Tuesday 20 May 2014

Another Remington Noiseless 7


What does someone with a Remington Noiseless 7 want?  Another one.  I bought this (see above) on Ebay today, and it is on its way to me.  Depending on the condition when it arrives, I may well take it to Bob Montgomery at Bremerton Office Machine Co. for a clean and tune-up.

This one has spool covers, and a carrying case.  I will probably make another set of brass spool covers for it, but the case is intriguing.  I would like to make a case for my existing typewriter, but to do that I need to see how an existing case works, how it latches onto the base of the typewriter, and how the load is distributed by the case handle.

Sunday 11 May 2014

Brass Tab Stops for Remington Noiseless 7 Typewriters

The Remington Noiseless 7 typewriter I bought in April needed tab stops.  Bob Montgomery, the typewriter repair chap at Bremerton Office Machine Co. where I bought it, showed me what these looked like from the repair manual.  They are n-shaped pieces of flat metal that slip over a bar at the back of the machine.  He explained the originals that came with the typewriter were often discarded as it wasn't obvious what they did, but that replacements could be made.


The paper table folds back to show this bar, which has slots on its front and back to hold the metal stops.  When folded forward the paper table rests on the top of the stops so they won't fall off.


As you may have noticed sometimes happens, Plan A, to use slotted washers cut in half, looked likely, and easy to do, but failed because the slots were too wide.  That meant the stops wouldn't stop.

Plan B was to make the stops from a strip of 0.032" x 1/2" x 12" K & S brass from Ace Hardware.

Step one - make a slot that would fit on the tab bar.

Two small cuts with a junior hacksaw leave a tongue that breaks off by moving it up and down with a pair of thin ended pliers.


The slot this left was filed more accurately square with a flat needle file, and tested with the typewriter bar from underneath at the back until it just fitted.


The end of the strip with the slot in it was cut off to leave the n-shape, and the top corners rounded with a file.


With two of these in place the tab button has a use.  If you need more, make them the same way.


Using the tab stops makes the carriage stop suddenly and it was sliding on the oak platform of the typewriter stand, so I put a piece of non-slip shelf liner under it.  I'll cut it to fit in due course.











Friday 2 May 2014

Typewriter (or Laptop) Stand Part 3

Next step is the platform for the typewriter.  I happened to have a piece of oak that cut nicely into three 12" lengths, but choose whichever wood works for you.  Plane the joining edges in pairs, and edge glue them.


After the glue has set for a day, level the glued up board across the grain with a fore plane, flatten the top and bottom with a smoothing plane, and chamfer the edges with a block plane.

Put the stand upside-down on the underside of the board, centre the column, and draw round it with pencil.  Put a mark on one corner of the column and on the base.  That will let you align the two together.


Screw figure of eight connectors to the top of the column.  Note the two that will be affected by wood expansion and contraction of the top are turned so they can swivel as the wood moves with the humidity.


With the base upside-down again, mark holes for screws through the figure of eight connectors with an awl.  Take away the column again to drill pilot holes, then screw the column to the platform.


Turn the stand the right way up and you can use it with your typewriter or laptop.
If you find the stand too tall, you can remove the figure of eight connectors, saw some of the column off, and remount the figure of eight connectors easily.  If it is too short, you can shim the space between the column and the platform.


In use I've made this so my feet go either side of the column comfortably.  When I'm sure the height is perfect, and I've added a copy holder to the back of the platform, I'll varnish the stand for protection.

Part 1 Part 2