Yesterday I went to a huge antiques center and moseyed around. While there, I found an Underwood Standard No. 5 typewriter…Which I did not buy.
I did not buy it because I wasn’t convinced it was worth it. Given its condition and the price wanted for it, I couldn’t justify coughing up the cash and lugging the thing home.
Fast forward twenty-four hours, and while at my local flea-market, I spied for sale, one…Underwood Standard No. 5 typewriter!
What’s the chances of seeing two in two days?
This typewriter was in better condition, mechanically and cosmetically (which is saying a lot, when you see it). It had a few issues with it, which I was sure I could repair. So I got it for a decent price, and wheeled the thing home.
It’s currently on a table in my room, being restored.
You’ll notice at once that there’s a few issues with it. All the rubber needs replacing, the spacebar has to be glued back together, the right platen-knob is missing (I wonder if I can fix that somehow…) and it needs a damn good cleaning!
I spent most of the day working on this thing. And what a thing it is!
It weighs exactly 28.5lbs. It certainly ain’t light! The entire frame is cast iron, painted black. The mechanism inside the machine is in, so far as I can tell, perfect working order, barring the necessity for a serious cleaning. Once it’s cleaned and repaired, I’m confident that it’ll work significantly better.
The typewriter needs a lot of work. Here’s what has to be done:
– New rubber EVERYWHERE.
I had hoped that the platen was salvageable, but it doesn’t look like it. Heat-shrink tubing and rubber tubing or piping works best for applications such as this. I’ll have to remove the rubber from the paper-bales, the platen, and the feed-rollers underneath. None of the rubber on this machine is the least bit usable. Not even the feet underneath – they’ll have to be replaced as well.
– The space-bar needs to be glued back together.
I had considered replacing it, but I’ll only do that if the gluing doesn’t work first. It’s a relatively simple operation.
– Everything needs cleaning.
This is a very long, dirty and fiddly process. Recommended equipment: Needle-nosed tweezers, watchmaker’s bulb-puffer, flashlight, cotton-buds, tissues.
– Typing Mechanism requires Cleaning.
Methylated spirits in a bowl, and a brush to wash it through the machine. This is easily the most time-consuming part of restoring this machine. It can take days to do it properly.
– Everything needs lubrication.
Break out the sewing-machine oil. This thing needs hardcore lubrication. I oiled the tab-stops, the margin-stops, and anything else on this thing that moves. Normally oil isn’t recommended, due to its dust-catching properties, but when you’ve got a machine in front of you that hasn’t been used in 30-40 years, oil is the only thing that will free-up all the mechanisms that have frozen or jammed.
I even oiled the screws before I started pulling anything apart.
The Underwood Standard No. 5 Typewriter – A Profile in Print
I’ve been after a desktop typewriter (in their day, also called standard, or office typewriters) for a while. And the Underwood 5 was one of the main machines on my hit-list.
The Underwood 5 came out in 1900. Preceding it were the Underwood 1, 2, 3, and 4. All the machines were more-or-less the same, but with small changes and improvements made along the way. For example, the Underwood 3 is unique among Underwoods as coming with extra-long carriages as standard. Anywhere from 14 to 16 inches, all the way up to a foot or more!
This Underwood Standard No. 3, from 1923, has a carriage that’s over three feet long! 38 inches! It’s designed for typing out material for accounting ledgers. Photograph from Machines of Loving Grace
The No. 5 is famous for a number of reasons. First, the sheer quantity produced. Nearly four million of them in over 30 years of production.
Second, the quality of construction. This machine is 86 years old. It’s been unused for at least 40 years. It’s caked in crap and everything on it that can perish, has perished…but it’s still in essentially working order.
Name me something made today that’ll still work in 86 years’ time. Apart from cutlery, I can’t think of anything.
Third, the ease of use. Early typewriters were something of a hit-and-miss thing. You had downstrikes, sidestrikes, thrust-action, upstrikes, blind-writers, pocket typewriters…the Underwood Standard series was one of the first typewriters that took the best and most sensible innovations and put them all into one machine. The Underwood Standard was sturdy, strong, and pretty easy to operate.
You could type on an Underwood Standard at high speed without fear of anything jamming up or breaking. You could SEE what you were typing (not true of all machines of the era), and even when it wasn’t doing anything – it sat on your desk looking cute. Again, not something that could be said of other machines of the era.
The Underwood Standard had a famous, open-frame design. Originally a cost-cutting measure, it’s kinda like a skeleton watch – you can see everything working inside the typewriter. Cool, huh? It also makes cleaning it and checking out how things work, much, much easier!
