There it is! It doesn't matter what or who you fall in love with - it's finding them.

And I'm sure that six QDLs could be almost as diverse in terms of touch and performance as six assorted typewriters. At the moment I'm very happily moving among two Olivettis - Studio 44 and Lettera 22 - and the little 1937 Continental. None of these were on my original list of the six indispensibles! 

And a Facebook friend has written to me out of the blue - someone I've never even met! - and said he was in a charity shop and saw a red-orange Adler Contessa and bought it for me! So that'll be arriving later in the week. What a sweet thing to do. I'll report back. So much for shrinking MY collection...

pdxtypewriter wrote:

Since my original post I seem to have fallen in love with Royal QDs. Have a pink and powder blue now. Have my eye on a 1937 variety. Well, there it is.

There was no Quiet De Luxe in 1937. The "A" model in 1937 would be the Royal De Luxe. You might have just meant the 1937 equivalent, and not necessarily QDL, but I thought I'd mention it.
 

Hey all!
I'm new to the forum and somewhat new to collecting typewriters but that won't stop me from throwing my 2 cent hat into the wring(er).
My growing addiction for portables started with a mid forties era SC Sterling that someone threw out.
The case is a little ratty but, the machine is beautiful and, is in the middle of a deep cleaning that has it's parts spread out over most of the desk.
Like many of you probably do, I must have machines that work and work well in that they are well designed.
The Sterling starts the list.
The next consideration is price, since if I REALLY NEED a typewriter, I have my grandfathers Royal (whatever model) desk top unit and shouldn't NEED more than that.
Any where from $ 20-80 US will do.
They have to work with no more than reasonable repairs (no frame straightening or welding). A good cleaning,  maybe a new draw band and ribbon and,  I'm off and running.
So where does that leave me?
I wouldn't pass up a SC Sterling or Silent ( older models)
I thought I would really like the Underwood Noiseless Portable I purchased shortly after finding the Sterling but, it and I are having some issues over the indefinite touch that comes along with it's particular type of thrust action. I have Underwood and a Remington  Noiseless, standard models that have a different style of thrust action and have a much better presence when typing.
I have a Remington #2 portable that is nice but, is having some alignment problems and I may have to resurface the platen before it will be at its best again.
I have an Olympia SM9 that my 11 year old son has claimed for his  "living room typewriter" (he has a Remington Standard model in his bed room) and while it is a nice machine, there are a couple of things I don't like about it. First is the "gonging" noise the sheet metal cowling over the ribbon spools makes while typing. Very distracting. Second and maybe worse for me is the high angle upward slant of the key bank.
When I type with this machine I place a 1 inch (25.4 mm) high block of wood under the front feet, to flatten out the angle of the key bank. 1 inch is a little too much but, it needs something for comfort and ease of use. I'll probably give that one to my son.
My elder son has an SC Silent that's just a bit newer than my Sterling. Very nice (with a nice flat key bank too).
I have had a SC Galaxie 12 for about two months now, that is easily one of the nicest machines I have ever owned. This machine is from probably the early 60's and is exceptionally nice with a clean scratch free case complete with key (wow!). It has a great touch and crisp action with a nice "clack" and soft bell.
It has all the big machine features one might need with a compact easy to see key bank for the avid, two finger hunt and peck operator. The key tops caress the finger tips with a slightly yielding rubber compound in the high duro-meter, shore c . The machine I have is like new with no signs of ware or even usage other than the hardening platen.
Last but not even close to least would be the late 30's Royal Aristocrat Portable I picked up this past Monday. Very, very nice with only a few cleaning conditions and a little adjustment to the ribbon cowling waiting to be done. I bought this machine solely for the touch, witch may be perfect, and the very flat key bank angle. It is also another full feature portable I would highly recommend.
To be sure, I have recovered a few electric portables from the curb but, can we really call them 'portable' if they need to be plugged in someplace to be used.
There are certainly many other worthy machines in the portable class but, I don't own them so I can't say more than that much about them.
Think I'll take a walk on over to the desk top discussion and see what's up...
HABD !

Rattle Tap wrote:

I have an Olympia SM9 that my 11 year old son has claimed for his  "living room typewriter" (he has a Remington Standard model in his bed room) and while it is a nice machine, there are a couple of things I don't like about it. First is the "gonging" noise the sheet metal cowling over the ribbon spools makes while typing. Very distracting.

I have no idea what this noise might be -- I have several SM9s and an SM8; no such noise that I'm aware of.

Rattle Tap wrote:

I have an Olympia SM9 that my 11 year old son has claimed for his  "living room typewriter" (he has a Remington Standard model in his bed room) and while it is a nice machine, there are a couple of things I don't like about it. First is the "gonging" noise the sheet metal cowling over the ribbon spools makes while typing. Very distracting.

Fleetwing wrote:

I have no idea what this noise might be -- I have several SM9s and an SM8; no such noise that I'm aware of.

I've never heard of that noise issue either, but then again I've also never read a complaint concerning the keyboard angle either. There are two rubber bumpers on the lower brackets of the ribbon cover that come in contact with the bottom of the machine's case. If one or both are missing, or if any of the other ribbon cover's mounting clips were not correctly position, I could see that vibration from typing might cause the cover to rattle. It's definitely not normal, and not an idiosyncrasy of the SM9.

As for the angle of the keyboard, that's something I'll have to measure someday and compare to the keyboards of other makes and models. It visually appears to me to be very similar to other full-size portables and standards, but real data should be collected. One thing worth mentioning is that some people don't realize that positioning your chair and body to achieve the correct ergonomics for a typewriter is not the same as for working with a computer keyboard. I use an office chair with a height-adjustable piston and am constantly moving the chair up and down when going between the computer and a typewriter. Instead of elevating the front of the typewriter with a piece of wood, I wonder if Rattle Tap has tried adjusted the height of the chair he's sitting in instead?