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27-9-2015 21:27:58  #1


1948 Royal KMM restore/?

This is the 1948 Royal KMM that I bought for $10 along with the 1914 Remington Standard 10. These two machines were said to be in a barn, but after seeing the rust and in the case of the Remington, the obvious sun-caused deterioration of the celuloid key tops, I'd say both of these have spent a lot of days sitting out in a weed patch somewhere.   This is what they looked like when I brought them home on 26 Sep 2015.


I decided to start with the KMM because I'm more familiar with that model... and the Remington looks like a basket case. So I started cleaning out the leaves and spraying the penetrating oil liberally to see if I could get it torn down a bit. And it's looking worse than I thought inside. Here's a shot with the top cover and the carriage off, showing the rusted escapement. That's the worrisome part.  It looks like the rust is worse on the inside of this machine than on the outside.


I'll start tearing it down further tomorrow, if I can. These rusted screws are really tough to get loose. At the very least it's only $10 I'll be out and I'm getting a good education about KMM tear-down procedures.


Bangin' around, this dirty old town, typin' for nickels and dimes...
 

28-9-2015 05:14:41  #2


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

Good luck with those carriage rails....
The thing with the rust is that it looks fairly new. 


Back from a long break.

Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
 

28-9-2015 20:20:57  #3


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

Wow, and I thought the KMM I got a few days ago was in rough condition.  Good luck to you; I'll be interested to follow your progress.

 

28-9-2015 20:31:51  #4


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

The rust is all soaking in penetrating oil right now. That's mostly kerosene so it's doing a good job of stinking up my garage, but so far the majority of the parts inside are still not moving. I'll give it a day or two more. I went out and tried to wiggle parts loose, and the star wheel is moving, but it won't move far because the dogs aren't moving to let it go to the next cog. Everything else is stuck. I see many typebars are stuck in the "jammed" position so I am assuming that the U-bar is pulled forward and needs to return to its rest position before other things could move (even if they weren't rusted). More later.


Bangin' around, this dirty old town, typin' for nickels and dimes...
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08-10-2015 16:44:14  #5


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

Don't be confused by the picture. The carriage is sitting behind the main body. It just looks like it's attached because of the camera angle. At least I got all of the typebars pushed back down to lie flat now.


It's 8 Oct and things are going slowly at the rustbucket corral. I got the front cover off after fretting for several days about it. (It was easy once I figured it out). And I loosened up the type bars and basket shift. They aren't "loose" they're just moving now with considerable effort. The mainspring drum is still frozen and parts of the escapement are moving, but other parts aren't. Unless I can see some action on getting that mainspring to move I think I'm about close to putting these parts in a box on the shelf. This machine will never be usable. About half the keyrod springs have rusted so badly that they've just crumbled. And I am absolutely stumped about how to make that carriage return handle move. I've considered the difficulty of removing the lower carriage rail from this machine and perhaps putting it on a '37 KHM that I've got that won't type very well because of a warped carriage rail. But even that project is looking like a lot of work. My hands are sore from trying to "carefully" twist out rusted screws without stripping out the slot. Not an easy thing even with the help of penetrating oil and vibration!
   And I'm beginning to wonder what I can do with my other rusty friend, the Remington Standard 10 that is sitting in the corner of my garage. So this might be all she wrote for this ole dogie. Time for her to head to that big pasture in the sky.


Bangin' around, this dirty old town, typin' for nickels and dimes...
     Thread Starter
 

08-10-2015 17:19:32  #6


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

You did all your could. Sometimes, it's just better as a parts machine. At least you put in the effort.


A high schooler with a lot of typewriters. That's pretty much about it.
 

09-10-2015 03:41:24  #7


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

I'd strongly recommend moving on and using both of these as parts machines. The parts from these typewriters could possibly keep many other typewriters fully functional for years to come. 

I purchased a similar set (in my case a Royal KMM and an Underwood No.5) specifically to use for parts/spares, and they look MUCH better than what you have. I personally don't understand the desire to invest a bunch of time into a rotted/rusted typewriter, when nice examples can still be found of something like a KMM for under $50. But that's just me. I'd rather use that time for other pursuits... like visiting more estate sales, flea markets, and antique stores in hunt of typewriters that have been well cared for throughout the last 50+ years, and don't need any major work. There are some amazing machines out there. Within the last 4 weeks, I have passed on a couple of 1930s colored Royal portables (a blue model and a purple one), a neat old Halda, several 1930s to 1950s Remingtons, etc., all of which were priced between $20-$75 and fully functional (funds have been tight, otherwise I would have snapped up the blue/purple Royals...). Then again, I enjoy the hunt more than the countless tedious hours spent trying to restore a decrepid old machine...

Last edited by Retro-Z (09-10-2015 03:48:26)


When you aren't looking for it... you ALWAYS find it!!!
 

09-10-2015 07:46:05  #8


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

Retro-Z wrote:

I personally don't understand the desire to invest a bunch of time into a rotted/rusted typewriter..., I enjoy the hunt more than the countless tedious hours spent trying to restore a decrepid old machine...

I can't speak for the OP, but for me the act of restoring a machine to full functionality is a twofold satisfaction:
1. It represents a challenge, and not only is there a great sense of personal triumph when bringing back a machine that otherwise would have been broken into parts, but it increases one's knowledge of how that machine works and was built.
2. It helps to maintain the current stock of typewriters left in the world. There are a finite number of typewriters left on this planet, and their population is on the decrease. Who knows how many are being destroyed on a daily basis? Eventually those $50 finds will become few and far between, and more and more of the surviving ones will require restoration or major repair. Turning a typewriter into a parts machine should be an absolute last resort step, and I'm sure that future generations of collectors will be appreciative of those who did spent countless hours restoring their "decrepid (sic) old machines."


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

09-10-2015 08:52:36  #9


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

They both actaully look pretty decent machines for a nice COMPLETE restoration. Taken apart, rechrome parts, repaint them, that would be cool. 


Back from a long break.

Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
 

09-10-2015 10:40:31  #10


Re: 1948 Royal KMM restore/?

I've got to agree on Uwe's #1 point above -- I just love returning something that was broken to working order again, even if it's just a rusted ball bearing that wasn't moving. When I was working on this KMM I was beginning to get tired and I looked at the clock and realized it was 6 pm. I had been at it for five hours straight and hadn't noticed the time going by. I guess that's the definition of a good hobby, when you can lose track of time like that.
   It also should be noted that the both of these machines cost me only $10, which is less than the cost of a pizza. And that I already have a KMM and I wanted to learn how to take off the carriage so I can get rid of some grittiness on that one, so this was a good, safe learning experience.

And I should add that I got two original metal Royal spools out of this one, so that was worth at least $5 right there!

Last edited by treefaller (09-10-2015 10:46:13)


Bangin' around, this dirty old town, typin' for nickels and dimes...
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