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02-7-2021 23:32:38  #1


stuck

I have a couple of Royals that are being difficult. I'm far from an expert at this game but I've cleaned up a few now and I'm pretty darned sure that additional cleaning is not going to change anything. I've cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and brushed and blown and probed the segment and pivots. The 2 end keys (last one on each side of the segment) on my new QDL still stick, and it really seems like they are getting hung up on the type guide. Got a similar problem with different keys on a Tab-O-Matic. Looking for advice on how to proceed, cautiously, because I don't want to make matters worse. I've tried gentle sanding on the sides of the QDL bars where the enter the guide, tried gentle bending and still no change. I can feel something rubbing and it sure as heck seems like its hitting the type guide. But I'm wary of sanding too much and I'm wary of bending too much
 

 

02-7-2021 23:55:33  #2


Re: stuck

I got one of em. I just had to be brave and bend it a bit. I could afford to break it because it was just the cents sign and @ which I rarely if ever need. Will go to bed before trying the Q, which I do need!

     Thread Starter
 

03-7-2021 08:20:31  #3


Re: stuck

Got the other one unstuck now. My first bending jobs, and nothing broke!   I still have to see what the type looks like after I'm done deep cleaning though...

     Thread Starter
 

18-7-2021 21:42:02  #4


Re: stuck

Had a similar problem with my 1957 Royal QDL with 2 type-slugs.  I used one of my very-fine knife sharpening whetstones from my "Lansky" kit and just polished both sides of the type-slug with some sharpening oil and the stone.  That did the trick and I have done this on other machines as well.  Easier to do this and not risk hand-bending the slug-levers.

 

 

18-7-2021 22:40:55  #5


Re: stuck

Hi Pete and Overwood

When I first got into typewriter collecting back in 2010, I had a few machines serviced by a typewriter technician who has since retired. He was telling me that the type bars on the 1940's and 1950's Royal and Underwood portables weren't much more than mild steel and could take quite a bit of manipulating.

The European machines and Scandinavian units used a much harder steel which was prone to breaking if manipulated too much. This was why the Royals and Underwoods ended up with bent type bars and the European units seldom got bent. The Smith-Coronas used a slightly tougher steel, but no comparison to the Hermes' almost spring steel type bars. Don't be afraid to bend and twist the North American type bars a few degrees, but be very careful with the European and Scandinavian imports. 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)
 

19-7-2021 07:42:48  #6


Re: stuck

Thank you, Sky.
 

 

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