Fully Restored 1926 Underwood 3-Bank Portable Typewriter | Serial No. 153906 | Brand-New Platen & Rollers Fitted

📖 Product Overview: The Golden Age of Ultra-Portable Engineering

Presenting a pristine, museum-grade classic from the Roaring Twenties: the 1926 Underwood 3-Bank Portable Typewriter. Renowned among typewriter historians and collectors as one of the smallest, lightest, and most elegant mechanical typewriters ever engineered, the Underwood 3-Bank was designed to give traveling journalists, authors, and scholars complete literary mobility without sacrificing mechanical strength.

Operating on a clever double-shift mechanism (allowing three characters per typebar on a compact three-row keyboard), this machine offers a remarkably compact footprint while producing clean, crisp text on full-sized paper.

Restored to smooth working order at our UK workshop by BBC's The Repair Shop featured experts Walid Saad & Joujou, this century-old artifact is ready for regular creative writing.

📊 Technical Specifications & Restoration Upgrades

• Brand & Model: Underwood 3-Bank Portable

• Manufacturing Year: 1926 (Serial No. 153906)

• Origin: Made in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

• Brand-New Platen Roller Fitted (£150 Value): The original 1920s hard rubber roller has been completely replaced with a freshly vulcanized, brand-new rubber platen layer for smooth paper grip, quiet typing acoustics, and sharp ink impressions.

• New Feed Rollers Fitted: Upgraded with brand-new internal rubber feed rollers to ensure perfect paper tracking and alignment.

• Upgraded Rubber Feet: Fitted with new custom rear rubber feet on the typewriter chassis, along with brand-new replacement feet fitted to the carrying case base for secure tabletop stability.

• 100% Workshop Restored: Fully dismantled, chemically flushed, degreased, segment-aligned, and mechanically tuned with a crisp, clear bell ring on margin return.

• Fresh Ribbon Installed: Pre-installed with a brand-new Black & Red dual-color ribbon wound onto original metal spools with correct vintage metal pins.

🎨 Cosmetic Condition & Original Case

• Cosmetic Presentation: In remarkably excellent condition for a century-old machine. Retains deep, crisp gold factory decals that remain far superior to most surviving examples from this era (Workshop note: The primary aesthetic mark is located on the front frame directly under the word "Portable").

• Keycaps: Genuine 1920s glass-topped keys set in polished metal rims, preserved in beautiful condition.

• Original Carrying Case: Includes its original base and locking lid cover in very good structural condition. The latch clips securely, and the case retains its original, authentically aged leather carrying handle.

✍️ Typeface & Font Details

• Typeface Style: Classic, bold PICA Typeface (10 CPI).

• Font Pitch: 10 Characters Per Inch (10 CPI / PICA Scale)—delivering crisp, clear, and perfectly spaced print impressions.

📋 Quick Specifications Overview

Why Invest in This Underwood 3-Bank?

Finding an early 1920s Underwood 3-Bank with intact glass keycaps, pristine gold decals, a brand-new rubber platen, and new feed rollers is extraordinarily rare. Combining ultra-portable historic design with fresh rubber components, it stands as a premier investment piece for literary creators and serious collectors alike.

🌍 Global Shipping, Timelines & Tariff Information

🇺🇸 United States & 🇬🇧 United Kingdom Shipping (100% Free & All-Inclusive): Standard local & international shipping to the US and UK is completely free and included in the listed price. Furthermore, all US import tariffs and customs duties are fully prepaid by our workshop. There are absolutely zero hidden checkout fees, surprise border holds, or cash-on-delivery demands at your door.

🌐 International Shipping (Europe, Australia, Canada & Rest of World): We dispatch all website orders in less than 24 hours. We offer flexible, fully tracked premium shipping options calculated at checkout:

• Standard International Delivery: Safely delivered via premium air courier directly to your doorstep in 3 to 7 working days (with prompt EU dispatch and highly competitive rates to Australia and remote destinations).

• Express International Delivery Upgrade: Arrives at your door in just 1 to 3 working days for a small additional fee.

Proprietary Global Packaging Protocol: To ensure a fragile 1920s portable machine survives international air transit flawlessly, we lock the carriage rails down, wrap the entire chassis in multi-layered shock-absorbing cushioning, and suspend the unit inside an extra-heavy-duty, double-walled container.

🤝 The "Ready-to-Write" Package & Lifetime Support

• Unbox & Start Writing: Your Underwood 3-Bank arrives pre-installed with your fresh ribbon and our primary step-by-step startup instructions. Simply unbox, release the carriage lock, and begin typing immediately.

• Video Learning Academy: Includes a direct link to our dedicated YouTube video tutorial teaching you how to operate, care for, and change ribbons on 3-bank portable typewriters.

• Lifetime Technical Partnership: Every typewriter we sell comes with lifetime technical support. You receive direct email and video-call troubleshooting access to Walid and Joujou, the celebrated restoration experts from the BBC's The Repair Shop and major Netflix productions.

📖 Have questions about 3-bank typewriters or vintage restorations? Read our master guide: Typewriter FAQ: The Ultimate 100 Questions Answered