Tag: Royal KMG

Restoration of another 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

On Thursday, I broke down my recent Royal KMG typewriter for a full clean/oil/adjust. I spent some time cleaning most of the removed body panels and auxiliary parts.  Yesterday, in the cool of the morning I blew it out and flushed it with mineral spirits.  Then re-assembled it all. I oiled and adjusted most of it back to as close to factory condition as I can without a full disassembly. 

A 1950 Royal KMG typewriter stripped down for servicing and cleaning. Parts and tools are arranged all over a large wooden table.

When I received this machine it was in mediocre shape at best. The $21 I spent on it was pretty indicative of it’s value. Somewhere along the way the paper table had taken a hit and been dented. I spent some time on forming it back up, and it’s in better shape than before, but could probably still use some more concerted and careful work with a rubber mallet. I was pleased to discover that the disconnected drawband wasn’t compounded with a broken mainspring. Royal made it pretty easy to re-tension the mainspring with their screw assembly in the left rear corner.

Frontal view down onto a gray frieze 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter with tombstone glass keys

There are a small handful of small remaining issues that I’ll take care of fairly quickly in the coming weeks including: 

  • the tab set is still a little rough and doesn’t have a consistent, strong return
  • the platen needs to be re-covered
  • the feet and rubber compression pads need replacement
  • the carriage return arm doesn’t have as consistent return as I’d like
  • the scale on the paper bail really ought to be reconditioned, but is in fairly average, workable shape for a 75 year old machine. I’m also not sure how I’d like to attack a reconditioning yet.

I’m sure to find at least one other subtle, but niggling issue as I put this lovely machine into my regular rotation of typewriters. I’m thrilled to have an elite typeface version of the KMG to pair with my pica typeface version.

Twin gray frieze 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriters sitting next to each other on a wooden library card index. Careful inspection will show one to be in elite and the other in pica.
Twins! 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriters with elite (left) and pica (right).

1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter with the hood opening and showing the basket and a black/red bichrome ribbon

Close up of the keyboard on a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter featuring black legends with orangish-yellow letters on tombstone -shaped glass keys

Close up of the hood and carriage of a gray 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

Front left corner view of a gray 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

Left side view of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

Angle on the right rear corner of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter with a particular emphasis on the Magic Margins lever, the variable lever, and the carriage return.

Angle of the rear and down onto the back of the carriage of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

Table level view of the rear of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter featuring silver faded decals of the Royal logo and the manufacturing information

Left rear corner of a gray 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

Right side view down onto a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter. Of particular note, there's a touch control mechanism mounted into the removable side panel.

Front right corner of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

View of the typeslugs on a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

Close up of a type sample on an index card in the carriage of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

White 4x6" index card with a type sample of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

The hardest part about typewriter restoration is that you’ve got the machine taken apart and in pieces and you’re three-quarters of the way through cleaning it when you’re instantaneously struck with the irresistible desire to quit cleaning so you can rush it back together so you can type on it right now.

A 1950 Royal KMG typewriter stripped down for servicing and cleaning. Parts and tools are arranged all over a large wooden table.

Acquired 1950 Royal KMG Standard Typewriter (Royal Typewriter Co. Inc.)

Serial Number: KMG-4294086
4 bank, 42 keys / 84 characters, tabulator, Magic Margins, Royal standard elite typeface

Back on March 7, 2025, I picked up my second Royal KMG for the pittance of $21. The first was in pica, but this one has my preferred elite/12 pitch size.

Today I pulled it out of the office closet where it’s been waiting patiently since the Eaton Fire for some restoration attention. I acquired it with the drawband disconnected, but in under five minutes I was able to get it re-connected and re-tensioned. The ribbon was a total loss, so i swapped it out with about 22 feet of black/red bichrome cotton ribbon from Baco Ribbon Supply Co. A few tweaks later, and I’ve now got this machine up and running with some pretty reasonable alignment.

Hero image of a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter facing to the left next to a Westclox Big Ben alarm clock sitting on a wooden card catalog

Future work

It’s a bit slower than it ought to be, so it’s definitely going to need a full clean/oil/adjust. The rubber feet are completely shot on this, so they’re going to require complete replacement. The platen has pretty much lost all of it’s “give”, so it will need replacement too. There’s two dents in the paper table that ought to flatten out with some care. Beyond this, I suspect I’ll be able to get this lovely machine shined up and running with less than a day’s worth of modest work.

Presuming that I can tune it up to the same standard as my other KMG, this one will replace it as my daily driver, though the pica version will still get lots of attention.

Typeface Sample

White index card with typeface sample from a 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter

In season 4, episode 3 “Scallop” of The Bear (FX, 2025), the inimitable Rob Reiner shows up as a business consultant by the name of Albert Schnurr. In his introduction, he’s wearing a black baseball cap featuring a typewriter. A line drawing/outline, it looks a bit like a Corona 3 to me. It’s definitely not the Royal KMG his father was famous for using.

Longer shot of Rob Reiner with a black suite jacket and matching black baseball hat and a blue outline of a typewriter. In the foreground he's talking to Ebraheim whose back is to us.

Medium shot of Rob Reiner wearing a black baseball cap with a blue outline of a typewriter

Close up of Rob Reiner at 78 with a gray beard and moustache and wearing a black hat featuring an outline of a typewriter

A typed baseball scorecard for the Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game from 2025-03-31 which the Dodgers won 6-1

My first baseball scorecard in ages, but also my first typed scorecard with format courtesy of Lou Spirito of Thirty81 Press. Besides a few examples by Lou himself and one I saw from Tom Hanks on March 29th, I may be the third person doing this?! It pulls together two spectacular pastimes and creates a lot of fun!

