05/28/2024
The Cumulative Care Process of Philly Typewriter.
When a machine resurfaces after sometimes decades of storage, it requires quite a bit of work to return to optimal performance. After many years of trying to “do a little,” it was decided in late 2019 that these machines deserved better, and so did their owners.
Hardened rubber, substandard storage, eraser debris, whiteout, and hardened grease made performing only a “tune-up” something daunting while trying to deliver high standards. Sometimes, only after a cleaning would it reveal deeper mechanical issues. Oftentimes, machines might need to be malaligned to achieve a modest result, only treating a symptom but not delivering a cure. Making things work and actually restoring them began to fight head to head in a match, trying to balance accessible pricing and performing the necessary work to provide a client with a machine that would last forever.
Very quickly, it became “If you give a mouse a cookie.” If we disassemble it, we’ll clean it. If we clean it, we’ll detail, polish, and manicure it. If we detail it, we’ll reassemble it, but if we reassemble it, we’ll replace the destroyed rubber and replace springs and parts… It just kept going. Just wanting it to type, although still something we can do for clients, became something that reflected poorly on the standard we’d fought hard to build. These are precision writing instruments, in many regards, the pinnacle of writing technology. They deserve the best. We aim to give them the best.
The process performed at Philly Typewriter not only works to educate and encourage retention among its mechanics but also ensure the machine is given the proper care and dedication it deserves. With each step and each set of hands the brings a typewriter back to peak performance, know that no moment was spared for giving it the care and respect dued to a machine that has waited years to type again.
