The Insane Typewriter Fix: A Tale of Teenage Ingenuity and Miscalculation

The Insane Typewriter Fix: A Tale of Teenage Ingenuity and Miscalculation

Remember the time I broke and fixed a L. C. Smith Secretarial manual office typewriter in a way that no one discovered? It was more than fifty years ago, yet the memory still lingers. This was a tale of teenage arrogance, miscalculation, and ultimately, ingenuity.

Borrowing the Typewriter

Back in the mid-1960s, at the tender age of 16, I borrowed a L. C. Smith Secretarial manual office typewriter from a friend. The machine was an extremely well-made typewriter, but it had some minor glitches. I, consumed by teenage impatience and a newfound sense of problem-solving, decided to take it apart and fix it. Little did I know, this would be one of the most foolish and dangerous projects I ever undertook.

The Breakdown of Events

I had been given a set of wrenches and screwdrivers when I was in kindergarten, and from there, I gradually graduated to taking apart bicycles, alarm clocks, lawn mower engines, and even souping up go-kart engines and hot-rodding cars. So, the idea of taking apart a mechanical typewriter seemed like a minor technical challenge.

However, if you're wondering, it was a LOT worse than I anticipated. After disassembling the typewriter, I disconnected the ratchet. Suddenly, the main spring, which was under immense tension from decades of use, exploded due to metal fatigue. The spring broke at the critical point where it was attached to the drum through a keyhole slot.

Now, faced with a basket of parts and the prospect of returning a non-functional typewriter, I had to think quickly. The owner was a woman who could be very unpleasant when perturbed, making it nearly impossible to return the typewriter in its current state. It was imperative to fix the typewriter.

Securing the Replacement Spring

Finding a replacement main spring was not straightforward. I visited the nearest office supply store, only to be informed that they did not have the specific L. C. Smith Secretarial main spring and had no idea where to get one. The situation became dire when the store lent me a tensioned main spring to temporarily use. However, I had to find a way to fix the original spring without causing further damage.

Innovative Solution

The solution involved improvising a heat sink to prevent the main spring from being destroyed further. I used a torch to heat the end of the spring, annealing it to reduce its tension. Then, with the help of a drill press and a machinist's file, I drilled a new hole and reformed the keyway. It may sound like a risky move, but it worked. The typewriter was fixed and no one ever knew what had happened.

Finally, I was able to integrate it back into my daily routine without any suspicion. It took me half a century to be able to think about this event without the weight of past mistakes holding me back. The experience taught me the importance of planning and understanding the complexity of mechanical systems.

Lessons Learned and Conclusion

The L. C. Smith Secretarial manual office typewriter repair taught me valuable lessons about teenage ingenuity, the importance of problem-solving, and the dangers of acting impulsively. It also emphasized the significance of having complete shop manuals for everything and spending more time planning and thinking about a project before diving into the mechanics of it.

For anyone in a similar situation, my advice would be to evaluate the project's complexity and gather the necessary resources before attempting to disassemble and repair a mechanical device. This experience remains a fascinating tale of how a teenage fascination with machines led to a humorous and perhaps cautionary example of tech problem-solving.

So, the moral of the story? Always have a backup plan and never underestimate the complexity of a seemingly simple mechanical system.