Typewriter 101 on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

If you’re working at getting the little ones started into typewriters (or just starting out yourself), Mr. Rogers covers some of the basics in episode 1083 of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood from February 25, 1970. 

You can see Mister Rogers demonstrate the use of what appears to be a Royal Futura 800 in the full episode here: https://misterrogers.org/episodes/typewriters/

“I was very much interested in letters.”
—Fred Rogers

While he used a Futura in the show, his personal typewriters included a 1930’s Royal portable (possibly a Model O?) and a Royal KMG, which can be visited at the Fred Rogers Institute by joining the 143 Club.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Amber Guetebier (@aguetebier)

And if you’re a serious fan, you’ll potentially have a Royal KMG and Futura of your own.

A gray Royal KMG standard next to a blue Royal Futura 800 on a wooden table. In the background is a wooden library card catalog with a 1930s black enamel typewriter and various decorations.
My mini facsimile Fred Rogers typewriter collection.

Restoring a 1950 Royal KMG Typewriter

I spent some time this past week and over the weekend beginning restoration on my 1950 Royal KMG (Keyset Magic Grey) and getting it back “on [its] feet”.

  • fixed the grinding carriage
  • formed the bent rear tabulator enclosure
  • stripped down the body and did a full flush/cleaning on interior
  • light oiling
  • repaired disconnected typebars Q and @ by shifting the fulcrum pivot wire
  • repaired issues with the shift keys
  • formed the bar on shift assembly to improve the shift response which was abominably slow even after cleaning
  • fixed tab set/clear issues
  • tightened the loose mainspring for better typing tension/response
  • got the type “on feet” and made an adjustment to the motion
  • replaced ribbon
  • adjusted the typing line
  • scrubbed and shined the exterior
  • light polish and cleaning of typebars
  • polished the brights and the glass tombstone keys (wish I had keyring pliers for doing a full job on this)
  • removed the keyrings on two keys which desperately needed cleaning and adjustment
  • ordered new rubber feet and rubber compression fittings which should arrive later this week

I’ve definitely torn this machine down much further than any other I’ve worked on before, in some part because it required some extensive work, but also just for fun. I think after this I’m ready to completely disassemble an entire machine and rebuild it from scratch. Maybe on a Royal KMM or Royal X?

I’ve done enough work on this now that I can put it into my regular daily rotation. It’s sure to reveal a few additional small adjustments as I use it and there are one or two niggling things to tinker on while I wait for the new rubber parts to show up. I’ll also need to find an original metal pair of Royal standard ribbon spools. I suspect as the budget allows I’ll be replacing the platen on this shortly as well.

I’ve dubbed this machine “Slattery” in homage to John Slattery’s performance of the character “Roger Sterling” in Mad Men (AMC, 2007-2015). I’m sampling Scotches and bourbons to find an apropos pairing. 

This typewriter (29 pounds) is the much bigger brother to my Henry Dreyfuss designed 1949 Royal Quiet De Luxe (16.8 pounds with the case, not pictured). 

A hulking gray 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter next to it's much smaller relative, the 1949 Royal Quiet De Luxe as they sit on an oak library card catalog.

The Royal KMG, manufactured from 1949-1952, was known to have been used by writers including Saul Bellow, Edward Abbey, Joan Didion, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Fred Rogers, Rod Sterling, Carl Reiner, Grace Metalious, Wallace Stenger, John Ashbery, and George Sheehan. 

If you’re restoring or repairing a Royal standard typewriter, I’ve started a YouTube playlist of videos, but it’s only got three videos with several more to come.

Photos from the restoration

View into the dusty bottom of a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter featuring the shift post with the springs and nuts for the on feet and motion adjustments as well as the shift spring assembly. Above these are the type rods and springs which attach to the keys and typebars, which are unseen here.

Close up of the dirty, hairy inside of a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter with a close up of the black, cracked and heavily compressed rubber foot. This will definitely require cleaning and replacement

A blue plastic air gun at a car wash is being pointed at a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter in the back seat of a car before the typewriter is "blown out".

A wooden dining table with a partially disassembled 1950 Royal KMG typewriter on it surrounded with a variety of typewriter tools, screwdrivers, and the pieces from the typewriter.

A variety of parts removed from a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter including the cover, the side panels, the platen, ribbon, feet assembly and a variety of wrenches.

Close up of the left side of a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter featuring the paper table, the roller release lever and the right margin set lever. On the rear we can see the row of hundreds of tab clips used for the tabulator functionality.

Close up of a naked 1950 Royal KMG typewriter which fills the photo.

Close up of the typing point, naked carriage and part of the segment of a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter

The four feet from the typewriter featuring four shoulder bolts, black metal brackets, and crushed, aged, and disintegrating black rubber.

Plastic typewriter spools with black ribbon which is so heavily worn you can almost read the imprinted type on them. Another round of use and we'll be able to see holes in the ribbon.

The clean front panel of a 1950 Royal KMG in gray frieze paint contrasted with the dust covers one of which is covered in 70 years of dust, dirt, tar, and hair and the other cleaned and sparkling after a treatment with WD-40.

Small globs of drying carnuba paste wax on the glass tombstone keys of a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter

Side angle of a 1950 Royal KMG typewriter with a bookshelf and a chair with another typewriter on it in the background. This feels very warm and homey.

Hero 1950 Royal KMG typewriter on a library card catalog next to a small orange decorative pie pumpkin and a kindergarten-made black toilet paper roll black bat with googly eyes, wings, and silver decorations drawn on it.