1957 Tower President
This Sears-branded Smith-Corona Silent Super seemed to be in good shape on the surface, but ultimately required a fair amount of reconditioning time. I think somebody had sprayed WD-40 on the type bars and segment. But the biggest issue was finding a replacement for the cork type lever rest that crumbled up and fell out!
Here, you can see pieces of the approximately 10” long, 5/16” wide and 1/8” thick cork bed that the type levers are supposed to rest against, holding all of the keys at just the right height.
I found somebody on eBay selling rolls of self-adhesive neoprene rubber, and they were nice enough to do a custom cut for me at 5/16” width at no extra cost! It ended up being about $18 shipped for a 12’ roll.
It took quite a bit of manipulation to get it installed! I pushed a strip in from the side with the backing still on. Then once it was close to the track I needed to stick it in, I started peeling off the back by reaching in with a precision pick., and pressing the rubber in place with a screwdriver. I did this about every other type lever from one side to the other until it was completely in place. What a pain!
Type Sample
Image Gallery
The President in action
The Tower President was a pleasure to type on. But ultimately, I decided that with the high number of Smith-Corona machines in my collection, and my preference for 10 pitch fonts, this one wasn’t going to work into the rotation enough, so it was sold off. I do kind of miss seeing it on display!