Older typewriters usually have flat glass discs. The top is concave, for a pleasant feeling on your fingertips. (The ring will probably still work with two tabs.) Don't overdo it - the tabs will break if they are bent back and forth too much. Then you want to make sure that the tabs are fully unbent, so that the ring will fit easily back onto the key. The key ring often gets stuck in the tool and needs to be coaxed out with a little pressure from a screwdriver or such. There was no need to unbend the three tabs first. With light pressure, this key ring came right off. The tool is positioned over and under the key: By turning the piece in the right photo below 180º, you can also use this tool on key rings that don't have tabs. The assumption is that one of the tabs is more or less in front of the key, facing you (so always replace the key ring the same way). If you look closely at the image on the left below, you will see that there are areas on the tool that are meant to accommodate the key ring tabs. Some other typewriters don't use such tabs, but simply fit the rings tightly onto the circumference of the key. The Royal KMM uses key rings that are held on to the key by three little tabs. It is designed to pull the ring up while holding the center of the key down. Now, let's take this letter U as our candidate for refurbishing:įirst we need the key ring removal tool. Just click the image below to get the PDF. ![]() If you print it on a laser printer (using "actual size," not "shrink to fit"), you will have your own legends that you can cut out and install in a typewriter. The image is high-resolution (1200 dpi), but the quality of your printout will depend on your print settings, the capacities of your printer, and the nature of the paper used. The PDF is 8.5 x 11 inches, the standard American letter size. In case you need key legends, I've created a PDF that includes both white-on-black and black-on-white legends. I thought readers might be curious to see how the procedure works. Greg provided a set of vintage key legends, and Rich lent me his key ring tools. Fortunately, fellow typospherians Greg Fudacz and Rich Mohlman came to the rescue, as I said yesterday. When a customer asked me to "refurbish the keytops" on his KMM, I knew I had a big job ahead of me. As most readers know, I volunteer as a typewriter repairman to support a local nonprofit, WordPlay Cincy.
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