First of all, let me say THANK YOU for all the assistance I received from the typosphere on my last blog post about this Olympia typewriter. It means a lot when people take the time to respond and even create a video (thanks Scott!).
I've still not been able to make the margin release work. I made another quick video to help explain what I think the issue might be. Take a look.
If you have more ideas on what I might do to repair this, I'd love to hear them!
A few weeks ago, I bought what should have been an Olympia SM9 in excellent shape. I've been wanting a SM9 after owning a SM3 and really enjoying that particular typewriter. I've been looking for one and ran across what I thought was going to be a great example of this particular machine. After all, the photos looked great! However, when it arrived at my house, it was in less than ideal condition. As is often the case, the packing job was very poorly done and as a result, I had a typer that looked like it had been dropped. The typewriter was only secured on one side inside of its case and therefore was banging around. Let's just say I was not a very happy person when I surveyed the damage.
Somehow, we've managed to get the typer back in working order all but for the margin release. I'd really like to get that working and wanted to get some help from you typewriter repair experts out there.
I received this via the USPS yesterday. By the looks of the box, it's a miracle that it made it from Missouri to Kentucky without being badly damaged. However, I was lucky that only the ribbon cover had come loose.
A few initial observations on this machine:
It's built like a Sherman tank. It is heavy. It seems very, very solid. I believe those German engineers were serious about building a product that would last.
It's not a machine you'd necessarily want to pack around a lot. It's a "portable" but only barely so. I was a bit surprised by the size of the case when I first saw it. It has a pretty large footprint and dwarfs my Olympia SM-3 (which it is sitting by at the moment).
It has smooth lines. It's hard not to like the look of this machine. With it's rounded edges, smooth paint finish, and chrome, it's a real beauty. That may be the largest carriage return lever I've ever seen. You can't miss it!
This particular machine appears to be in really good condition. The only problem I've noticed so far is that the ribbon vibrator seemed like it was sticking a bit and after some cleaning with denatured alcohol, it is working fine. Actually, I think the whole machine is dry and needs some cleaning, use and lubrication. I think the more it is used, the better it will function.
Will Davis has some nice information on this machine and its counterpart, the Alpina. I think this was a good find. What say ye?
I was watching a video several months ago and the typewriter repairman (seems to be quite the character!) used Blow Off Rubber Rejuvenator to clean the typebars. Here's the video.
I bought a can and have used it some. I'm curious if anyone else in the typosphere makes use of it? What do you think about it?
It’s been quite the week for my Etsy shop. I’ve sold three typewriters back to back. So, my evenings have been filled up with testing, packing, and shipping typewriters. I’ve virtually sold all of my typewriter inventory so now I need to turn my attention on finding some new typewriters.
A nice Corona Standard show up in the mail today so that will be going in the Etsy shop soon. From all indications, it's a pretty nice machine.
All of that to say, running an Etsy store is a lot of hard work! However, it's a lot of fun to find the typewriters, get them cleaned up and send them off to new homes.
I took a few days off work this week and made it to a nearby antique mall called Rags to Riches. Just as I was about to finish shopping, I ran across this:
It didn't take me long to decide to take this one home. Plus, the seller came down $12 which made it a bit better all the way around. Amazingly, for something almost 90 years old, this typer was in pretty good shape. I did change a spring on the "?" key since it wasn't returning to the upright position like it should. That seemed to do the trick.
It really needs to have the platen removed and cleaned. Anyone know if that is a difficult or easy job?
So, I got a little carried away on the Internet this past week. I've purchased several items, two of which I received over the last few days. I thought you might like to see what I scored.
Here's a photo of the first item.
It's a Selectric typewriter repairman kit. I was pretty pleased with it's overall condition but I may have been happiest about the box of typewriter parts that came with it. I needed a screw for my Royalite and I happened to find one in there! I'm not sure how all those tools are to be used but I hope to find out. Feel free to educate me if you know!
The second item is a college typing textbook from the 1960s. I bought it off of Etsy and thought it was funny that the seller decorated the envelope. See the photos below in the gallery.
I love old textbooks like this one. Actually, it's full of great information on formatting and layout of typed pages that I've forgotten over the years. (That's right, I took a TYPING class NOT a keyboarding class in high school back in the day).
So, those were my finds for the week. Let me know what you've added to your collection.
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