It is branded as a Commodore, with the flimsy little plastic logo on the front (right-aligned). The finish on the casing is a rough, wrinkly texture. I've learned that it is a variant of the Consul 1511, though with unusual body styling.
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| Serial number imprinted on a bar underneath |
The serial number ZP-173146 uses the "ZP" prefix that is said to have only been used until 1960.
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| Blondy Luggage Ld / Montreal / U.S. & Canada Patent Pending |
The leather case it came in is boldly marked "Wellington School from 9th Grade 66-67." I presume the numbers refer to a school year. The case is made in Canada (where Commodore was based) by "Blondy Luggage."
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| "Commodore" imprinted on the underside of the casing |
The line spacing can be set to single, double, or one-and-a-half. This is more useful for modern users than my Royal's options of single, double, and triple. The backspace key is on the opposite side of the keyboard from that on my Royal, which makes switching between the two machines dangerous for me.
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| Among other mysteries, I cannot figure out what this little white knob tucked under the platen knob does! (See comments for more info on this) |
It has other features, too, which I haven't really gotten familiar with, since I only use this Commodore once in a while. What I like about it is the soft, snappy feel of the keys. What I don't like about it is the jittery type line, lack of visible ruler, and lack of end-of-page indicator. It's a portable, though. I like having it, and I look forward to getting more comfortable with it.
7 comments:
Hi,
As far as that mysterious white knob. could it be used to clear all the tab settings at once? I have a couple of machines that have such a feature on their carriages.
Mark, good thought about the little white knob, but it doesn't seem to be the story here, unless I don't know how to use it. With more fiddling, I've found that it frees the platen (which the button on the end of the platen knob also does, but you have to hold that button, whereas the little-white-knob-trick is persistent). Oddly, the little white knob is terribly difficult to get to, even with my relatively thin fingers, and difficult to twist. I think I don't have the whole story yet!
Is it a carriage lock??
UPDATE (from commentary on the Portable Typewriter Forum): Mark's manual says this knob is the "line space disengaging knob," and a few users (thank you Ned, Jim, Keith) point out that it differs from the cylinder release button in that the line space disengaging knob loses the original line, where as the cylinder release lets you get back on the original line increments when you let it go.
So much detail of function that I never imagined such a simple-looking machine would have!
Hi,
I was browsing for information on a typewriter and I came across your blog. I thought you might be able to answer a question regarding my new typewriter.
I have just purchased a COMMODORE SPEEDWRITER typewriter and I was wondering if you knew were I could find ribbon for it?
As far as I can tell, ribbons correspond to the kind of typewriter you have, but I could not find anything online. This is my first typewriter and I'm really exited to use it.
I appreciated any info you can give.
Maryam
Hi Maryam-
As far as I've ever been able to tell, most manual typewriters use the same standard typewriter ribbon. I get mine at the local Staples store or Office Depot store. They are still made because they still fit in adding machines and other business machines. In all three of my typewriters, I use the "Universal Twin Spool Typewriter Ribbon", 12.7mm x 10M (0.5 in x 32.8 ft), by "Nu-kote" (part number NK277BR). It is very inexpensive.
Some typewriters must certainly have special needs. If you have difficulty, I recommend you to a well respected expert and vendor of modestly priced ribbons: http://abmco.webs.com/
Hope this has helped!
Holy whatever. I have the feeling that this typewriter comes from the school which i am CURRENTLY attending. That's crazy. I go to Wellington!!! In Canada!!!
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