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05-7-2021 13:58:28  #1


Remington Remette touch and sound

Hello all,

my Remette has a new rubber typebar rest, recovered feed rollers and platen. To
my surprise the touch is still quite harsh and the sound very loud. If I type the way I am used to, typing hurts my fingers and arms and the sound hurts my ears. The only way to prevent this is to type lightly, but then it is still somewhat unpleasant. Is this the nature of the beast?

Thanks,
Lau

 

07-7-2021 10:40:44  #2


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

I don't think that I own a Remette specifically, but do have Cadets and a Pioneer. Even though it's been a few years since I've typed with those more basic, but comparable models, I don't recall any of them sharing the issues that you described. Did you have the platen recovered yourself, or was that the claim of the person you bought it from? I would test the platen's hardness, because the sound you describe usually indicates really hard rubber.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

07-7-2021 14:30:08  #3


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

I had the platen and feed rollers recovered by AKB Longs. Before that, the harsh touch and loud noise were much more severe, so the new rubber did make a difference. But not as much as I hoped for. 

I do think the design does have to do with it. There is no ring that stops the typebars, and the typebars travel almost 180 degrees, so the typeslugs hit the platen with maximum force. I suppose the geared typebars contribute to the harsh touch.

I have seen typing demo's on YouTube of other Remington portables, including Remettes. Most of them, but not all, impressed me as pretty loud, roughly comparable to my machine. 

Interesting: the use of 4 sheets of 80 gsm paper did not had a lot of impact on the sound level.

     Thread Starter
 

07-7-2021 14:50:08  #4


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

I wonder if its possible to request a softer rubber, because I have the same problem on my Sterling (as recently posted). I'm not sure I would have gone ahead with the new covering if I had known how loud it would still be.

 

08-7-2021 10:34:22  #5


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

Softer rubber would very likely adversely affect the type quality. You would be better off experimenting with backing sheet weights is the better option. 

Lau: It's possible that I'm just used to the action and sound of earlier Remington portables (1, 2, and 3 - along with the budget variants).  And the type action of ultra-portables in general tends to be more wooden, less 'comfortable' than with larger portables, and especially standards. I suppose my point is that I don't consider this era of Remington portables to be abnormally loud or harsh compared to other machines in that category.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

31-7-2021 07:21:01  #6


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

@overwood: I have asked AKB Longs about using softer rubber. At the moment they use one type of rubber, but they are interested in trying out different kinds. The plan is to find another platen, cover it with slightly softer rubber and see how that goes. 

@Uwe: I have used a thin sheet of rubber as backing sheet, like JVC did on this video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ1p6j7IqAc 

It helped, but not as much as I expected. The typing sound was still loud and hurting my ears. Then I discovered that the geared typebars made a soft squeaking sound. The high pitched sound was somewhat masked by other typing sounds, but it was definitely there. After lubricating the gears with a ~6:1 white spirit-sewing machine oil mixture, the squeaking sound was gone. Now the Remette is still pretty loud, but not hurting my ears anymore  

P.S. Changing my typing style from fast and powerful to slow and light also made a lot of difference. See also this video (@6:35): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_tDR3kSHnPE&pp=sAQA

     Thread Starter
 

05-8-2021 10:18:57  #7


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

Laurenz van Gaalen wrote:

... I discovered that the geared typebars made a soft squeaking sound. The high pitched sound was somewhat masked by other typing sounds, but it was definitely there. ...

That's quite interesting. From your description I had assumed it was the sound of the type slugs that was hurting your ears, which is something I have experienced with rock-hard platens. It also explains why the phenomenon you asked about is something I haven't noticed with my Remingtons; the ones I buy usually need a good going over before they can be used and sewing machine oil is always a part of that initial maintenance. 

Glad it worked out because they are fun machines to use - for shorter typing sessions... 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

05-8-2021 15:52:11  #8


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

If I want any of my machines to sound quieter, I just turn off, or take out my hearing aids! 
My Facit TP1 is maybe my third quietest typewriter, but it is simply sublime and nearly effortless to type for quite a while on. 
Interesting that the gear mechanism was making noise. For those gear mesh interfaces, I would use something like a 90wt gear oil with a high sulphur content. One drop on a small paintbrush is enough to lube up the appropriate (not all of the lube points) metal to metal interfaces on a whole machine. 

Phil Forrest

 

09-8-2021 07:29:16  #9


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

I have a 1930 Remington Portable 3 and it was loud until I bought it a new set of feet (sneakers).  Not only did the volume decrease but so did the vibration. When you think about it, isn't vibrating metal the principle behind ringing a bell. I thought I would have to fabricate the feet but it turns out that new feet can be had by contacting small typing outfits that are making them using 3D printers.. I'm now wondering what else can be fabricated for 90 year old machines.  Using Uwe's advice I got myself some high grade resume paper for backing sheets and now I don't worry about the hardened platen.  Maybe they can 3D print the rollers, that would solve most of my issues.

 

09-8-2021 09:32:42  #10


Re: Remington Remette touch and sound

It's likely that I'm a cheap sneaker buyer: I've been using off-the-shelf rubber bumpers for years to replace worn or missing feet. Bumpers are available in a ridiculous number of sizes and shapes, and they're really inexpensive. Of course if someone is concerned with restoring their machine to as near as original as possible (visually), bumpers would not be an option. 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

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