![]() The low-grade panic I felt did inspire my first lesson: Document. Right after the Futura was restored back to health, I put a bunch of loose leaf paper into a three-ring binder, wrote Royal Futura 800 atop the first page, and took notes on everything I’d done and seen: initial impressions and observations, notable blemishes and potential problem spots, its serial number, and suggestions for further repairs and cleaning. Oh crap, where do these go? Trial and error got me the rest of the way and all systems returned to order eventually, but I was very happy when it finally reconstituted and typed without a hitch. During disassembly I thought “The black ones go here” and “the short silver ones go here” but a day later, after I’d spent so much time and energy inside the thing, as I was bringing the body pieces together I realized my error. ![]() I realized only after it was too late that I didn’t make note of which screws went where. ![]() Though each typewriter make and model will present its own challenges, the biggest mistake I made with the Futura will apply to every typewriter I work on. I could have kept at it but wanted to move on, so I just made sure the pieces were otherwise clean.Īs this was my first major typewriter clean-up project, I learned a lot. The aged padding crumbled off at the slightest touch (unfortunately falling into the body), but the hardened glue remained recalcitrant, even after a few rounds of goo remover and scraping. The most difficult parts to clean were the glue remnants from the padding pieces, on the removable side pieces and inside the ribbon cover (which pops out when you push the red Royal logo in front): Since nothing was obstructing the machinations I figured I’d leave good-enough alone. Without taking the whole machine apart - a process I feared that, past a certain point, I wouldn’t be able to recover from - I couldn’t touch every piece that needed cleaning, but with the compressed air can and some swabs I got to damn near everything I could. The very middle section, wedged between the escapement and the carriage, was a tough get. Piece by piece I went along and wiped down what I could, making sure not to disturb any of the mechanisms. Initially I was ill-equipped for the thorough clean job it needed, but after a quick trip to Walgreens my supply cache was filled with Q-tips, cotton wiping pads, a compressed air can for spraying out hard-to-reach areas, and a pen light for peering into the innards. Its insides, however, were filthy: cat hair, dried padding dust, and the detritus of decades had accumulated on its oiled architecture. Mechanically it’s sound too, typing smoothly and with no apparent malfunctions. The body is undamaged and mostly quite shiny all the way around. I don’t remember how long ago this 1959 Royal Futura 800 typewriter came into my possession, but I know it sat in my old room at my parents’ place for about a decade before, in my recent typewriter mania, I eagerly reclaimed it for examination, restoration, and loving use.Īs outwardly there wasn’t much wrong with it, the Before shot I took looks quite similar to the After:
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