Well, he's covered the important stuff which is to immobilize the machine in every way, even inside of a case. I'm not sure about using carboard inside of a plastic bag to do that - peanuts would be better - but as long as it works and doesn't damage the machine that's the main thing. Packing a machine well is important, but it's also easy to go into overkill too. I've had machines shipped to me with no packing whatsoever, just the typewriter and case dropped into a cardboard box, and the machine arrived in perfect condition - go figure. I don't know how much it helps, but I'm always baffled when a shipper can't even be bothered to put a FRAGILE sticker on the box.

Right, so I've been having a little experience with a guy on eBay who was selling a Royal HH in beautiful condition, and you never see those over here much. But I grew up in Hartford and am on a mission to bring a couple of those little fellow Hartford children home to London! He said collection only but down in the listing he also said courier if you arrange. I emailed, but no reply. So I bid; no one else did; 99p. Admittedly not a motivational haul for him! 

Well in the end the sale has been abandoned, and I should have realised it would be like that because his name is Scooby something and he basically can't be arsed even to write a whole sentence, much less pack a Royal HH for a courier... & frankly I don't want to pay good money for the experience of receiving that parcel.

But in the meantime, I was reasearching this & that on the internet, and came across this brilliant video about packing a Hermes 3000, and it addresses some of the controversies that have been raging in our own little corner. About carriage locking etc. I like this guy's videos a lot, actually, anyway. He has a GREAT voice, and I love how his music is always on and you just feel like you're there in the shop with him. He seems to talk common sense about this issue; and I'm sure he is describing the exact way my SM5 was ruined. And the Studio 44.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y797XByAfEY

It strikes me that, yes the manufacturers did put the carriage locks on, but they were designed to deal with situations that might just happen to anyone who carries their portable around. When the machines were shipped new, they had all that cardboard etc that the manuals tell you to remove, further protecting the carriages. There was simply no way they could have envisaged the shipping scenaris we have now, where untrained people are packaging machines and underpaid others are flinging them around the way they do, in the quantities they do. I think Typewriter Justice talks good sense. He also recommends this page on packing.

(N.b., the reason I was consulting this video was that the HH has what appears to be a similar lefthand carriage release button on the side of it?)


 

Last edited by KatLondon (16-4-2015 06:21:14)

KatLondon wrote:

I was reasearching this & that on the internet, and came across this brilliant video about packing a Hermes 3000,  

I couldn't disagree more with the packing instructions made in that video. The carriage should be completely immobilized, which includes using a carriage lock - if there is one - and a bit of clear plastic shipping film wrapped around the machine to make sure that it can't be jarred during a heavier impact.

I posted this photo before in this thread, but it's worth showing it again; THIS is what can potentially happen to a carriage when it's not properly secured for transport (in case it's not obvious, the carriage was completely torn off the machine, which resulted in extensive damage to the carriage, rails, and ball retainers - nevermind the rest of the machine that was covered in dents and scratches):


 

Last edited by Uwe (16-4-2015 15:20:37)

OK Kat, you've got me to stick my head above the parapet :-)  When most typewriters were new, they left the factory with the carriage release buttons locked in the 'released' position but the carriage fully immobilised using wedges of rubber under the carriage or removable plastic stops pushed hard into the carriage rails.  The idea being that the rack or the escapement might get damaged by a hard jolt if it wasn't 'out of gear' whilst in transit.  Well, that is the belt-and-braces theory and very applicable to large office size machines with corresponingly heavy carriages.  I have posted hundreds of portable typewriters all over the UK, and many abroad.  I always pack very well and immobilise the carriage, but never lock the carriage release buttons.  The reason being that most of my customers are not mechanically minded and would be worried by having to unlock the buttons. (I even once had a customer cut the drawcord on arrival because he thought that it was part of the unpacking process !)  I haven't had a machine arrive damaged yet ! (fingers crossed !)

beak wrote:

I'm happy to do the Photoshop / illustration work, if others can contribute the names of some parts from their own native language.

@beak I'd be happy to do the German. And I probably could handle French, too.

Regarding SG shipment, as the carriage can be detached easily (don't know if that applies to all SG1s, though), I guess it is a good idea to seperate the carriage from the machine for shipment. Probably makes a bigger parcel (I received my end-50s SG1 with extra wide carriage in a huge relocation packing case). Two seperate parcels might be an option for international shipment.

The most stunning shipment I ever received was a pink SM7, which had nothing but a strip of  thin masking tape around the case. No damage )

Last edited by kpropaganda (19-4-2015 06:26:46)