Servicing, Refurbishment & Repair

The words serviced, refreshed, refurbished and repaired get thrown around quite a bit by people selling typewriters. Their use is often arbitrary and, at worst, misleading. To help you, the buyer, feel confident purchasing a typewriter in this shop, here is a breakdown of each term and its use to describe work done here at The Write Typer. I hope the following explanation also serves to demonstrate the work that goes into typewriters at The Write Typer.

Servicing:

Servicing involves chemically deep-cleaning a typewriter and any associated disassembly that this requires, including, but not limited to, the removal of the typewriter's metal or plastic shell, platen, feed rollers, card guides, and (occasionally) carriage. If a typewriter's typebars are particularly sticky, a "pulling of the segment" and individual cleaning of each typebar may be necessary.

Beyond chemically cleaning the typewriter, servicing includes refreshing the platen and feed rollers with rubber rejuvinator (a chemical compound made specifically to restore the grip, flexibility, and tackiness of old, hard rubber parts) and polishing chrome and nickel-plated parts with metal polish. Polishing of individual keytop rings can be included in a service but will increase its cost, as this work is quite time-consuming. Plastic platen knobs and keytops are cleaned and polished with plastic polish.

Paintwork and decals are carefully cleaned, and smooth finishes are polished, waxed and buffed to shine. Careful polishing and detailing of older, more delicate reflective paintwork or that which is heavily marked will also increase the cost of a service.

Servicing also includes a light clean of a typewriter's case, inside and out.

Adjustments at the entry level of servicing include upper/lower case alignment and tuning a quiet or silent bell. More complex and time-consuming adjustments, including, but not limited to, those made to the escapement or trip point, typebar forming, and mainspring tightening/loosening are also available during a service but will impact the cost.

As much as is possible, any required adjustments and repairs are brought to the attention of customers during initial appraisal of the typewriter. 

Finally, all servicing includes accurate and appropriate lubrication where needed and thorough testing of all functions.

The time and effort required to service a typewriter is dependant on the presence of dirt, old oil/penetrant, and corrosion as well as the amount of adjustment required to get the typewriter in good working order. These factors are considered when providing customers a quote for servicing their typewriters (you can read more about the cost of servicing and how to book a servicing or repair of your typewriter in our 'Typewriter Servicing & Repair' page).

(The term refreshed is used by this shop within the confines of servicing - i.e., the platen and feed rollers are refreshed by an application of rubber rejuvinator during a service; or, the paintwork is refreshed with a clean and polish; or, the typewriter's case is refreshed with a clean).

Refurbishment:

Refurbishment begins with the above servicing but goes further by also including the replacement of some or all of the following material components: hard platens; flattened feed rollers, crumbling/melted rubber washers; soundproofing and broken metal parts.

Refurbishment may also apply to typewriter cases, where handles, zips, inner linings and coverings are replaced.

Refurbishing aims to return the typewriter to its original form as much as possible, both in terms of looks and operation.

Repairs:

The term repaired is relevant to work carried out on typewriters brought into the shop by a customer. A repair is work carried out to fix a particular problem that a typewriter is experiencing. If the cause of a typewriter's fault is not known to the customer, its identification is made during initial appraisal (when possible).

A repair corrects a single identifiable problem, such as a broken or bent part, and does not include a chemical cleaning and the adjustments that comprise a service.

If the solution to a malfunction is a chemical clean (often the solution to misbehaving typewriters), customers will be so advised, and the work becomes a service. 

A Note on Rust:

Many typewriters display evidence of surface corrosion where the protective layer on metal parts has degraded due to oxidation. This occurs on nickel and chrome plated parts, inner blued parts or on springs. In the vast majority of cases, the corrosion is usually limited to the surface (surface rust).

Servicing cleans surface rust and treats metal parts to make future oxidation less likely. 

Refurbishment replaces heavily corroded parts or, if they are chrome or nickel parts, re-plates them. 

Keeping typewriters in dry environments, free from damp and moisutre, is important in preventing the return of oxidation. 

If the rust is extensive on a typewriter brought in by a customer, servicing may take longer, and customers will be provided with an increased quote. It is possible that the extent of rust in a typewriter makes rust removal cost-prohibitive.