the 1936 Remington Noiseless 7



This is the Remington Noiseless 7, one of many styles of machines that sought after suppressed sound.  I will say it is easy on the ears, but not the quietest machine out there, nor the quietest machine I've used.  It features a triple pivot type bar mechanism which shunts the slug out almost horizontally to the platen, a bit of a thrust action machine, but thrust actions are generally quieter.

I got this machine from an author downtown who was seeking to get a full restoration.  I generally don't take jobs like that since I lack the patience to get down to the nitty gritty details, but it was in good shape so I figured I might as well take it on and do my best.  This machine started off in very good condition with some worn rubber and a few broken functions like the tab.  It was well cared for by his grandfather, who was the original owner.  

At the time, I had several other projects underway, including four Oliver typewriters for Tim over at the Vintage Mancave on etsy.  I sent the platen out to JJ Short and let the project sit for a while.

left knob unscrews, and the right comes out with the platen
rod attached

feed rollers are undone with a single screw, watch the 
springs on the paper tray underneath 

spacers, placement is important 


Once I had a clear spot to work (first come first serve) I stripped the panels off the machine.  It is an easy task on this model. The internals were cleaned up and polished with wire brushes, q-tips, and wax, while the tab and other repairs were easily taken care of.  The cover on the left of the machine holds together a spring loaded leaver.  This spring applies tension to both the carriage release arm, as well as the line space selector.  I will note that there is a washer that fits on the left end of the platen that holds the line space assembly in place.  The line spacer his held in a disengaged position by the selecting leaver, and is only allowed to engage the ratchet teeth once it has cleared the guide.  The washer on the platen holds these pieces in alignment, while the spring gives it the necessary pressure to index into place.  The right end of the carriage is more secure, though I would recommend placing a washer over the pivots and screwing those down.  


Once the machine was cleaned up, including the typeface, I took the rear rubber rod off the back.  This sits mounted under the paper table, and holds the tab stops in place.  It also serves as a rest to hold the spring that tensions the paper table.  The rubber on this was all cracked and falling off, so I pulled out the blowtorch and replaced it.  


cut the ends off by spinning it in a drill and using a 
razor blade.  Caution

this was a massive pain to get back in.  

Once that was in place, I redid the feed rollers in the same manner, keeping my diameter consistent with a pair of calipers.  



By the time I was done with this, and had the body panels polished and ready for installation, the new feet from Steve Dade arrived.  I have never had a set of bad feet from Steve, he does excellent work.  I have heard people use Tony Casillo, but I have not had the greatest experience with his work.  Good work, but Steve is the best of the best. (nailgnr@sbcglobal.net)






It took a while to get the platen back from JJ Short.  All in all I'd say they did very good work on it, though the end surface metal was a bit damaged.  Nothing that stood out too bad or changed the way the machine worked.  The front panel on the machine has screws that sit on rubber washers.  These deteriorated so I fashioned some from shrink tubing and trimmed them from size.





Of course when the platen finally got here, I found myself to be a little excited.  The machine worked very well, just needed a capital alignment which can be done from the bottom center of the machine, much like a corona.  






I enjoyed working with this machine and look forward to returning it to its rightful owner this weekend.  He intends on writing a science fiction novel with it, which I find to be quite interesting.  I always love hearing that my clients either intend to use, or are already enjoying using my machines.  Once in a while I'll see a photo up on social media with a machine I've worked on in the background, and I enjoy it very much.  That's all for now, gaze upon this amazing typewriter while I go work on seven more for various other people.  Up next at some point is the 1915 French Typo.








Comments

  1. Great work, Lucas. I've never taken a Noiseless apart to this degree myself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely machine, restored by an expert.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GREAT blog entry & GREAT machine!!! I'm having a bit of trouble with the line spacing mechanism, do you have any resources that may be of help?

    Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Same here re line spacing mechanism. Mine was a little jacked but after trial, error, and patience got it working satisfactorily enough. Lucas's blog entry here was really helpful regarding the spring assembly underneath the left-hand carriage cover—was able to flip his photo of the right-hand assembly to understand how the left side needed to be oriented. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the Cyberdeck

The “Charming?” Yet awful Typecast Typewriter (updated)

A Comprehensive History of the Royal Model P