1 - Jack Kerouac
- Novice Typer
Offline - From: Sydney, Australia
- Registered: 06-2-2019
- Posts: 38
Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Hi, everyone.
I’m currently in the market for my first typewriter (having bought my daughter one and being beitten by the bug). I like the look of the 1950’s Smith Coronas, and they are not all that common in my neck of the woods. This one is available, and apparently is mechanically quite good, but has obvious wear on the keys. Has anyone had experience re-painting or re-storing these keys? I’m wondering how possible this is, before I bite the bullet on this machine.
Thanks in advance.
- SoucekFan
- Speed Champion
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- From: United States
- Registered: 27-12-2015
- Posts: 489
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
The keys likely just need to be cleaned. The white residue you are seeing is probably outgassing from the plastic, which is common with certain plastics formulations used on various machines of that age, and comes off relatively easily.
- Jack Kerouac
- Novice Typer
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- From: Sydney, Australia
- Registered: 06-2-2019
- Posts: 38
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Thank you, SoucekFan.
Looks like it will be worth getting, then. Just clean with methylated spirits, like everything else?
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Thread Starter- SoucekFan
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- Posts: 489
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Jack Kerouac wrote:
Looks like it will be worth getting, then. Just clean with methylated spirits, like everything else?
Don't use methylated spirits on the plastic parts. Use a milder cleaning solution on plastic. Keep spirits away from paint, rubber, and plastic.
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Hi Kerouac
I second what Soucek says about methylated spirits, it's a little too harsh on this plastic. I've heard that washing ammonia just lifts that oxidation right off the plastic (just don't get it anywhere near chlorine bleach). A product I use is called Melamagic which is a melaleuca oil based cleaner and degreaser, gets all sorts of guck off without any ill effect to the plastic.
As for the typewriter pictured, I just love the 1950's Smith-Coronas, they're great looking easy typing machines. That one even has the degree symbol, so you can talk about the temperature in your letters (Crikey Sheila, it was +37ºC here today). Whereas we woke up to -29ºC (-20ºF or 244ºK) this morning in Southern Alberta. 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)
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Hi Again Rohan
Just read the latest postings on the New Member thread. If Tom the typewriter man says methylated spirit is OK for use on these plastic keys, I stand corrected,
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)
- Jack Kerouac
- Novice Typer
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- From: Sydney, Australia
- Registered: 06-2-2019
- Posts: 38
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Sky, the original owner was a physicist. I wonder if that’s why it has a degree symbol? Im buying it from his son. I talked to my own father about the Remington Monarch he had when I was a kid, and he said when he bought, he had to take it to be modified, as he was a French and German languages teacher, and he used it to prepare lessons.
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Thread Starter- thetypewriterman
- Key Master
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- From: Leiston, England
- Registered: 29-5-2013
- Posts: 925
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
Re: Methylated Spirits. If in doubt, leave it out. Yes it would certainly affect the crackle finish paint on your typewriter. A quick wipe over the keytops to remove the white residue should be OK. It may leave the keytops slightly dull - this will disappear with use. Methylated Spirits (de-natured alchohol to our American friends) used to be perfectly safe for use on practically all plastics (except those used by the Hermes factory for some reason) but in recent years, manufacturers have started to add a proportion of acetone - which can attack plastics. Unlike foodstuffs which have to be labelled with their full ingredients by law in many countries, when you buy meths you have no idea how much (if any) acetone has been added.
- Fleetwing
- Typewriter Talk Vet
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- From: Hartford, CT USA
- Registered: 30-6-2015
- Posts: 1,011
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
I've seen a product called Goo Gone praised for removing this oxidation. It's used for for removing sticky residue (like from labels) but apparently works well for cleaning up keytops too. Not sure whether it's available in Australia, though.
- Jack Kerouac
- Novice Typer
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- From: Sydney, Australia
- Registered: 06-2-2019
- Posts: 38
Re: Re-Painting Smith Corona Green Keys?
The Smith Corona Sterling arrived safely in the mail.
The keys cleaned up relatively easily just with a dettol household cleaner sprayed lightly on some cloth.
There are a few sticky keys, and I think I will need to pull it apart for a thorough cleaning. More than this, is the problem that this 1952 machine smells like 1,000 dead grandpas, who were buried in mothballs. I think I will need to work on this in the open air. It’s that bad. Any recommendations here would be welcome. The faux tweed case smells the same. There Are strange white marks on the body, and I’m not sure if this is mould or faded paint?
Typing as is, there is no skipping, and the alignment looks alright. There seems to be a fair bit of wiggle from side to side in each key, which surprised me. For some reason, I was expecting a more solid feel. The machine itself has some weight to it, and feels solid.
I’ve got some work to do.
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Thread Starter