Little by little it’s coming along. I couldn’t figure out what was preventing the platen from turning until I discovered that the feed rollers weren’t just flat–they’d fused to the platen rubber! I literally had to surgically separate them.

One thing is clear even in its state of neglect: these were very well-built machines. The Remington upstrikes are positively flimsy compared to the Fox! Where Remington uses wood in its keylevers and tension bar, Fox uses aluminum and cast iron. Even the tension springs themselves are more substantial, and individually screwed to the tension bar. Remington’s tension springs are half the thickness and rely on their own tension to hold them in position; if one of the two screws holding the tension bar in place becomes loose, the springs can easily work out of alignment with the keylevers.

After conservation, she’s going to stick around just long enough for me to photographically document. I already have a new home lined up for her.