Choosing a Typewriter for Writers<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

Manual typewriters for writers with a focus on machines made without needing to tinker/repair them.

Joe primarily focuses on typewriters he actually has in his personal collection more than other potential great machines. Having been collecting for his particular purpose for a long time, he's got a pretty tight set of good recommendations.

He's also got some good advice here about how to go about finding a machine and using professional typewriter shops to do so.

Electric typebar typewriters with more tolerance for poor technique.

IBM Selectrics, maintenance intensive, need carbon replacement film.

Printwheel/Daisy Wheel typewriters. Brother, Nakajima, Swintec (components made by Nakajima),

Ultra portable typewriters

• Royal / Silver Seiko typewriter - no tabs
• Olympia Splendid 33, 66, 99 - no tabs the 33 is monochrome

Portables

• Smith-Corona 5 Series
• Olympia SM series: SM1 - SM9
• Hermes 3000 series (overpriced on the used market)

Standards

Big and don't come with a case; will last nearly forever<br /> - Underwood 5<br /> - Royal standards, especially those that came after the 10

Typebar Electrics

• Olympia Reporter (Nakajima in Japan); designed in 80s for journalists
• Royal Saturn (Silver-Seiko) one of the quietest out there; uses 9/16" ribbon; bichrome with tabs,
• Smith-Corona Electric - first portable electric to hit the market.
• IBM Selectric (71; manual correction)

Daisywheel typewriters

• Brother
• RaRo has new Daisy wheels
• delay between keypress and print

Royal KMM basic introduction

Looks like a post-war standard Royal KMM, sometimes best known as the machine used by Jessica Fletcher in the TV show Murder She Wrote (as well as the upcoming Jamie Lee Curtis reboot.)

Richard Polt has you covered for the manual and some repair manuals/information.

Some contemporaneous videos on use and maintenance may help.

As for ribbon replacement, try this video. The spools for the standard Royal typewriters (Ten, H, KH, KHM, KMM, KMG, RP, HH, FP, Empress, 440, 660, etc.) have a custom metal mechanism for their auto-reverse. The spools are known as the T1 (which is the same as General Ribbon part # T1-77B , T1-77BR, and Nu-Kote B64.) If winding on 1/2 inch wide universal ribbon onto them, remove the eyelette which isn't needed and may interfere with the auto reverse. If necessary, Ribbons Unlimited carries these spools or you can get them (and ribbon) from a local typewriter repair shop.

Ribbon purveyors: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1. I prefer Baco and Fine Line for their spectacular pricing and quality.

Other known historical users of the Royal KMM:

• John Ashbery
• Russell Baker
• Ray Bradbury
• Richard Brautigan
• Richard Brooks
• Pearl S. Buck
• Johnny Carson (or possibly KMG)
• Norman Corwin
• Frank Herbert
• Helen Keller
• Murray Kempton
• Ken Kesey
• George Washington Lee
• Harper Lee
• Ursula K. LeGuin
• David McCullough
• Margaret Mead
• Dorothy Paraker
• Grantland Rice
• Georges Simenon
• Christina Stead
• Tom Wolfe

https://www.typewriters101.com/

Typewriters - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood by [[Fred Rogers]]<br /> episode 1083<br /> https://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/mrn/episodes/1083/index.html

"I was very much interested in letters." -- Fred Rogers