Hey! Look over there!

In an attempt to distract you from the fact that it has been over a month since my last post, and the typewriter revamp STILL isn't done, I present you with this:



That would be one small part of the Christmas presents I received from my aunt. She got me a whole box of dresses and skirts from the 1950s. None of them fit, since most of them have a 24-30 inch waist and I....don't, but most of them are lovely and I'm enjoying converting them into something closer to my size. This example was once a dress that almost fit, but was far too tight in the shoulders to be practical. I also made a crinoline slip to go underneath, though that still needs some work, I think.

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Though the revamp isn't complete, I can offer this teaser image of the Royalite. What you see in the platen is a review I will be posting soon.



More to come. Stay tuned.

Typecast #4

Sent from his Royal highness, Prince Henry, my Royal KMM. Click to enlarge.

A Good Day for the Tin Man

In the DVD player: When in Rome
Currently Reading: The Golden Fleece and the Heroes before Achilles

We finally had a break in the weather, so this morning I hauled Oliver and Henry outside to apply the rust converter. The '53 is still in the garage, so I made do with a sunny spot on the front porch and spent about three or four hours taking apart the few pieces I was brave enough to attempt (and knew I'd be able to put back properly). He got a good deep cleaning (or as deep as I could get without taking off the carriage--something I have no idea how to do) and I put the converter on as many of the exposed pieces of metal as I could get to. I also took a ton of macro shots, the best of which are now up on Devart.

I put the converter on Henry, too, but it's not as impressive of a result since Royal KMMs are black, anyway.

It should also be noted that this counts as my weight training for the day. I'd forgotten just how heavy those machines are! I think the Oliver is easily 25 pounds, the KMM has to be at least 30. Of course, I'm also a wimp with no upper body strength so that might be a bit of an exaggeration.

Now if only I can get my hands on a Dremel to polish some of it, since re-nickeling is kind of out of the question.

I'm off to upload the next chapter of Fortune's Fight. At some point I'll be scanning and uploading my journals for both Henry and Oliver's restoration efforts.

Shopping Mojo

Mom and I went to the Scott Antique Market at the Expo Center today, and I somehow managed to satisfy almost all of my nerdy habits--and I did it for less than $50!



On the right, you can see a cone of yarn--roughly 5-10 pounds (I'm awful at guessing weight, especially after I've carried it around all day and it feels more like 20) of cotton yarn, for $10. Perfect for dying!

On the left, right in front of Henry, you can see two comic books. Two issues of New Teen Titans. I haven't opened them up yet to check the date, but I think they're from some time in the '70s. One of them is about Starfire, and the other involves Raven going berserk. I picked them mostly because they centered around my two favorite characters. I was hoping for some NightWing action, but no such luck. Both of those together were $5.

My favorite (and I think you can guess which it is and why) is the new/old typewriter in the middle! It's an Oliver #9 from 1912, and is in this great olive drab color (and I can't believe I just said that. Normally I hate anything that can be considered olive or drab, let alone both together). This machine is interesting because of how the text works. You can see in the photo below, the type actually comes down from the side, rather than up from the center. It was just so cool, I knew I had to make an offer. When the guy said he wanted twenty bucks for it, I jumped on it, no haggling. (He did give me $10 off the original price since it was the last day of the sale.) Another interesting thing is that every key has a either a letter or number, and a symbol on it. And judging by the look of the keys, this beauty has hardly been used in the last 98 years.

There is a lot of rust, however. One of the spool caps appears to be rusted in places, and the other is missing while the spool itself won't go back into it's proper place. The return on the carriage is very sticky, and platen is as hard as a rock. There was more dust on the thing when I picked it up than in most parts of the Sahara. I gave it a first cleaning tonight and found some lovely little surprises under the grime, but the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. For right now my goal is to de-gunk it and go over it with some steel wool, then it will likely hibernate on a shelf as a display item for a few weeks until it warms up and I can apply the rust remover to both it and Henry, someplace where the cat won't get tempted to take a lick when my back is turned (like the garage).

I really want to stay up and get more done, but it is getting late and I must be up early tomorrow for school. I don't even have time to make all of my notes about Oliver right now.

I have a new obsession.

Meet Henry.

Henry is a 1945-46 (to the best of my knowledge, based on his serial number) Royal KMM manual typewriter. I’ve been wanting a manual typewriter (or two, or three) for years and years, but I figured that I didn’t need another hobby and that with the prevalence of computers now I wouldn’t be able to find parts for it, and how would I repair it, because really, what’s the use of owning something like a vintage typewriter (or sewing machine, or etc) if you can’t use it from time to time? I’m not saying it would be an every day household item, but there’s just something about using a typewriter than my shiny MacBook Pro just can’t compete with (sorry, George) (Yes, I name everything). Anyway, the problem was solved when I received this little beauty for Christmas.

While I can’t say that I learned to type on a typewriter (I actually think it was either an IBM or Apple circa 1987, because even in elementary school our computers were ten years out of date), most of my early writing was done on an electric typewriter we borrowed on a long-term basis from my grandparents. We had it from the time I was about five until I was around ten, maybe thirteen, when we got our first computer. It was blue, and electric, and my favorite feature was that it had a backspace key and was correctable. I wrote stories and made cards on it, and I also made magazine and newsletters for friends, family, and the kids that my mom babysat. I loved the sound of the keys, and how interactive it was: being able to set up the paper just so, watching the letters hammer onto the paper. As happy as I was to have a computer, I was sad to see the typewriter go.

Right now it seems that all of Henry’s parts are in working order, but he needs a little oil and some cleaning (I about died when mom told me she’d wiped him down with Lysol wipes. The conservator in me had a minor stroke. I really don't understand her love of bleach wipes). So far I’ve cleaning him up a little, but the sodium bicarbonate in water that was recommended by one of the antique typewriter sites left a white film and it takes a lot of rinsing with a drop of dish detergent in water, plus plain water, to get it off.

If anyone is interested in the process, I will be taking notes and keeping track of everything I do.

So far, Hermes even approves, though he hasn't heard how loud the keys are. He's just in love with the cover (I'm thinking I should make one. Something prettier than grey nylon).