1979 Sears Portable #L91550353
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Mei Travis (meilynne)
Created: 12-07-2020 at 10:43AM
Last Edit: 01-06-2021 at 02:41PM
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Description:
I jumped on a $40 Sears JP-1 while completely ignoring the seller's description & photos. Therefore an entire evening was spent trying to identify the mystery screw & nut that fell out, cleaning the copious amount of WD-40 inside, finding a replacement knob, and repairing why the left-hand typebars won't meet the platen nor trip the escapement.
The mysterious screw/nut held the margin release mechanism in line, and it has a very specific shape. With no suitable replacement, I temporarily held everything in place with a paper brad. Lo and behold, it works fine but with one little quirk: when the margin is released at the right, the key must be pressed again to reset the lock before returning to the left, otherwise the carriage will pass over the left margin.
Totally worth it! With a platen knob harvested from a made-in-China clunker and a quick hack using a paper brad, plus lots of scrubbing with Dawn, I saved another old typewriter. Provided my repairs hold up, it should see another few decades of good use.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Mei Travis (meilynne)
Mei Travis's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1265
During the quiet summer of 2020, I longed to use a typewriter again. After some online research and browsing, two Brother machines landed on my doorstep. A 1971 Montgomery Ward's Signature 511D and a creamy 1985 Sears ultraportable both ignited a fire I haven't felt in a long time. I quickly found Ted Munk, the Facebook groups, and the rest of the typewriter online community, where I learned how to fix them and appreciate them. By summer's end I had collected 20 typewriters to cure my pandemic blues. Now I'm obsessed about the different styles, the mechanics & repair, and their important history. Typewriters are an endless source of fascination as a literary medium, for creativity, a tinker-fest for machine geeks, and they still contribute to the economy. I truly enjoy learning how to bring mid-century or later typewriters back to life, even the electric ones, while completely in awe of the unique antiques that folks brilliantly restore. It warms my heart that there are others, and here we are sharing the same passions about typewriters together.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Sears Portable on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Sears Serial Number page and the Sears Portable By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
