An evergreen topic maybe: I had 3/4 of a sticker removed by a previous owner on the front center of a Royal HH a couple of weeks ago, and went at it with some Goo Gone. Got it off, but found that it wore down the crinkle paint as well. I think the fault was probably mine; I went at the Goo Gone with some kitchen paper towel and that was probably way too abrasive. I am disappointed in myself. This "get it clean!" thing kicks in and before I know it I have scrubbed too hard! I had excellent Goo Gone success with tape residue on one of my first machine, a 56 SkyRiter--I thought maybe because it was plastic it worked better?

To the point: this gorgeous 1959 SM2 is now mine for $50 and a drive, and it types like a dream. A real rival to my '65 SM9. I don't even miss the tabulator.

But wondering if I should try Goo Gone on this weird adhesive spot. The position and the state of the machine when I got it makes me think the original owner taped a pad here or something to protect against a scraping return lever (it had dropped, needed the "SM washer replacement," which I managed). Everything about it is in excellent shape and trying to figure if Goo Gone will make the stain worse.

For me it is always about trying to know when to leave well enough alone!





 

Hi all,

I am so grateful for the expertise and generosity of this forum. I post a lot of questions (don't know enough to share many answers yet), and all your willingness to share answers is such a help.

I acquired a 1955 pica Royal HH with some bad rust in the works for a song; carriage works fine. I think the keys are a lost cause; I probably broke them worse trying to get them unstuck. Live and learn.

I am pretty sure I have ANOTHER HH keyset (green tops), living in a KMG body as part of a mid 50s refurb. It is elite. That machine also has a longer carriage, but I don't think that will matter for what I am considering doing.

Which is replacing the whole keyset (is that the term: keys, arms, slugs, basket, all of it) in the rusted HH with the one from the KMG. Seems like it should be straightforward, since someone did that exact thing to the KMG at one point. Might even work better since it was made for it.

Sounds crazy, no? Any pointers or suggestions for good tutorials on how I might proceed? I could just start unscrewing things and teach myself, since neither of these machines is particularly rare or precious--but better to know something before launching in.

And was this "drop an HH into a KMM/G" a popular refurb in the 50s or 60s? Like repainting your Lettera? I have a seen a few out there.

Thanks!


 

Thanks, I will try it! And the forming makes me nervous--I think I might mess with washers a little more first. The front ones weren't nearly as bad as the rear so I didn't do them, and maybe if I did everything will end up correct again.

This might be of interest only to me, but I have been wanting to take this pic for some time: side-by-side 1970 and 1977 SM9s. Both completely unremarkable machines, pica etc, but I feel like you can really see the progression of the industry here as Olympia worked to stay profitable under pressure.








 

never mind--I see that all sizes of typeface had the B prefix too.
https://typewriterdatabase.com/typefaces.php?mfr_search=72&model_search=Aristocrat
still pretty cool though!