1931 Merz Universal #51585

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Vlastimil Novak (Schrei112)
Created: 03-09-2017 at 06:20AM
Last Edit: 06-08-2023 at 02:21PM

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Description:

Merz... Interesting typewriter. It is looking like something noble and expensive and I love that it's made with a great sense of symmetry. Although, in my humble opinion, it is not the best typewriter under the sun. The whole concept of a keyboard with vertically moving keys through holes was really outdated even in a time when first Merz got out of the factory. Carriage catches are made from quite weak material... The biggest problem here is segments. The typebar one is made from good metal and there is nothing wrong with it. The other two on the bottom are real inconveniences. There are cracks and they are deformed. It is like the metal is growing, so the levers in it are crushed and not moving. It appears to be a problem with a lot of Merz machines.

I bought this typewriter because I spotted it on the Internet and was feeling sorry for it. I have another Merz, but that is missing typebars and a big round segment with levers, so it is a silent machine, just a fragment of history I got almost for free. But the problem is just the same. Two days of sandpapering of notches in the segment, so the levers can move freely. All rollers are newly made, everything else is left rusty and worn out like it was, just cleaned.

Now it is working, but due to the deformation of the big round segment, the original carefully measured and calculated angles and lengths between levers are compromised, so it is not working like it is supposed to. Maybe it is my fault and it needs more adjusting and experimenting... I will see.

This writer is interesting because it is not like the others. I assume that a lot of them got thrown away due to segment problems, so now they are quite interesting find.

Also, it is weird that the position of the numbers and accent characters is swapped. Using shift for every accent letter in Czech is very anoing, because čeština se háčky a čárkami jen hemží.

My other Merz (No. 43610) is not equipped with the detachable carriage.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Hunter: Vlastimil Novak (Schrei112)

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Status: Typewriter Hunter
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If you want something, contact me: Vlastimilnovak12@gmail.com

I am a passionate amateur mechanic from the Czech Republic, and I have always mesmerized by the complexity of typewriters since my childhood. The first one (Zeta 1501) was just a toy to me in the beginning, but by every year I got older I got also better at understanding how it is working and how to disassemble it and assemble it again. The second one was Ideal DZ33 which started my love for antique machines with all the chrome and glass keys.
My machines range from mint ones through a majority of well-used machines to piles of rust that I have repaired to be typewriters again which is a lot of fun for me.
I am quite obsessed with the beauty and technical genius of standard Continentals. I love how they were producing one model of a typewriter from 1904 to the '50s with constant changes in design and my goal is to collect every decal and every major variation of them.