Facit vs Łucznik

For today I prepared something special. Since I have two identical typewriters made by different producers I couldn’t resist to compare them :) I had to clean them anyway!

In history there is a lot examples of selling patents and produce different typewriters under many names. Sometimes very exotic.
Brother was made under dozen names, as well as Hermes Baby (even by Polish Rifle Factory before IIWW, under name of “FK Mała”.). So question is: how different they actually are. Without further ado...


Ladies and Gentleman!! Facit Privat vs Łucznik Predom 1301!




It’s actually Facit 1620, this particular sample was originally made in Sweden, but they also was produced in polish arms factory “Radom Łucznik” under “Facit” logo and “Made in Poland” sticker. They made them for Facit as subcontractor. But later they acquired licenses and made it as Łucznik 1301 / 1302 (with TAB), 1303 (wider rack), and 1304 (also with TAB).

There are plenty of this typewriters on polish market :) I've seen them often with russian alphabet since market on the east side of Iron Wall was centralized.



I've read somewhere, that polish version are heavier, is made from cheaper materials and basically quality is lesser. So I evaluated this factors in real ;)




I can say, that weight is basically the same. Both have casing made from aluminium, and full metal body. The difference is in the color of metal, so I presume in Sweden they used better alloy - no question here. At the other hand both are in ex. condition with no sign of rust etc.




What is different is quality of painting. Facit is smooth in touch, Łucznik had some small grudges that you can see and feel under touch. I believe used materials again are in favour of Facit. It’s not a surprise, since good quality materials was rare in soviet times. Chromes look good on both typewriters.




In typing there is no difference in speed. I think Facit is a little softer, smoother. In Łucznik i don’t like “spring” noise, that are bit loud under fast typing. Facit have better springs as well, since they are not so noisy (although they do make some sounds).





They both are fast, reliable and very enjoyable typewriters. I like the swedish design: simple, practical, modest, that fits “Soviet reality” as well.
Both available on Etsy.com in my store!