In the 1910s, Underwood famously built a giant-sized Underwood No. 5 as a marketing gimmick. Yes, it’s a real typewriter, yes, it really did type! It was used to type out the daily attendance-figures of those who came to gawk at it, during the World’s Fair!
The Underwood No. 5 was produced from 1900, all the way to ca. 1933. In that time, Underwood became a household name for typewriters, much like Royal, Remington, L.C. Smith, Corona, Woodstock, Olympia, Continental, and other famous manufacturers.
Back to My Typewriter…
The Underwood 5 came with a number of nifty little features, such as the fold-away paper-stay…
…the steel bar that sticks out, between the two ribbon-spools.
Manual ribbon-adjustment wheels, seen below, on the bottom left of the frame:
Margin-stops with ruler, at the front (on most typewriters, these things are at the back):
If you’ve never used one of these things before, then the margin-stops on the Underwood Standard will trip you up a bit – The LEFT stop controls the RIGHT margin (and therefore, when the bell rings). The RIGHT stop controls the LEFT margin (and how far back you push the carriage for each line). The settings of the stops correspond to the cursor and arrow which you see in the middle of the scale, sticking out of the carriage. On most typewriters, it’s left-stop, left margin, right stop, right margin – Not here!
Behind the typewriter, where the margin-stops usually are on other machines, we have the tabulation-stops, instead! Five in total:
These can be adjusted along the tabulation-rack to set predetermined indentations for sub-headings, lists, etc. Tabulations are operated from the front of the typewriter using the Tabulation Key (today called the ‘Tab’ key). It’ll run much more smoothly once I’ve replaced the crumbling rubber feed-rollers. Right now, the deteriorating rubber is jamming the mechanism.
At the bottom of the frame, you can see the long list of patent-dates:
Also on the Underwood, you have the handy seesaw ribbon-selector:
In that photograph, it’s currently set to “RED”. Pressing it down the other way, would set the machine to BLACK. A lot easier to use (and see!) than on some machines where the ribbon-selector is just some tiny little nub sticking inconspicuously out of the corner of the machine.
On the very left of the machine, you’ll see the margin-release button. It’s on the same level as the ribbon-selector. It’s in the same position on the much smaller Underwood Standard PORTABLE.
This machine was built in late 1927. It is Underwood Model 5, serial no. 2,284,724!
2,284,724…that’s a lot of Underwoods!
I wonder where the other 2,284,723 machines are?
As my restoration journey on this typewriter continues, I’ll update this story with future postings.
“Name me something made today that’ll still work in 86 years’ time. Apart from cutlery, I can’t think of anything.”
Antique sewing machines. most of the time it’s just a matter of oiling and cleaning and away it goes.
I have not had the bug to collect typewrites but dearly remember the one that my Grandmother used to type up her churchs bulletins.
My dad had a very old one in his office.
Enjoy your blog,
And it’s early and I made a mis read. In reading your article to my husband, So True NOTHING made *today* will be working in 86 years. Maybe eye glasses. if your lucky.
Haha. Very true!
Amen to that, but antique sewing machines aren’t made today, are they?
“Name me something made today that’ll still work in 86 years’ time. Apart from cutlery, I can’t think of anything.”
Antique sewing machines. most of the time it’s just a matter of oiling and cleaning and away it goes.
I have not had the bug to collect typewrites but dearly remember the one that my Grandmother used to type up her churchs bulletins.
My dad had a very old one in his office.
Enjoy your blog,
And it’s early and I made a mis read. In reading your article to my husband, So True NOTHING made *today* will be working in 86 years. Maybe eye glasses. if your lucky.
Haha. Very true!
Amen to that, but antique sewing machines aren’t made today, are they?
Would like to know what you use to replace the rubber parts. I am currently working on a No. 3 made in 1908 I believe.
Enjoyed your Post.
I wish I could say the project was entirely successful, but it wasn’t. Not that the typewriter doesn’t work anymore. It works fine, it’s just not as well-restored as I’d hoped.
To resurface the rubber areas, use heat-shrink tubing, or rubber hose.
Heat shrink worked great. Used three layers to produce correct diameter platen.
Would like to know what you use to replace the rubber parts. I am currently working on a No. 3 made in 1908 I believe.
Enjoyed your Post.
I wish I could say the project was entirely successful, but it wasn’t. Not that the typewriter doesn’t work anymore. It works fine, it’s just not as well-restored as I’d hoped.
To resurface the rubber areas, use heat-shrink tubing, or rubber hose.
Heat shrink worked great. Used three layers to produce correct diameter platen.
Love this blog! I have two Underwood No. 5’s; one from 24-35 and one from ’16-’17. I also have two 1940s Royals, one of which has an extra-long carriage (18-20″?) as if it was used to load ledger paper.
