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In good shape, too. It's a tank, and a great machine: I love to type with it. What throws me off, though, is the tiny typeface. Do any other owners see this as a setback? Maybe it's merely something to get used to?
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What do you consider to be tiny? If you're talking about an elite typeface, I wouldn't describe it as a setback, but rather a bonus. I appreciate that it allows me to put more text on a page, even if the tradeoff is that the slugs require more frequent cleaning.
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Uwe, do you use single- or double spacing? I found double spacing made the print easier to navigate.
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I double-space text that I plan on editing later on to leave room for proofing marks and single-space everything else. If you only have machines with pica type I can understand why it would elite would seem so small when you first use it, but like most things I'm sure that you'll quickly get used to it.
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I remember a time when I couldn't throw a brick and not have it land on a Royal KMM. They were everywhere. Every school I went to had at least one. I learned how to touch-type on a 1948 model, which I still have, and need to refurbish. I once had a 1938 model, which I sold. I have a 1939 model which replaced it. It still performs beautifully. But here's the curious thing: The older KMMs had cast iron cases, while the newer, post-war KMMs and all KMGs (KMMs with detachable platens and gunmetal grey paint) had aluminum cases. I guess it had something to do with the need for aluminum during World War II. Another interesting fact (from what I've seen in the way of the typewriters themselves) is that the original design was created in 1938, while the last KMG rolled out in early 1952.
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Oh, I almost forgot (senior moment, folks), as everyone here knows, or should know, the KMGs also have tombstone-shaped keys, which separated them from the KMMs with round keys (some of these typewriters had rectangle shift keys).
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Uwe, you were right: I got used to it pretty quickly. In fact, after using it for a few days, I concluded that this is the better looking of my machines. It exudes efficiency. Sometimes I sit in the atrium and stare at it. It mesmerizes. What surprises me the most, however, is that somehow, the words flow easier with it. The human-machine connection is at its height and most intense. In view of that, I can live with the smaller typeface.
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typeset wrote:
What surprises me the most, however, is that somehow, the words flow easier with it.
Nothing beats the pen or typewriter when it comes to draft composition, and arguably the typewriter edges out the pen because of the ease that typed pages can be digitized. Enjoy the big Royal!