9 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2025
    1. i couldn't 4:50 get into the typewriter the screws were 4:52 in there so tight that there was no way 4:54 i could get that bottom off of the 4:55 machine so i did the only logical thing 4:58 i could think of i set it upside down 4:59 and then forgot about it for a really 5:01 long time i then went back in once i got 5:03 the confidence to go into this machine

      Confidence is a (the?) key ingredient of typewriter repair.

  2. Oct 2024
    1. Soderbeck tells us about a recent job that took 40 hours to complete. He ended up charging the customer just $50.

      "Well, I already gave him an estimate," he says with a chuckle. "I'm not gonna change that quote, I've been here too long to do that."

      It seems like an unwritten rule for typewriter repair shops to go way over on time versus pay to repair a typewriter based on an initial quote.

      I've seen at least one other quote like this, but don't think I collected it.

  3. Aug 2024
    1. This has been an ongoing "philosophers stone" in the repair community for a long time. Hard platens are the result of the rubber losing its moisture, there's virtually no way to fix that long term. Brake fluid, rubber renew, even the wintergreen oil trick only temporarily soften platens/feeds. They will absolutely go back to their former state after a time. (1-2 months) You can sand the exterior and clean with organic solvents to restore grip and improve the original platen, but recovery is really the only long term fix. *There's a ton of back and forth about the sanding method, particularly from the old timers being salty about it. But I have seen HUNDREDS of old platens in machines that have absolutely been sanded by repair folks back in the day, so there's definitely value in the process.

      Kirk Jackson, Nashville Typewriter via https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1ewb36f/rubber_renue_to_soften_platens/lj24vxx/