KatLondon wrote:

Southernphoneman, who you calling idiots? Good grief. Just go somewhere else if you don't like it, nobody's kidnapped you.

Probably you.

igotztowrite wrote:

Southernphoneman wrote:

KatLondon wrote:

Southernphoneman, who you calling idiots? Good grief. Just go somewhere else if you don't like it, nobody's kidnapped you.

Probably you.

In general , you're complaining too much with excessive infantile comments but to be new to this board, it's downright disrespectful . Be kind during your frustrations.

Yup auh ha

Thank you, Kat. And igotz. 

The forum has been running for over three years now and during that time I've only had to ban one person. Southernphoneman makes it two. I was extremely patient with him, and explained over and over again how posting photos works - and wasted my time in numerous private messages - but he clearly couldn't grasp the concept. Why anyone would lash out with such anger over such a small issue, especially when someone is trying to help you, will remain a mystery to me.

Anyway, he's gone, and on the bright side it's incidents such as this that serve to remind just how great our little community really is. Thanks to everyone for being a part of it!

Well, this is pretty interesting.  I've never run across one of these before, and as you know they are not mentioned at all in either the rebuild catalog I put on line or in sources I'm aware of.  I can see no illustration of the Underwood in any of my materials at the moment with this style of backspacer.  Well done!  What is the serial number?  

Yours,  Will Davis

ztyper wrote:

If I had known that I was going to get one of these for free, I might have held off on my last purchase...


Yup, it's an Underwood #4. I came home from marching band practice today to find this sitting on the kitchen floor, and apparently, one of our friends picked it up from the side of the road and gave it to me. Second time this has happened to me and I'm quite pleased. The thing certainly looked like trash on the inside with the most dust I've ever seen in a typewriter. But I blew it out, oiled the right parts, and it's back to typing again (though not very smoothly). But there's still one question I have: why does this one have a backspace lever? On the Davis Typewriter Page there is a catalogue of the different variations of the 3's, 4's, and 5's. I never knew the #4 came with a backspace key  like what's on the #5. But you an clearly see that this one has a lever right next to the margin release. I've tried searching online for a #4 with a lever, but to no avail. And what thickens the mystery, is that one is dated 1909 (one year less than my #5). If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated. It's still a great typewriter, and I might just keep it around.

Mari wrote:

the other mentioned how her typewriter at home (I asked what it was but she had no idea) always had key jams so she was surprised that I could type so quickly without that happening to me.

Congratulations on the Ambassador!  

Jamming typebars is an indication of either improper typing technique or a machine that requires servicing. Any properly tuned typewriter should be more than able to keep up fast typists. According to Beeching's book, a world speed typing record was set in 1913 using an Underwood No. 4, which produced an average of 125 words per minute over a one hour period. If a typewriter back then was capable of such performance you can bet that newer models are just as capable.