Hi all, 
I've just figured out how to open my Royal Model H and have rewound the mainspring three times. Unfortunately, despite there being a bit more of a grip on the carriage, it still does not react to any pressing of keys. 

How do I know how many times I should re-wound the spring? I've done it until it cannot be pushed/wound anymore and resists, then I re-attach the draw band. 

Thanks in advance!

Okay, I may be able to help since I've just had this issue with a large restoration project. 

What you need: 
- methylated spirit (not lacquer thinner, not surgical spirit, please)

- cotton buds (do not use these longer than they can handle, otherwise the spirit will get everywhere and the cotton will peel of and jam your machine)

- toothpicks (sometimes I use metal toothpicks, but you want to build up to that and be very sure that your toothpick has a sharp top so you don't hit your painted markings)

- lots and lots of towels

What you need to do:
1. Be very careful. I'm sure you know this, but meths are not to be underestimated!

2. Place towels all over the places you are not even getting close to (keyboard, namely) and remove the ribbon (methylated spirits obliterate ink). 

3. Keep your methylated spirit in a closed container when not being touched. I keep it in a spray bottle and spray my cotton buds over a towel. 

4. Soak your cotton buds. Place this on the rusted part and hold for a few seconds. Play around with this (safely!) so that you find out the shortest amount of time needed. 

5. Take your toothpick and scrape/poke the rust. You will see it dissolve into a clay-like consistency. 

6. Take a towel and dab/wipe it off, depending on how close the paint is. 

This will take a long time - it took me about two hours cleaning a rusted bar. On the other hand, there is absolutely no rust left and when I put paper through the typewriter there is no transfer. 

Good luck! 

I should mention that I have never placed methylated spirits on paint, decals and keyboards before so I cannot give you an indication of what would happen. I find my methylated spirit in my local paint shop and it is very cheap and evaporates quickly. On the other hand, it has a strong smell and some brands put arsenic and purple dye in the solution to stop people from drinking it (yikes!). 

Hope everything goes well. [img]https://cdn.boardhost.co

I recently acquired an Imperial Standard 50 (large, heavy thing - but beautiful) which came with so much rust that I had no idea the machine was meant to be black! It has the "British Right Through" decal at the front and should be glossy (it's not, but that's a different story). 

After dissolving the majority of the rust (scrubbing was not enough, I had to soak them then "pop" the colonies of rust with a toothpick) and dislodging dust and rotting paper out from underneath the carriage, the basic functions of the machine work. I can type quite smoothly - my Good Companion should be jealous! - but I have found three issues:

1. The basket will not respond to me using the shift keys. It is stuck in upper case unless I wiggle it up with my hands, but even that gives me immense resistance. 

2. When I do manage to force the basket up and type on lower case it is very much misaligned - it is all the way below one line, maybe even more. 

3. This one will sound like I'm daft, but I cannot for the life of me figure out the built-in metal spools. I will admit that they do have some rusting on the surface, since my brisk attempts at removing them resulted in some of the paint peeling and cracking. One metal spool (left) is not stuck, but it will not shift into place when I try to put it into place. The other (right) will not move whatsoever. When I type, it ticks along and functions as it should, but I cannot remove it so that I can wind a ribbon on it. 

Any help on any point would be much appreciated - I would hate to have to write in all caps on a carbon copy.