1950 Royal KMG #KMG-4294086
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Chris Aldrich (chrisaldrich)
Created: 03-20-2025 at 05:03PM
Last Edit: 08-02-2025 at 08:16PM
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Description:
2025-03-07: My first was so nice I couldn't resist having another for $21.
2025-07-27: Starting the restoration of this lovely beast. First, let's mention that it's an elite typeface, which I prefer over pica, but with one of these in each, I'll be able to pick and choose. 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. A few tweaks later, and I've now got this machine up and running with some pretty reasonable alignment.
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. Beyond this, I suspect I'll be able to get this lovely machine up and running with less than a day's worth of work.
2025-08-01 Finished off the majority of a full clean, oil, and adjust on this lovely beast. Only a few small tidbits to take care of soon, but this is now in my regular rotation of restored machines.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
- Acquisition: 1950 Royal KMG Standard Typewriter
- Restoration of another 1950 Royal KMG standard typewriter
Photos:
Hunter: Chris Aldrich (chrisaldrich)
Chris Aldrich's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1242
Hello! I’m a Johns Hopkins trained biomedical and electrical engineer with a variety of interests in the entertainment industry, information theory, evolution, big history, genetics, signal processing, transgenetics, translational medicine, and theoretical mathematics. I’m a strong advocate of the IndieWeb movement.
I have a love for analog office equipment including library card catalogs and typewriters. As of March 2025, I've got a segment of 45 typewriters, mostly portable and manual models along with several Royal standards, a Remington Standard, and one SMC typebar electric. I have been learning how to completely overhaul all of the machines in my collection, all of which work well aside from one or two machines which need some parts. I have a burgeoning collection of typewriter tools for continually repairing, maintaining, and upgrading my machines.
2024 was broadly a year of collecting portables and 2025 seems to be shaping up to be the year of the standards. I'm slowly morphing my TWdB collection photos so that the "hero" photos of the machine facing to the right (with the left side of the typewriter facing front generally with the carriage return in the front) are those that have been generally cleaned /restored while those facing to the left (with the right side of the typewriter facing front with carriage return in the rear) are those that still need cleaning, oiling, adjustment or a major repair. Those facing forward generally need work as well. Certainly some don't fit this pattern, but I hope to fix them all shortly as I get the requisite photos.
I've got more than half a dozen card catalogs including a Gaylord Bros. and a Steelcase along with several Remington Rand and some Shaw-Walkers. I've lost count of my index card collection once I passed 10,000.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Royal KMG on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Royal Serial Number page and the Royal KMG By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
