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).

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