Groma Gromina - older sister of mighty Kolibri
Older sister of Groma Kolibri - equally low profile machine, ultraportable typewriter in most strict sense. Maybe not as sexy as Kolibri but still very handsome.
I bought her to study mechanical evolution between Gromina and Kolibri. And because I fancy thin, low profile, ultraportable machines, easy to hide at home so no one is mentioning quotas on the number of machines I own. You get my point, right?
This particular specimen came with its own carrying case, Wehrmacht-gray. Locking hatches were not engaging - apparently due to lacking springs.
I have no idea how they should look like but judging from the shape of latches I fitted standard, strong springs around swiveling posts. Works like a charm.
Gromina is made to be used mounted on the bottom plate of her carrying case. There are no feet on the machine once you unscrew it from the board.
That would be fine but I don’t like this. Mostly because the machine is so tiny and I want her to remain as small as possible. The board adds unnecessary thickness. Most importantly - the board acts as resonant membrane and typing on mounted machine is very loud and clunky.
Gromina has no bottom cover - Kolibri has it - so lap-typing requires using the board but for desk-top typing she should be fine without it. I could just screw legs into existing, threaded (M4) holes and call it a day but then I could not directly use carrying case.
My solution was either to screw knurled knobs with M4 thread so that I can unscrew them without tools prior to mounting typewriter in carrying case or to glue small rubber feet which will not disturb functionality of the case.
I went with the last option: self-adhesive silicone-compound rubber feet, of course Wehrmacht-grey.
They add enough height for the mechanism to clear the table top and are just thin enough to enable screwing the machine into its carrying case.
Typing when on these feet became instantly much more silent and smooth - while the machine stays in place even when I quickly return the carriage.
Apart from one or two butchered screws the machine was rather clean and was saved from WD40 “therapy”. I just needed to brush her from dirt and blow dust out the mechanism. All was working fine and smooth - but not the left margin!
After removal of carriage back plate I found the reason: red arrows show points left after missing part of this component.
To remove it from the machine one needs to pull away both platen knobs - otherwise side cover plates cannot be removed and there is no access to margin track screws.
After sliding the left margin cart out of the track it disintegrated even further. Not good.
There is no room around these carts to allow for screw heads so I was left with options of soldering/brazing, epoxy-gluing (JB Weld) or mechanical adapter encapsulating the remains of the cart. I went with the last option and fancied a rather complex fixture from thick copper plate.
Butchered to rough form it looked like that.
Some elbow grease with needle-files and polishing blocks I rounded all corners and drilled mounting holes for the steering tab. The original cart is held in place by copper tabs which bend into cart’s openings, holding the adapter in place. No glue, no alterations to the original part needed.
It looks rudiment as a proper handwork should. Works like it should so I don’t care - especially that it will not be seen at all after I put the back cover.
When assembling the track one needs to put it in exactly correct tilt - so that bell, margins and margin release work. After several attempts I finally found the right orientation and could call it a success.
Cleaning body panels and waxing followed, bringing back freshness and shine to the machine.
One last thing was too weak spring which holds paper bar. I changed the spring to much stronger one and the bar started to function properly again.
And she is ready to type!
As established tradition I took her out for photo session.
Foldable carriage return lever, to fit in low-profile carrying case.
The arm glides very close to ribbon cover - easy to scratch it if one does not install properly the cover after ribbon change. My specimen has very slight trace of such incident but most Grominas I saw had deep scratches through the paint. Careless owners, I suppose.
Typical for most Groma machines - tiny bell which gives beautiful, soft “ding” close to the end of line.
I’m not obsessed with dating my machines but one can look up serial number in Typewriter Database.
My machine was manufactured around 1954.
One of design features I like about her is space bar spanning the whole width of the machine. Very comfortable.
They dropped this feature on later Groma Kolibri, supposedly due to common problem of users who carry their machines holding them by front frame. Unimaginable for me to do but it happened all the time, resulting in damaged space bar. This machine avoided such fate, luckily.
Type bars resting flat in esthetic cutout in ribbon cover. When mounting the cover one needs to place it a bit under type bars before pressing the cover all the way into position. It is all tight and well matched.
At the bottom the machine has no protective plate so lap typing requires mounting her back into carrying case or using a piece of board. This is typical for most machines of post-War era.
Just for comparison I took out my Hermes Baby / Rocket, as it also bears military-gray paint and appears to be equally compact. Comparing both machines in their carrying cases.
Hermes appears to be marginally more compact of a package, mainly due to the fact that Gromina has wooden case while Hermes uses aluminum shell.
When out of cases the difference is nonexistent.
It is then up to perception which machine is more compact. Hermes seems more bulky and rounded, resulting in beefier form while Gromina is more sublime and, well, almost fragile.
Side comparison is a draw - both of them are equally low profile typers.
Taking now her younger sister, Kolibri, into comparison.
Design touch is much more apparent on Kolibri, Gromina is certainly more modest and toned, with less amount of chrome and not as “curvy” as Kolibri.
Mechanically they also differ. The biggest difference is that Gromina uses geared type bars, well known from Remington Portable machines.
Kolibri has traditional pull-levers instead, probably resulting in cheaper manufacturing. Both machines type equally well, I can not feel any difference in action.
Equally low profile, both are extra flat machines.