real glass.