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Friday, 6 May 2022

The Little White Rabbit Jumps Back to Life: Nakajima Litton Royal Portable Typewriter


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9 comments:

  1. Richard P7 May 2022 at 23:56

    Sounds like a satisfying act of liberation. Type on, little typewriter!

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  2. Ted8 May 2022 at 01:23

    Is there an indication whether this was made in Japan or Korea? (:

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  3. Robert Messenger8 May 2022 at 09:07

    Thanks Richard. Yes, I had the owner convinced the escapement wheel mecnanism was damaged and couldn't be fixed. He told me to dump the machine in a rubbish bin and wanted to buy a replacement machine from me. Luckily I didn't dump it, but kept pressing the back spacer, intrigued as to why the carriage moved one way and not the other. Seemingly, my incessant use of the back spacer eventually freed up the wheel, and all was well.
    Ted, embossed inside the plastic case are the words, "Typewriter and case made in Japan". Nothing on the machine itself about country of origin. The instruction manual and unpacking instructions are printed in Japan. These machines have a serial number printed on to a sticker. This one's number is 50266912.

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  4. Ted8 May 2022 at 11:17

    That's interesting - a Japan made pre-1974 Nakajima badged for Royal (by Litton badge, anyway). I was aware that Royal badged Naks made in Korea in 1985, but this would be a new, earlier variation. I'll have to figure out an addition to the Royal page to shoehorn it in.

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  5. David Lawrence8 May 2022 at 14:37

    Yup, well done, that man!

    These [little brothers] are prone to seizure, I must have done dozens of 'em. Probably an oil that the manufacturer modified without informing Brother.

    Naptha, or Lighter Fluid, on the escapement, then, as you have found, repeated backspacing, which gives one good purchase and a single movement, is the most effective technique.

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  6. Bill M9 May 2022 at 05:03

    Great work on restoring the little typer back to life.

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  7. Unknown14 May 2022 at 18:42

    This looks exactly like the Imperial Good Companion 203, which was also made in Japan and has a similar serial number. Are the two related?

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  8. Unknown14 May 2022 at 18:44

    It looks exactly like me good companion 203, which was also made in japan and has a similar serial number. Are the two related?

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  9. Robert Messenger15 May 2022 at 07:35

    Yes, Litton owned both Royal and Imperial. The full history of its takeovers has been more than adequately covered in this blog.

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