Saturday 22 January 2022

Royal KMM typewriter

Yesterday I found a pretty nice old school mechanical typewriter in the second hand stuff store ("Kringloopwinkel"). It is a Royal KMM 'workhorse' typewriter. KMM stands for Key Set Tabulator, Magic Margin, Machine. Its original design dates back to 1939, pre WWII.

It is produced in 1947 by the company Royal, which had its headquarters in New York City and its factory in Hartford, Connecticut (USA). I found that millions of this typewriter had been produced and have been spread all over the world.

The one I bought shows severe marks of use, but a first trial indicates that most functions are still in tact.



I know this device does not need a battery and has nothing to do with radio. Sometimes I just like old mechanical stuff. But hee, doesn't the QWERTY keyboard look familiair to our PC keyboards ? (Yes, it does !).

On YT,  I found a nice movie from Joe Van Cleave who explains the typewriter functions in a clear way:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjn-XG_WgMQ


Anyway, I will be busy coming weeks trying to restore this incredible machine as much as possible in its original state (where can I buy the ink ribbon ??)


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8 comments:

  1. Dick22 January 2022 at 11:37

    Good purchase. Had an all cap mill 60 years ago.

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    Replies
    1. PA2RF25 January 2022 at 07:40

      Tnx Dick, in the meantime I installed the ink ribbon. And guess what, everything works...after 75 years. Amazing..

      Delete
  2. PE4BAS, Bas22 January 2022 at 13:15

    Lang geleden....leuk Ron. Die linten kun je hier en daar wel krijgen en passend maken. ZIe bijvoorbeeld hier eens: https://www.kassawebshop.nl/product-categorie/linten/page/2/

    73, Bas

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  3. Paul Stam PAØK23 January 2022 at 09:29

    Mooie aankoop Ron. 73 Paul

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    Replies
    1. PA2RF25 January 2022 at 07:39

      Tnx Paul, heb inmiddels een inktlint. En het werkt. Bijzonder dat alles na 75 jaar nog werkt..

      Delete
  4. Bert, PA1B11 March 2022 at 04:51

    Hallo Ron, wist je dat het QWERTY toetsenbord zodanig is ontworpen dat het de laagste tiksnelheid garandeerd. Dit om te voorkomen dat de hamertjes van de classieke type machines in de knoop raken. hi.
    Met een modern, elektronisch, niet QWERTY toetsenbord, waarbij de meest gebruikte letters direct onder de vingers zitten, haal je moeiteloos een veel hogere snelheid. Maar ik wens je toch veel plezier met je mooie aanwinst. 73, Bert

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    Replies
    1. PA2RF11 March 2022 at 04:58

      Ok Bert. Ik dacht altijd dat de moeilijkst te bedienen toetsen (pinken bijv) de minst frequent voorkomende letters bedienen. 73 Ron

      Delete

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