Everest Mod 90. Italian beauty.
I used to trust commercial auction houses to describe objects professionally. Accompanying photographs are always detailed and show all scratches or wear&tear of sold objects.
This machine came to me from one such auction house in Sweden. Nobody else was bidding so the price was reasonable. It was a few years ago, thou. When I finally received mail with the machine I was very excited: the form, color, emblems - I like everything about this model. Will it type equally good as it looks? I wanted to try.
Nothing in the description nor photographs suggested this.
I checked again pictures accompanying the auction but there was no trace of this. You cannot miss these cracks and dents in keys, even if you know nothing about typewriters. The photographs were made in a way to mask this, with proper lighting!
Well, you learn all the time. To send back this machine would cost me too much to be worth it. I wrote to the auction house complaining about the condition but I was ignored. Fine, no more purchases from Kalmar auction house. Ever.
The machine went to storage and I forgot about her. I was too angry to even start working on her. Only recently, when “venting” the collection I stumbled upon her. What a beautiful machine!
Time to do something about it - how does she type?
Oh, she types beautifully! She came with carbon ribbon, type slugs were clean and Elite-size typeface was perfectly aligned and crisp on paper. The action is smooth and snappy, no marshmallows!
After typing a few pages I decided it’s time to take care of her. She is worth saving.
List of problems was short:
dust everywhere but luckily no excess oil or WD40 - all was moving smoothly
damaged keys
a bit “clunky” sound of spacebar and rather noisy action. Needs better sound isolation
line advance mechanism was not working
I considered options for repairing the keyboard. One could be to 3D-print new keys. And while doing totally new ones I could make them with metal rings and glass tops. Original keys could be used for repairing other machines - I have a few with missing keys.
I removed one key and started sanding it, to get rid off legend. I wanted to use it as Shift key on another machine.
But then I stopped, looking on half-done key: the scratches disappeared, sanded away, and the legend was still there, nice and clear. What if I just sand these keys, to satin finish, and keep them as originally on the machine? It will suit her much better than “prosthetic” keyboard I wanted to make.
That seemed to be a way forward. Instead of fixing this other machine (with missing Shift) I took Everest on the bench. At last!
Removing panels and ribbon cover (car-hood style) is pretty straightforward, with a couple of screws on sides. No screws holding them at the bottom of the machine.
The back panel is a part of the frame - spacebar escapement trip and ribbon vibrator/color selector are anchored there.
One can leave it on and still clean the machine - access from the bottom is good - but I wanted to add sound isolation there so it had to be removed.
This machine most probably was never serviced. All screws, even the smallest, are in pristine condition. No butchered heads. What a joy!
Platen removal is straightforward but there is a catch to it.
First goes platen knob. On this machine it is enough to unscrew the right one. The screw is centric to the shaft.
At the very base sits a thin shim or washer, acting as a support for compression spring.
After removing platen knob one needs to unscrew one (only!) screw holding the shaft.
Unlike on all other machines I worked on - this is not a set-screw and it needs to be removed entirely. In my case it was not possible - platen’s rubber was overhanging the screw head and it could not be entirely backed. The shaft was sitting rock-solid. I had to shear the screw to remove the shaft!
It turns out that this screw is entering the shaft all the way thru and it is the shaft, not platen, which is threaded. That’s how they manage to keep the shaft well connected to platen with only one screw.
With platen removed I could dive deeper into carriage guts.
To save me trouble at re-assembly I secure line advance ratchet and surrounding mechanism with a temporary screw.
While looking at this I noticed why the line advance mechanism was not working: the tab got bent and was sitting outside of space setting arm. Formed it back into shape - it should sit as on picture below.
Paper table and deflector create one assembly. To remove it from the carriage one needs to unscrew one screw, on the right side.
This removes one bracket and the table can be moved out from the other, on the left. But before - detach two hard springs on the back.
And voila! Paper feed rollers accessible for inspection.
Last body panels to remove - ribbon bowls. Each is held by just one screw, running through a spacer below.
Stripped from panels the machine gives good access to internal mechanism. Down to my de-dusting station: big dust got brushed away, rests blown out with compressed air.
Paper rollers were in excellent condition but very dirty, with rests of TipEx and other dirt. Chemical cleaning brought them back to shape.(attention: product placement!)
Body panels have some sound isolation but it is just thick cardboard. I will replace them with felt.
Next I remove keys. All will be sanded and polished to satin finish.
One key got too much chipping to be good enough for just sanding. I need to rebuild the top part of it. JB-welding should take care of that.
I left it for two days to fully cure.
Shaped with sanding paper and painted looks almost like it never happened.
Once all keys got their satin finish I could put them back onto the machine. At last!
I decided to re-coat the platen. It was not damaged - no chipping nor cracks but it was hard and slippery, not taking paper well enough. I used two layers of thick, double-walled heat shrink tubing. But first the platen needs to be turned down on a lathe, to accommodate these new layers.
Original diameter recorded.
Heat shrink tube, depending on amount of shrinkage, will become thicker. Which is logical - the material does not disappear, just shrinks. I removed nominal thickness for two layers of tubing, to have a bit of excess material for final turn on a lathe.
Platen ends got excess rubber removed so that set screw could be now installed/removed with ease. No need to shear the screw to remove the platen now.
I had to fix this sheared screw which parts were still sitting inside central rod.
Since this is a thru-hole it went smooth.
I don’t have set screws matching the existing thread (whatever it is but it’s not metric) so I re-tapped it for M2.5.
All ready for assembly.
Last thing to do - new ribbon. Spools on this machine have slightly smaller diameter than universal spools.
Ribbon rewinding is easy here - the machine is equipped with “universal ribbon winding port” on each side.
All right, so how does she type now?
Well, she types like a dream!
It’s end of March so the snow is still everywhere. Right environment for Everest photo session.
Venting the engine…
According to Typewriter Database this machine was produced around 1951. Decorations, however, have the look of earlier era, classic pre-War esthetics.
Yes, she is a looker. And typer, for sure.