05/31/2026
Trouble Child - I obtained this “troubled” Super Sterling for free, a porch pick up in Grand Rapids, MI a few years ago. Literally rescued from the hood. Several severely bent and severed linkages, missing carriage arms, and the return scraping the lid, all led me to call this machine my troubled child. Before I knew how to properly disassemble the linkages and type bars I manage somehow to reattach them all and clean the machine. Thanks to a couple videos by Dwayne at Phoenix Typewriter, I figured out that a careful yet solid tug on the return will bend it just enough to clear the lid, and how to replace the carriage arms. I was lucky enough to find a Sears electric knockoff with nothing much usable except these perfectly intact arms! They fit like a glove, with a little Krazy glue, and the troubles have now subsided. So, for the first time in many years, this machine is fully ready to go and types pretty well.
I’ll be writing a story on it that is partially inspired by the struggle and discovery of a renewed purpose!
