Pages

▼

Wednesday, 30 November 2011

1935 maroon Smith & Corona Silent Portable Typewriter: New on the shelf, but help needed

This gorgeous maroon Smith & Corona 1935 Silent (serial number 1S27639) arrived yesterday from my friend Derrick Brown in Brisbane.
I have been very fortunate in my dealings with Derrick, as in the past year or so I have acquired from him a New Yost, a Noiseless portable, a Fox 24 and a Hammond 2, all presented in fantastic condition.
Derrick had offered this Corona on eBay at a starting price of  $375 and when some smart Aleck offered him $75 for it he was so disgusted he withdrew it from sale. It's mine now, thanks Aleck.
It looks magnificent, but I fear it must have received a bump in transit. The pullcord had come away from the mainspring and was wrapped around the base of the mainspring. The mainspring no longer functions, as the spring inside the drum clicks over and doesn't "catch", so it can't be wound tight.
Anyone know if it can be "reset" in some way, or does it need to be taken part to be fixed?  I have put in a temporary, replacement mainspring until I can get the original fixed, but I can't seem to get enough tension or traction going to type properly, as you can see:
Any help would be greatly appreciated. As I think you will agree, this typewriter is far too beautiful not to use:
at

2 comments:

  1. Richard P1 December 2011 at 07:42

    Very pretty. The mechanical problem is beyond me, unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ender26 April 2016 at 20:33

    Hello,
    Your blog is a wealth of information, every time I google something on typewriters, I'm directed to one of your posts. I'm not sure if you keep track of comments, but if you do, I'd like to know if you ever fixed the mainspring on this beauty.
    I have a Series 5 Sterling I'm trying to repair and I think there may be a problem with its mainspring - no springyness at all - so I'm looking for some info on how to take apart the drum and what can be done with it. Drum looks very similar to this one.

    ReplyDelete

I do not accept anonymous comments.
I only allow comments under User IDs provided I know who that person is.
Do not ask me to evaluate typewriters.
Comments must be relevant to the post.
As the author of these posts, I make the decisions about what they contain - it is not open to discussion.