… or now, that is what I call old school!
The story behind
A few years ago, my wife brought an unknown typewriter from her family home. It was a typewriter that her mom used to work on some decades ago. It was in really bad shape and was sitting on a shelf for a long while until I decided I’ll give it a go and attempt to restore it to its former glory. Besides, everyone restores retro computers these days ;P
I was hesitating a bit because I’ve never fixed or restored a typewriter but one day, after a few self-motivation medicaments …
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/bGptzO7.png)
… I was like, C’MON MAN! this is doable!
State of a typewriter
Below are some pics of how this typewriter before I started working on it.
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Disassembly
I’ve started to disassemble the whole unit and did some initial cleaning as it was full of dust collected over the years.
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Paint job
The original paint was in really poor shape. I wanted to repaint the whole case but I had to remove the old paint layer first.
Sanding or sandblasting was not an option but since the case is made of metal, I’ve resorted to chemistry. It worked like a charm 🙂
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A few minutes later …
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Another few minutes …
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Ready! 😀
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After degreasing with Acetone, it was finally ready for the first layer of undercoating.
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I’ve also applied target paint afterward but I forgot to take pics during that process :/
Cleaning and fixing mechanical parts
The case was painted and ready but I had to take care of the internals of the typewriter. The first thing that had to be thoroughly cleaned was metal printing hammers. These were covered by old, dried-up ink. I’ve used several different tools to clean every single hammer separately. A bit time-consuming job but worth working on it.
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Tada! Done 🙂
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Keycaps
Next, the keycaps were removed with the help of a hotair gun set to 107C.
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Removed and ready for cleaning.
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In the meantime, I’ve cleaned the drum and oiled all mechanical parts.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/eAxLT4z.png)
It looked like this before 🙂
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I’ve also cleaned and polished transparent paper holders and I have no idea what these are called lol.
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I’ve also replaced old paper washers with new ones. Guess where I’ve sourced new washers ;P
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With that part ready, I’ve started working on fresh soundproofing pads and further assembly.
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After cleaning, key caps turned out to be scratched and worn out. I’ve used baby oil on ’em to bring back the shine 🙂
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Label
This particular model didn’t have a model sticker so I had to dig through depths of interwebz to find an original pic of it. I’ve browsed hundreds of typewriter pictures and finally found what this typewriter model is – CONSUL – I’ve also realized that I am missing a plastic front label.
There was no way to get the original label so I had to recreate it from scratch. I’ve used online pics as a reference.
Below are some pics that I’ve found useful.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/JMVq87a.png)
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With the above pics, I was able to run analysis software to find the best matching font. It turned out that the closest match is AZ CutScript W00
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/exlc6ng.png)
I’ve imported this font to CAD/CAM software and created an STL for 3D printing.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/f34xKPX.png)
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With the model ready, I could 3D print it, sand it a bit, fill in irregularities with putty and paint it with a matching color afterward. I’ve also painted feet along with a label.
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/TfmDR5y.png)
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Final pics
Now with a proper label, my job was done 🙂
Below are some pics of a restored and WORKING Consul typewriter straight from the ’70s 🙂
![](https://retrohax.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hkjUFVj.png)
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That’s it!!
I hope you enjoyed this old Czechoslovakian typewriter restoration job.
Outro
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If you want to donate a dead computer then drop me an email. Extreme cases are welcome
I like the tip you gave that a proper dissemble process for a typewriter could help identify problems for an effective repair approach. A few days ago, my friend mentioned he was looking for a typewriter repair consultation for their writing business because of malfunctioning issues due to a lack of maintenance. He asked if I had thoughts on the best repair approach for safety. I value the helpful tips on the advantages of planning for a proper use approach. I’ll tell him that consulting a typewriter repair service can help him with proper information about the best repair process.
I can’t even…just incredible.
Thank you 🙂
Good job !!!
Thanks 🙂
Suuuuuper!!!!!!!!