Back in Brown

Some photos from during the cleaning and assessment process.

The overall condition of the machine is good: better than I remembered when I scouted it out in the store. It still has a lot of function left in it.

Thanks to the tab mechanism, the back panel of the HH is curved, which makes the machine wobble around when you balance it on its back. It's like a tortoise that's been cruelly inverted in its shell.




I wasn't paying close enough attention last time, as it turns out this is an elite type machine. Not my preferred size, but the face is clean and easy to read, especially now that the slugs have been cleaned out. None of the rustiness impedes the machine's functions.

Summer Project

A digital update, since the machine in question is too cruddy to handle a typecast right now...

My wife spotted it at Salvation Army, and I did a follow-up visit: a Royal HH (standard) with my preferred pica typeface, but in a neglected state of affairs. Everything works, but is under a light layer of grime, gunk, dust, dirt, and in some places, rust. Good bones are underneath, though, just waiting to be revealed again.


Imagine this, but on a whole-machine scale.

The margins lack magic right now, as their rail is too gummy for them to slide freely, but after a quick consult with Alan, Richard, and Ryan -- all known HH owners -- I confirmed that the margins are settable by hand, albeit with some yoga-like manipulations to apply both the margin release button and reach under the carriage.


Not entirely magical yet.

I need another standard machine like I need a hole in the head, but my wife was pretty encouraging of this machine, sending me tempting snapshots from her phone and saying things like "I'm not crazy about you collecting, but now I know a good machine when I see one." And this despite the price and our current household budget-tightening. The manager knows me, though, at least by sight, and he offered to knock 50% off the price. Sold!

After an uneventful lug home, the HH is on the sideboard, waiting for the weather to warm up and dry out for real so it can become my summer cleaning project.

Will it look like Alan's when I'm done? That would be nice, certainly. Check back later and we'll see how the project is going.