Love this blog! I have two Underwood No. 5’s; one from 24-35 and one from ’16-’17. I also have two 1940s Royals, one of which has an extra-long carriage (18-20″?) as if it was used to load ledger paper.
My comment was supposed to say “’24-’25”
My comment was supposed to say “’24-’25”
An excellent repair manual:
http://johnesimmons.com/Typewriter/Articles/Manualpdf/Underwood_Repair_Manual.pdf
An excellent repair manual:
http://johnesimmons.com/Typewriter/Articles/Manualpdf/Underwood_Repair_Manual.pdf
Good info, my Underwood # 5, S/N 1797762 5
Good info, my Underwood # 5, S/N 1797762 5
I’ve got two old Underwood typewriters, neither of which I know the model number (3? 5? whatever?) I came across your blog and thought I’d ask if there is an easy way for me to figure out what model I have. It looks like the one pictured above, but it probably looks like a lot of other ones too! Any help would be appreciated.
Tom Putnam
I’ve got two old Underwood typewriters, neither of which I know the model number (3? 5? whatever?) I came across your blog and thought I’d ask if there is an easy way for me to figure out what model I have. It looks like the one pictured above, but it probably looks like a lot of other ones too! Any help would be appreciated.
Tom Putnam
Hi!
About 45 years ago, I learned to type with the UK Army on an 1950’s ‘Imperial’. Big green and cowled over.
Then my Underwood No 5 turned up. It just appeared about 20 years ago.
New ribbons in, and off we went. Great for form filling at the time.
I noticed it had a thick [3/4 inch] built-in noise reducing mat… Oops! Ugh!
A clean down with white spirits on a paint brush, and a light re-oil. Even better action. The rubbers are good apart from the little paper clamp bails.
Unfortunately, my housemate then threw the part assembled machine into my room. I’ve lost the two screws for the type guide head = now the type doesn’t align on the page. Any ideas for sourcing spare screws?
I’ve just downloaded the user manual and discovered the ‘key lever’ lock release button, No8 in manual guide, has gone AWOL. Not a fatal issue. The lower transfers [decals] for the ‘No5’s and ‘Underwood … Typewriter’ are worn off with some paint. Replacements anywhere?
The nickel? plate is lifting in places. In others, where the finish is discoloured through finger contact, Isopropyl [Industrial] Alcohol from local chemists cleans that up and dissolves ink.
Can’t work out the serial numbers. Mine is a UK model – has the £ pound sign. Under the right release lever cover, today I found1021781 and on the usual place 850953. The patent list stops in March 1924.
This blog’s what the web’s for! Inspirational, helpful and for obessives! Great!
Hi!
About 45 years ago, I learned to type with the UK Army on an 1950’s ‘Imperial’. Big green and cowled over.
Then my Underwood No 5 turned up. It just appeared about 20 years ago.
New ribbons in, and off we went. Great for form filling at the time.
I noticed it had a thick [3/4 inch] built-in noise reducing mat… Oops! Ugh!
A clean down with white spirits on a paint brush, and a light re-oil. Even better action. The rubbers are good apart from the little paper clamp bails.
Unfortunately, my housemate then threw the part assembled machine into my room. I’ve lost the two screws for the type guide head = now the type doesn’t align on the page. Any ideas for sourcing spare screws?
I’ve just downloaded the user manual and discovered the ‘key lever’ lock release button, No8 in manual guide, has gone AWOL. Not a fatal issue. The lower transfers [decals] for the ‘No5’s and ‘Underwood … Typewriter’ are worn off with some paint. Replacements anywhere?
The nickel? plate is lifting in places. In others, where the finish is discoloured through finger contact, Isopropyl [Industrial] Alcohol from local chemists cleans that up and dissolves ink.
Can’t work out the serial numbers. Mine is a UK model – has the £ pound sign. Under the right release lever cover, today I found1021781 and on the usual place 850953. The patent list stops in March 1924.
This blog’s what the web’s for! Inspirational, helpful and for obessives! Great!
I’ve got an Underwood Model S from ’46 that still works. A lot of the keys stick but it operates fine otherwise. Any advice on cleaning it up and getting the keys to respond better?
There’s a posting somewhere in this blog about cleaning the typing mechanism on your typewriter. Basically it’s loaded with dust and gunk that causes friction. Once it’s flushed out, it’ll work a lot better.
I’ve got an Underwood Model S from ’46 that still works. A lot of the keys stick but it operates fine otherwise. Any advice on cleaning it up and getting the keys to respond better?
There’s a posting somewhere in this blog about cleaning the typing mechanism on your typewriter. Basically it’s loaded with dust and gunk that causes friction. Once it’s flushed out, it’ll work a lot better.