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But again, not the space bar -- so odd the choices people made! THanks!
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Lazydog,
Maybe the mounting holes / screw inserts of the old space-bar did not line up with those on any more modern replacement space-bars...???
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lazydog wrote:
[... But again, mine is 1951 looks like. Seems like it would not have been that old to merit a refurb. ...So yeah, probably a refurb -- that paint is almost new still!
The paint might look almost new because it could have been painted in the '60s!
Refurbished machines were quite common. You have to remember that typewriters - particularly standards - were quite expensive and buying a refurbished older model compared to the latest generation machine was a way to save money. Refurbished machines were sold along side new models, even by some of the major catalog department stores. It certainly wasn't exclusively a '30s thing.
The age of the machine (based on its serial number) really doesn't have much bearing on whether or not it might be refurbished. A '51 KMG that was used all day, every day, for years would easily be a candidate for refurbishment, particularly when that machine was traded in for a newer model and the Royal factory would recondition it. You could still buy a refurbished KMG in the mid-'60s.
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Thanks Uwe! This history is so interesting!
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Speaking of history: I am off to Connecticut next week for a graduation, and of course Hartford was the "Typewriter Capital of the World"...but nothing remains of either factory, I understand. The old Remington Noiseless building in Middletown is still there though!
https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Remington-Rand-building-coming-back-to-life-11837489.php
https://www.courant.com/community/middletown/hc-middletown-remington-rand-name-change-0427-20160825-story.html
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Pete E. wrote:
Mikeytap...
Congratulations on another Facit !
Is your colour beige or Viking grey ?
Pete it is light blue or robins egg blue.
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Miketap,
My TP2 was definitely a closet-queen. Very vibrant blue and the platen rubber still let's me indent it with my thumb-nail.
Probably never sat on a desk in front of a big window.
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Very cool to find one like that isn't it! This one has a few nicks here and there and bad feet. The platen is soft. The bell ring is very faint. I see the hammer is on a delicate little wire/rod that could be bent but I'm hesitate to strip things down to get to it.
Speaking of platens, I may pick a couple of favorite machines and do the JJ Short thing to see what the best typing experience might be. My Olympia SM3 for sure as the rubber feels like granite. Current favorite typer of all is my Adler J3, but also has a rock hard platen.
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Mikeytap,
On my 1967 Facit TP2, I was able to pretty easily access the bell hammer rod through the removal of the peg-board cover plate on the bottom of the machine.
I held the pivot end of the delicate rod with a hemo-stat and then did some delicate bending of the hammer rod with a slender pair of long needle-nose pliers that have a 90-degree bend on its tips.
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And before I did any bending of metal, I made sure the entire bell hammer mechanism was thoroughly cleaned and not gummed-up and just sticky.