[GreenKeys] Model 35 type box and general cleaning/lubricating

[Alan Frisbie]

After cleaning, should a Model 35 type box be lubricated?  I can't
find anything in the manual that addresses this, but would appreciate
a pointer to it.   If so, would the same Starrrett 1620 instrument oil
I'm using on the rest of the typing unit be the right stuff to use?

I'm making slow but steady progress on the ASR-35 I bought last month.
Slow, because I'm carefully studying the manuals for fear of screwing
something up.  So far, I have removed the typing unit and thoroughly
cleaned it.  After trying Simple Green and not liking it, I tried
isopropyl alcohol, TP-35 from Miller-Stephenson (Freon/Alcohol mix
in a spray can), and finally TCE with a sprayer hooked to my compressor.
After all that it looks like new!

I used a plastic squeeze bottle with a long hypodermic needle to
hit all the oil point with Starrett 1620 instrument oil.  There sure
are a lot of points to hit!  To make sure I got them all, I printed
out that section of the manual and checked off each one as I did it.
There were a few diagrams that I had trouble finding on the actual
unit, so I just winged it -- if in doubt, oil it!  :-)

I did not disassemble the type box, but instead put it in a jar of
isopropyl alcohol in an ultrasonic cleaner.  That really cleaned
the old dried ink out of the type slugs!  There was a lot of fuzz
under the type slug heads, which I assume was from ribbons over
many years.  Tweezers and compressed air finally got it all out.
Now I just need to know if it needs lubrication.

I gave the same treatment as the typing unit to the LRPE reperforator
yesterday, and my task for today is to start on the keyboard and base
assembly.   It is an ugly mess with all the decades-old dried grease
and oil.

The black sound-deadening(?) foam under the base plate and inside
the cabinet cover is, of course, dried out and crumbling.  I am
thinking of replacing it with automotive sound-deadening mats.  Is
that a reasonable solution?  What do you guys use?

To absorb oil under the typing unit and base plate, I am planning
to use one of the New Pig oil absorbing mats, as John Whitney did.
Is there anything better?


Thanks,
Alan Frisbie