1 of 1- Repartee
- Key Master
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- From: Brooklyn
- Registered: 12-10-2015
- Posts: 683
Packing the office typewriter
This has happened to me twice, so I think it's worth a generalization: a 1960-ish office machine arrives with the part of the body which wraps about the space bar smashed. Neither time would I say the shipper was grossly negligent, nor did the external carton show signs of abuse. I think the reason in general is that the front of the body is not designed to serve as a bumper supporting the main mass of the body, and why machine of this era are particularly susceptible is that the main body is sleeker - hence harder to immobilize in the carton - and the body is thinner. Early typewriters could be described as "unibody" - chassis and body are the same - whereas later office machines are built more like cars, with distinct chassis and outer body. Plus, cast iron is rigid and will not deform until it actually breaks while steel shells and cast aluminum shells will deform. Actually, cast aluminum seems to combine some of the worst features of cast iron and steel, in that it will deform and fracture!
Second shipper at least spent a lot of time an materials trying to follow instructions I provided at:
but you almost need a special certificate in packing typewriters. For the record, while those instructions seem very good, I've discovered two special cases not covered:
1) basket shift machine have an extra degree of internal freedom liable to breakage
2) later office machines require special care to prevent the weight of the machine from every resting on the front part of the frame
I will probably repair the fracture in the front piece with JB Weld, but I will not try to straighten it much less it crack more: machine will function more of less normally but forever bear the scars of this journey. I've also noticed space bars are remarkably sensitive to the exact position of the stops to work properly - a little ticklish when the front of the frame has been damaged.
"Damn the torpedoes! Four bells, Captain Drayton".
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 735
Re: Packing the office typewriter
Hi Repartee
The Smith-Corona Speed-writer is a very good example of this, I've received two, both broken. When I see one of these machines advertised on eBay at a reasonable price, I often message the seller cautioning him or her of the fragility of the frame around the keys and advise them to pack the unit on its back with lots of packing around the keyboard frame. I also strongly suggest applying several of the "Delicate Instruments, handle with great care" and a few "This Way Up" decals. Decals can be downloaded or copied and printed at home, or your preferred shipping company should be able to supply the decals.
The one unit I received was so badly smashed up, it's just not worth repairing, whereas I feel the other is. The other is a Smith-Corona Speedwriter with all blank keys so suspect it may have been built as a teaching typewriter. A couple of months after receiving the unit, I found someone selling parts from a stripped down Speed-Writer and messaged him to see if he still had the main base with the key guard. He did, so I got it for $20.00. Plan to get this unit repaired sometime this winter. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Packing the office typewriter
Sky, I'm not familiar with the Smith-Corona Speed-Writer. Do you know when was it manufactured? I have a Smith-Corona Super Speed from the '40s and a few Secretarial variants from the '50s that replaced it, and also an early '50s Remington Speed-Riter, so I'm intrigued by the model you have.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 735
Re: Packing the office typewriter
OOPS!
My mistake, yes it is a Super-Speed. I must have been thinking of my re-branded Consul 1511 (ZP-160243) at the same time. After all, it is a type-writer with the word speed in its name.
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Spazmelda
- Key Master
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- From: Ohio
- Registered: 25-2-2015
- Posts: 830
Re: Packing the office typewriter
Man, I don't need to read this. I just packed and shipped a Royal Empress today. I'm biting my nails. That sucker is HUGE and HEAVY. I double boxed and crammed packing material in every nook and cranny. I hope...
- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Packing the office typewriter
You should have better luck with an Empress because the case around the keyboard is far more substantial than the models that were mentioned above, but still, let us know how it worked out.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Repartee
- Key Master
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- From: Brooklyn
- Registered: 12-10-2015
- Posts: 683
Re: Packing the office typewriter
Spazmelda wrote:
Man, I don't need to read this. I just packed and shipped a Royal Empress today. I'm biting my nails. That sucker is HUGE and HEAVY. I double boxed and crammed packing material in every nook and cranny. I hope...
In an ORGY of typewriter buying I already had two Empresses shipped to me - one extra wide carriage - and both arrived fine, except that the segment shift had bottomed out and jammed on the extra wide. I think this happened because one of the two springs was missing. But no damage to the fronts.
(I must add as a sop to my sanity that both were ludicrously cheap for being shipped with care halfway across the country - the normal carriage came second, but how could I pass it up when it came to about $50 total, and just about perfect. How undervalued can such a beautiful thing be?) The two damaged in the front were an SG1 (predictably) and a JB Allen 600. The Allen was also ludicrously cheap and sold by a charity. They virtually mummified the thing in layers of cling wrap, bubble wrap, more bubble wrap, inner box... lost count. And after all this, when I finally cut away the last layer of cling wrap, the front piece was deformed and cracked. 
Considering that they could hardly have made $5 on the deal after shipping and had tried so hard I didn't even mention what happened. I just left glowing feedback. It would have been like telling a child that had tried to bake you a cake "Nice try, but the icing goes on top".
"Damn the torpedoes! Four bells, Captain Drayton".
- •
Thread Starter- Spazmelda
- Key Master
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- From: Ohio
- Registered: 25-2-2015
- Posts: 830
Re: Packing the office typewriter
$50 is pretty darn cheap. This one I purchased at an antique mall for $34 and shipping was about $38 from Ohio to North Carolina. That is the cheapest shipping I could find. The box itself was not cheap. Wouldn't fit in anything but a 24x24 outer box, which was difficult to find if I didn't want to order a pack of 10 boxes that size, lol. Anyway, the Empress arrived fine and my packing job was complimented.
Sorry your RC Allen was damaged. Hopefully you can fix it up. Or maybe you did already and I missed it.
- Spazmelda
- Key Master
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- From: Ohio
- Registered: 25-2-2015
- Posts: 830
Re: Packing the office typewriter
The Empress I found had the carbon ribbon set up. That was pretty cool. Mine does not have that. It also had a twin pak installed.
- Repartee
- Key Master
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- From: Brooklyn
- Registered: 12-10-2015
- Posts: 683
Re: Packing the office typewriter
Thank you for inquiring about the health of my Allen. 
I think I mentioned use of a rubber mallet, a delicate tool for fine adjustment. Typewriter works fine and I'm just waiting for some special metal laced epoxy to fix the fracture. My aesthetic of typewriter repair is purely functional - if function is restored and the machine strong I may find it as beautiful as a mint one, though it bears battle scars. It's that Wabi Sabi thing.
"Damn the torpedoes! Four bells, Captain Drayton".
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Thread Starter