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1966 Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator Serial # F6270470 1966 Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator typewriter, Serial # F6270470 James Grooms's 1966 Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator typewriter. 2024-10-09 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of James Grooms: 1966 Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator Serial # F6270470 This little beauty had some water egress in the case. A light surface film and some spider corrosion starting. The case is essentially a reinforced cardboard box. There's the difference from the Western Auto machines vs the Montgomery Ward ones. It cleaned up pretty good. A testament to how well these were built.

The main issue was the escape silencer spring was mangled. I imagine the small bit of mechanism corrosion caused it to hang up on the escapement. A JP-1 non tab parts machine to the rescue. Unfortunately I snapped the pinion nut on this one and couldn't get the remains out of the hole. So the non tab machine gave up it's nut as well. But this nut doesn't have the width or groove for the tab brake spring.

Some small amount of key yellowing, but I let it go.

1966 Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator #F6270470

Status: My Collection
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
Created: 10-09-2024 at 10:16AM
Last Edit: 10-09-2024 at 10:27AM


Description:

This little beauty had some water egress in the case. A light surface film and some spider corrosion starting. The case is essentially a reinforced cardboard box. There's the difference from the Western Auto machines vs the Montgomery Ward ones. It cleaned up pretty good. A testament to how well these were built.

The main issue was the escape silencer spring was mangled. I imagine the small bit of mechanism corrosion caused it to hang up on the escapement. A JP-1 non tab parts machine to the rescue. Unfortunately I snapped the pinion nut on this one and couldn't get the remains out of the hole. So the non tab machine gave up it's nut as well. But this nut doesn't have the width or groove for the tab brake spring.

Some small amount of key yellowing, but I let it go.

Typeface Specimen:

Links:

Photos:





















Silencer on left and tab brake on right. Both must rotate freely on the escape nut.
Silencer on left and tab brake on right. Both must rotate freely on the escape nut.

Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)

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As with many, the bug is back there somewhere due to an Underwood No. 5. My grandfather was on a small town school board and used one for this. My parents had a yellow Royal Safari that I used to index card everything, including a beer can collection. Collection syndrome clue! The long dormant tic was activated when my neighbors left a Remington Quiet Riter on the curb when they moved in circa 2010, Yes a believe it or not story is next, when a Hermes 3000 comes home with the girlfriend from work for free. Yes, free! From there the addiction is full steam. And yes, I now have a No. 5. Typewriters are the perfect blend of using one's technical skills, history and functional purpose.



RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Western Auto (Brother) Serial Number page and the Western Auto (Brother) Wizard Tabulator By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.