Underwood Finger Flite Universal. Fifties esthetics at its best.
Not exactly rare machine, quite the opposite, but a great looker and magnificent typewriter. Basket-shift machine, no-nonsense operation, very light and snappy touch. Moreover - very easy to service, I dare to claim that Underwood engineers were thinking about servicemen when they designed this machine.
My specimen was just dirty. Very dirty but still working fine. It also had type bar broken but luckily it was still attached to the machine.
The usual procedure - stripping down to bare bones for cleaning and inspection. Body panels are kept with just a few screws. To remove the front and side panel one needs to unscrew ribbon-wind/manual reverse knob.
It is a left-hand thread.
Right-hand platen knob goes out after loosening the set screw.
Left-hand knob has its set screw hidden longer inside the axis.
Pulling it out, like for de-coupling the platen line spacing ratchet, reveals the screw.
To gain more place for platen removal I removed the paper table. Loosening locking nut and backing the set screw unhooks the table from its pivot.
As the table was not sitting exactly in the center I adjusted the similar screw on the other side.
Now comes the platen. It sits tight and paper-release lever is in the way.
Just take the lever up - paper release position - and you get a clearance.
On the left side the platen is still held by its axis. It cannot be removed while the platen sits in the carriage so just press it into the platen. After the platen is out it can be pulled out with pliers or pushed out with the platen knob from the other side.
Extracted from the platen the axis shows clutch release cone.
The platen was in good shape but bearing marks of frequent use. I sand it smooth and clean the oxidized rubber.
Paper deflector is in excellent shape - no rust, no dirt either. It is hanged with similar pivoting concept as the paper table.
You don’t have to remove it to inspect and pull out paper rollers. Just lift it and swing out of way. Servicemen-friendly approach.
I remove it anyway, for better access for cleaning. Loosening one screw, on the right side of the carriage, frees the component.
Service-side of the carriage - with line advance and ratchet pressure roller - nothing flies away in absence of the platen. All sits secured. Again - servicemen in mind: easy to clean and to repair.
Serial number on the rail of the carriage, right side.
Machine ready for cleaning. It was enough to brush it and blowing dust with compressed air. Remaining, accessible dirt cleaned with stick-pads.
Spacebar is made of Bakelite. It bears traces of unsuccessful gluing. Looks like a glue to bond rubber, no wonder it did not hold long.
I considered my options. I could use this piece to make a new key. To match a burgundy color I could carve it from mahogany.
Or I can try to salvage the original key. Worth trying, always better with original parts - and this one is a sign of really brutal excitement!
I clean all rests of the old glue.
Tedious job but necessary to provide reliable surface for epoxy. I used fast curing semi-transparent epoxy. Left excess until partial curing, I will cut it once half-cured and sand the rest after full cure.
While this was left to cure I clean body panels. I use sunny weather to dry them on car roof.
Type slugs cleaned.
So why was the spacebar broken? One reason may be that the owner - or repairmen - installed too thick rubber bumpers on the bottom tabs. There was not enough space for them, spacebar could not be pressed down enough to trigger escapement. To “fix” the problem someone bent the bottom of the panel, to gain 1-2 mm room. All that instead of simply replacing these rubber rings with something a bit smaller.
Fixed that by replacing them with thinner, silicone tubing. Bottom panel straightened back to original shape.
With the mechanism cleaned, platen sanded and cleaned I assemble all back together. Straightforward process. To install the platen it is best to press the axle all the way into the platen. It will be pushed out after installing the right-hand platen knob so no worries.
Original ribbon was at its life-end so I wind a new one: cotton!
This machine needs to have rivets - or any kind of hinder - on the ribbon, to trigger ribbon reverse mechanism. Neat solution with document binder pins:
Done!
So finally - type test!
Time for photo session. Lines of this machine remind me Buick Super from the 50s.
Even ribbon cover opens like a car hood.
What’s under the hood? Type strength regulator, of course!
Decals on this machine are in pristine shape.
Ribbon color selector is also a decal.
Underwood emblem is in painted metal, a few chips in paint reveal yellowish metal surface.
I’m glad that I saved the original spacebar. It shows clearly that it was repaired but functions perfectly and bears sign of events full of anger (I think).
I added epoxy fillet underneath. It adds lots of strength and is only visible when the machine is up-side-down.
Fantastic machine indeed!