Typewriter Services and Repair
for all typewriters
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COVID-19 UPDATE 1/2023 - Just wear it.
COVID-19 UPDATE 7/31/2022 - Masks Please. Virus bad still.
COVID-19 UPDATE 2/28/2022 - Short and sweet: CDC is calling off mask mandates, I am not. Business as usual. The vaccine is NOT effective against Omicron, as stated by the CDC.
COVID-19 UPDATE 6/27/2021 - CDC once again recommends masks regardless of vaccination status. In light of the Delta Variant of COVID, I am still requiring customers and clients to wear them regardless of vaccination status, and I will be as well. Masks must be covering both your mouth and your nose.
COVID-19 UPDATE 5/13/2021 - Despite CDC updates stating that vaccinated people can stop wearing masks and stop social distancing, I am still requiring it. Fully vaccinated people are still carriers for the virus. No service will be given to those not following previous COVID guidelines regardless of vaccination. There are currently millions of breakthrough cases in individuals who have been fully vaccinated, no vaccine is fully effective.
COVID-19 Notice (2020). MASKS ARE REQUIRED, as well as Illinois state social distancing requirements. Your mask must be covering BOTH your nose and your mouth at the same time for exchanging machines, dropping off, picking up, or on site repairs. I understand others have their own ideas and opinions, and this is the way I prefer to conduct my business. I reserve the right to refuse at any time. Please place your machines on the ground or directly into the trunk.
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The shop is located at 1525 Ogden Avenue, Unit L, Downers Grove Il, 60515
Currently by appointment only, call ahead to schedule.
PLEASE GIVE A 24 HOUR NOTICE IF YOU CAN’T MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT TO AVOID BEING CHARGED CANCELLATION FEES! Appointments are automatically canceled if you are more than a half hour late with no contact.
If you want to swing by during business hours for a purchase or a chat, just give me a call and if I'm there I'll let you in!
If you need to reach me, call me (630-561-5853).
Repair work is first come first serve, and by appointment only. A repair queue is listed on the homepage. Following notice of completion, you have 30 days to pick up, or to schedule a pickup. The rest is specified in the Service Contract.
What you’ll need - for any repair job, I request the signed payment contract and the $20 assessment fee. Do not pay the fee in advance. Of course I will need the machine too. Once I have those two things, it may take me a few days to assess the work, and I will then contact you with a quote. The maximum amount of machines per person for work at one time is 4. Average repair cost is $300-350.
For rushed orders/express work: if I am backlogged or busy and you need your machine right away, I can cut you to the front of the line but the repair will be billed at time and a half, independent of sales costs (ribbons and parts).
In regards to trade-ins: I will accept any machine for a value of $20 towards both sales and repairs.
In regards to Donations: Any and all machines in any condition are accepted. You can drop off at any time and leave it by the door, or you can schedule a time to drop it off to ensure I actually receive it!
Below are pictures of typewriters. You’ll need to scroll down to see them. These are previous jobs I’ve done.
Perfection is not guaranteed these are old machines, a lot can go wrong and permanently so over the course of many decades.
I uphold the original Royal Guarantee which applies to all serviced typewriters starting at the time of pickup.
Your Typewriter is guaranteed for ninety days from the date of pickup and if presented within ninety days. Any part or parts which may become unserviceable through ordinary wear and not through accident, misuse, or neglect will be replaced and any necessary adjustments made without charge. This guarantee does not include cylinder, ribbons, or cleaning.
I’m more of a fixer than a beautician, and I strive to ensure every machine that leaves my hands operates in tip top shape, even if it isn’t a looker. I have a decade of analog service experience, countless machines from all over the world have passed through my hands dating anywhere from the 1880s all the way up to the 2020s; I see these old machines as functional pieces of history. As such, I put great care into making sure all machines leave my shop working as best as possible. The repair queue can be slow going as every machine receives equal care and attention.
I work to the old-world industry standard, and strive to ensure genuine and high quality repair work. I don’t “flip” machines, or give them “TLC,” I hold them to high business standards whenever possible, and work to adjust, calibrate, and repair machines as close to original tolerances and factory specifications as they can go. This is serious repair work, and I treat it rightfully so.
Why do I fix typewriters? The one question I’m asked more than any other. I never have a good answer. I need to fix them, they need to be fixed. The reason for the existence of typewriter repair is complex. They’re important to us as people. They represent a time when we could create freely, when we could put our ideas down in physical form without the interference of computers. We forget the time when every scrap we made could so readily be preserved, and instead embraced an era of ones and zeros that will be gone along with us;- lost to an arbitrary dimension that existed under a self-imposed veil of importance. Our very nature is to create, to make things out of the world around us and to share those things with each other. Nowadays, we sit at our computer and fake it, pretending that it means something to ourselves, and to future generations. As long as we exist in the physical world, we need to interact with physical objects, and have physical experiences. The typewriter will forever be the tangible and tactile incarnation of human thought, and the computer will only ever be an amalgamation of temporary mystique and pretense. Everything has a place in our world, even the typewriter, and they can’t do their jobs while broken.