1 of 1- John Earley
- Platen Punisher
Offline - Registered: 19-4-2019
- Posts: 50
What is the best break-in method for a new typewriter.
I have a New-Old-Stock 1964 Royal Royalite that has never been used. Is there anything special I should do to break it in properly. I've installed a new ribbon so that's taken care of.
- skywatcher
- Moderator
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 712
Re: What is the best break-in method for a new typewriter.
Hi John
If breaking in a new typewriter is anything like breaking in a rebuilt diesel engine, here's what I suggest.
Type at 15 WPM for the first 50 words and 30 WPM for the next 100 words,
45 WPM for 200 words and steadily increase by 15 WPM every 4 minutes until you hit the typing speed of around 90 WPM which is recommended maximum for this model without red-lining the tachometer.
Then throttle back to about 30 WPM for a couple of minutes to let the machine cool off a little before shutting down.
In all honesty though, I don't know if there is a break in procedure for a new typewriter. Someone like Tom The Typewriter Man from Luton in England is probably the best authority on this subject. 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)
- thetypewriterman
- Key Master
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- From: Leiston, England
- Registered: 29-5-2013
- Posts: 892
Re: What is the best break-in method for a new typewriter.
Back in the day when new typewriters were available, there was no specific 'running in' procedure. Certain machines, particularly Olympias, just got better and better as they began to bed in. When I started in the typewriter trade as a young lad in 1975, we had a batch of Olympia SG1s traded in against new SG3s. After we had serviced them all, they sold like hot cakes within days. They were as smooth as silk to use. Coming back to the present day, on the rare occasions that I have found a new-old-stock typewriter, it usually needs servicing before it can be used for the first time. Oil and grease applied at the factory will often have dried out and gone sticky, and therefore needs replacing - along with the ribbon of course, which will have dried out decades ago.
- John Earley
- Platen Punisher
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- Registered: 19-4-2019
- Posts: 50
Re: What is the best break-in method for a new typewriter.
You are correct that the lubricants had dried out over the years that the typewriter sat unused. That was easily remedied and then I found why it had not been placed into use. This must have been a Friday afternoon machine assembly. The ribbon vibrator mechanism was improperly installed and the space bar had plastic mold flash inhibiting its return to the normal position after being depressed. Again both were easily remedied and the machine functions like a new machine should.
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