Comments on: A Typewriter Review

By: Andy Owens

Andy Owens — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 04:15:52 +0000

I know this is a somewhat old post, but I came across it while looking for some information about a Smith-Corona I recently acquired from 1956; however, like you, my favorite, go-to typewriter is a 1946 Smith-Corona Sterling that looks exactly like your typer up there.

I bought mine from an old photographer in Charleston, S.C. It had belonged to his mother years ago, and was in decent shape when I got it. The machine did add extra spaces every few characters, but I turned a screw here and there, and it fixed the problem right away. I promised him I was buying it to use, and not to sell. I was sincere when I told him that, but I have to say I fell in love with using this typewriter, and wouldn’t sell it now even for the more than $100 I paid for it.

It’s the typewriter that I look to every time I want to immerse myself in writing a letter or anything else. It’s the one. I completely understand.

By: Martyn V. Halm

Martyn V. Halm — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 12:18:52 +0000

I have some forty machines, but my ‘go-to’ typewriter is my 1957 Royal FP at home and my 1962 Swissa Junior when I’m on the road.

By: Scott Connors

Scott Connors — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:46:54 +0000

I have a 1947 Smith Corona Sterling and a 1952 Smith Corona Silent. Both are a dream to write on!! I love the glass keys n the ’47 Sterling! Just won an auction on a Smith Corona Silent Super (hasn’t been delivered yet!) and am winning an auction on a 1940’s Smith Corona Clipper. Didn’t think when I bought my first typewriter I’d become addicted or a collector, but I guess it happens! I’m not sad however and love writing on them!!

By: Ricky Garni

Ricky Garni — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 00:57:42 +0000

PS – also purchased this one because it has a techno 10 pt typeface – kind of like the kind you find on some Hermes. Sweetly futuristic.

By: Ricky Garni

Ricky Garni — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 00:56:43 +0000

I keep going. Just got a Triumph Gabriele 1. Downside: case is having problems, and I do not appreciate those cases which require a manual, haphazard slotting. I guess I could be upset with the plastic finish, and that’s about it. But I am not. And the action is rich and mighty, with those big keys and surprisingly zippy carriage. I truly love this machine, and now have to wonder about the Triumph Perfekt – is it more perfect than this?

By: Ricky Garni

Ricky Garni — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 03:53:50 +0000

Swissa & Rehinmetall have arrived. Swissa is a clanky mama! But still, I do like it, except for the noise – and though it is a minor point, I love the way it clicks so beautifully into its case (the worst in that regard is the Hermes – where the bottom of the typewriter IS the bottom of the case.) The Rheinmetall – bittersweet – it worked beautifully for a few days and now it will seize mid line, or refuse to carriage return. Maddening because it could very well be my favorite of them all! I have decided I truly adore a key that has depth (Olympias do, certainly – and probably on the other end of the spectrum would be the Olivetti 32’s) – I will take the Rheinmetall into my type guru and see what can be done, but this is a machine I recommend highly – even though at present, it is not working!

By: Ricky Garni

Ricky Garni — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 14:14:02 +0000

For me, my two Smith Coronas – Silent Super 1958 and Skyriter 1956. They just make me want to write and the big ol’ Pontiac like body of the Silent Super is comfort food. (Skyriter makes me feel jazzier and more beatnik, and makes me want to go sit under the oak trees near the coffee house and write, but I feel that might look foolish and be noisy to neighbors.) Interesting thing about noise – the Skyriter was named as such because it served well as a carry-on on airplanes; apparently it was OK to write on board in those days – can you imagine?

I do have two more on the way – A Swissa and a Rheinmetall. I am not sure that they will sway me, but I am always happy to be so. I would include a Hermes 3000 or Media 3 but I purchased both of them (from different sources and they both arrived damaged, through no fault of the senders. They are sturdy looking, but often delicate pups. AND they are a delicious shade of sea foam, mint, or what-have-you.

By: Langley Shazor

Langley Shazor — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 17:24:37 +0000

The machine I carry the most on my person currently is a Smith Corona Super G. It is responsive and the carriage movement is very smooth. I like it for its compact-ish design and it is certainly the lightest machine I own. But for pure typing experience, I would have to say my Olympia SM-9 is spectacular. I feel as though I could write forever on that machine. I recently acquired an Adler J5; which does type very well. But the winner, for now, is the SM-9.

By: Chris Coake

Chris Coake — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 03:56:13 +0000

I didn’t think anything would dethrone my Olivetti Studio 44 (that weird, stiff key action is somehow addictive), but then I found a Hermes 2000 this past summer in an antique mall. Near-perfect condition. I can’t imagine using any other machine now for daily use. It has, to me, perfect feel and precision (and has a 1.5-space line setting, which I love, and which none of my other machines offers).

By: Daniel Marleau

Daniel Marleau — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 11:43:14 +0000

In reply to Brandon.

A three stripe Sterling! Must denote a higher rank. Or perhaps a marketing test to see which sold better. Sounds like a mystery to be solved!

When you say “locate tab stops,” you mean where are they, or how do I get some? If you need a few I can spare some from mine. I never use tabs! It’s probably the clunkiest way to set tabs, since they’re removable and can easily slip from the fingers and into a crevice near the desk.