Hello all! I'm Oliver. I'm a young'n at 22, and pretty new to the lovely world of typewriters, but very enthusiastic. Although I've collected a few machines in the last couple of years, I've ended up with just the one. But it's a good one! The one I have now is an R.C. Allen brand, with an extra-wide carriage. From what I can gather online it seems to be a late model, perhaps late 50s early 60s, but I have not seen one exactly like mine posted anywhere. As far as I can see there is no instance of the word "Visomatic" anywhere on mine, so I can only guess that it's not one of those models. Here are a couple photos, nothing fancy, just quick shots from my phone:




Serial number is B-2400079-18. It's in very good shape, though I wish I had a case for it; I can't imagine how difficult it will be to find a case for one like this.

<<question snipped and moved to different thread>> 


Now then... A few things I need to learn:

1- General anatomy, what parts are called and what they do, how they work, etc. Especially the "word processor" bits up there on the carriage, that are meant to help with margins etc. They're quite fiddly and mysterious to me.
2- I think the keys could move a bit more smoothly. They don't stick exactly, but they can be just a bit hard to depress sometimes. What would be good for 'lubricating' them or making them move as smoothly as the carriage?
3- I'd love to know the model name, and when exactly this was manufactured. How could I find that out, possibly going from the serial number? [It says Grand Rapids, Michigan on the back under the brand name, if that helps.]
4- Just general newbie usage tips! I'd love to start using this machine more regularly, once I get it fixed up properly :>

Anyway, wonderful forum you all have here, thank you all! - O.

Last edited by pileofbones (19-11-2013 16:49:19)

Moved it, thanks! - O.

Greetings all!

My name is Clinton & I currently live in the Kansas City area, although I've lived in Asia, Africa & Europe during the past 15 years.  While in high school, on a lark I purchased my first typewriter--a 1940s Underwood desktop model--at a church rummage sale.  It served me well through college, when I became an accidental collector of sorts.  While I'm still fond of Underwoods, my collection now includes Royals, Remingtons, a Harris Visiable and my grandmother's Olympia.  My most recent addition is a Underwood SX100 that I salvaged from having been left to rust outside in a junk heap.  Unfortunately most of my collection is with a journalist friend in Dallas who was storing them while I was abroad, but I hope to move them to Kansas City with me sometime next year.

I look forward to learning more from each of you about these wonderful old machines!

 

I started writing (for my own amusement) as a ten-year-old in the 1970s on my Dad's old Brother portable.  A variety of typewriters, computers, laptops and tablets later, I dug the original Brother out again.  It's in need of restoration, and working on it I've got fascinated with the mechanics of typewriters. 

Consequently I've started collecting typewriters - affordable ones - in the hope of finding the magic of typing on an old typewriter again, and/or bringing a machine back to life.

My pride and joy is a Remington Portable #2 from August 1926, and I'm currently basking in the glory of putting a new drawstring on an Imperial Good Companion #4 from 1960 this evening.

I dream of getting hold of a Corona #3, but so far I've been outbid on every eBay auction.

Hello, fellow typewriter enthusiasts! I'm new on this forum and it wasn't long ago I fund a beaten up typewriter in a junkyard, with a cursive typeface. By the way, my name is Karl and I live in Denmark, Scandinavia.
Since the typewriter I found, was too busted to type a decent line, I went hunting for one in a better condition with blood on my tooth. Now I own 5 working typewriters and "The Cursive Corpse" as I call it.
Most of my typewriters are German models, Olympia. But I also own a Brother from Japan.
I mostly like the manual typewriters and I used to hate electric typewriters, but I'm starting to warm up to them. Maybe one day, I'll buy one. But if a pretty little manual machine sits next to it, I'll probably go for the manual.

My most recent purchase, is a Erika mod. 10. And I'm dying to know more about it, but I can't post with links yet, so I guess I have to wait.

I'm new to typewriter collection and I like typing letters and short stories on them just as much as collecting them.