1951 Underwood Leader #H2180674

Status: My Collection
Hunter: David Vandergucht (davidv)
Created: 02-14-2023 at 07:00PM
Last Edit: 02-25-2023 at 02:03PM

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Description:

Found this in an antique store in clean type-worthy condition. I replaced a screw on the carriage return arm that was broken. I suspect this has been serviced by someone. I wonder if the antique store has come into someone's collection because nice typewriters that seem to have been cleaned up are appearing for good prices! I will check back in a few weeks to see if more appear. This one comes from the same place as my Royal Arrow and feels like it was serviced by the same person.

The typing action is super easy, but the platen is very hard, resulting in loud typing and a bit of a jarring experience depending on how you do the stroking. There's also a bit of a funny click sound as the escapement mechanism advances each space.

Some things I really like:

1. No right margin stop. There's a pleasant ring of the bell, then you can keep typing and decide for yourself if you need to end the line. I wish all typewriters could work this way. I'm not convinced of the utility of the hard margin stop. Once you're there, there's nothing you can do about it other than press the margin release and finish your word or use a hyphen. Why not just avoid the need to press the button and eliminate the fancy mechanism too? Wouldn't it be neat if typewriters had a switch that let you go into an "open right margin" mode?

2. Easy, light touch. Very little pressure needed to get the keys to strike the platen. I'm not sure if that's always the case with this model, or if it's just mine, but it sure is nice.

3. The typeface. It's Pica, but the letters themselves are bigger than a lot of my other machines (they fill up the space they're allotted more fully if that makes sense). I find this makes the writing really easy to read and looks nice on the page.

4. Portability. It has its case, and the machine is nice and small and fun to move around the house. I can only assume it would be fun to bring other places too (except for the loud typing action part).

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Those little felt circles where the ribbon cover closes were my addition. There was a horrible squeaking noise when the unit was operated caused by the metal vibrating together.

I put the green tape there to cover up spots where the case was gouged. I expect that that damage was caused by someone putting the machine inside the case without it being correctly held by the metal restraints.

The keys are in a bit of a non-standard layout, but seem consistent with other pictures of this model. My questions often end with cent symbols.

The screw I used as a replacement kind of works. The carriage return arm tends to loosen up and wants to drag along the ribbon cover area. I'll see how my fix holds up. It might need some creative scheming.

Hunter: David Vandergucht (davidv)

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Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 314

I'm a dad with young kids. I work as a lake ecologist. Some of my non-typewriter interests include: Calligraphy, fountain pens, letter writing, gardening, cycling.