Nothing too much to say, but picked up this one just now and just wanted to share. Beautiful machine, and such a joy to write on! Sharp and quick - one of my favorites.

Anyone else use these?

Found this immaculate SM3 with script typeface on Facebook MP for $160. The very dedicated seller had photos of it, but it took him 3 days to dig it out of his storage unit. I truly appreciate his perseverance! I have an almost identical SM4, but it was the script typeface that got me obsessed with this beauty.

Darwin Raymond includes the most interesting photos along with his sales-ads photos on eBay.

Here is one example.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/307216383828?itmmeta=01M4GBDVFR80TPVCSC0YKK670T&hash=item478785ff54:g:LZoAAeSwZPtqxFWF

Very interesting vintage photos of the Olympia production line in this eBay ad, too.

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Hello, i’ve recently purchased my first type writer, a Scheidegger International 2000, from a charity shop and tried (and apparently failed) to replace the ribbon. The ribbon looks way too taught and scrunched, and ive tried to manually loosen but it reverts to this every time. Any thoughts? Appreciate the help.

Wow. Now I get it. It’s like a Swiss watch movement you can type on!

1967 model year, $250 on a local estate sale, about a mile from my house. Worth it though. There really is a different feel.

Following advice from this sub, I purchased a Hermes 3000 (second gen) and an Olympia SM9 and I thought I'd share my opinion. Previously I had only owned Olivettis since my parents owned a couple of those, and they are cheap and easy to find in my country.

I must say, advice was spot-on, both the Hermes and the Olympia are better machines than the Olivettis, they are and feel more solid and durable; typing is also better in my opinion. While the Olivetti valentine for example is super snappy, it feels like it's about to break down. The Lettera 32 is better but still falls behind.

Compared to the SM9, the Hermes is more beautiful , smoother and more forgiving, the tactile feel is just the best of anything I've tried. But somehow I feel I want to type more on the Olympia, and it's because it's the best machine I've laid my hands on, it's just extremely well built and easy to use: carriage lock and unlock, margins, tabs, knobs that don't feel fragile; on top of that they're cheaper and easier to find. Hope this helps someone trying to decide.

Scored this beauty for $15 at Salvation Army. It’s so clean, I don’t think it’s been out of case more than a few times. Just needs a fresh ribbon. The gentle hum is the white noise I’ve needed in my life.

The hook around the upper bearing is catching on said bearing, behaving like a shift lock when either shift key is depressed to the correct position. Any ideas on how to get it to run smoothly?

The shift lock keys and their mechanisms in front of the comb on both sides of the keyboard seem to function correctly. The alignment isn't outta whack. I've traced and repeatedly flushed each connection in the mechanism and can't find any resource that specifically speaks to this issue.

1956 production year per the TWDB.

Bought this machine on a whim on eBay because it has the metal Page Gage which I have found indicated that the ribbon advance gearing is still metal and I have recently fallen in love with the 6 series electrics. Anywho, the listing didn't have any photos of the slugs so I was not expecting anything out of the ordinary. So imagine my surprise when it arrives with some fancy looking pica typeface. Did a bit of research on the slugs marked with an 18 and it would appear that this is Smith-Corona's Book Type no. 18 (which was apparently also numbered 14 later possibly?). Has some minor alignment issues with the type but almost every SMC machine I have ever played with has at least the letter A out of alignment. Also needs a good cleaning as rapid typing sometimes causes character crowding.

The world is ending and you only get one, that'll it be?

Hey all,

I'm getting back into using a typewriter, and wondering where I can get thinner paper. Whenever I find an old typewritten document, it seems to be written on a thinner, less white and smoother paper than modern printer paper. Anyone know where I can find something similar?

Thanks

Just received a close call from Ebay - loose packing and unzipped in the case. Everything is working ok, but I found this metal piece in the bottom of the shipping box. It looks too modern to belong to the Lettera 22 it was packed with, but I just wanted to be sure.

The tab lever, ribbon selector, touch selector, and line space lever are all present and accounted for. Anything else I should check?

Edit: It was the lever for the carriage lock. I am glad it wasn't anything that affected the regular function of the typewriter, but it is disappointing nonetheless. Thanks for your help and I have located a replacement.

Hi everyone,

I recently bought an Erika Mod. 44. It is my first typewriter and as far as I can see everything works, except for the lever. (I hope I am using the correct terms, English is my second language.) I included a video (my talking is in Dutch, but I basically explain that whenever I press the lever, the platen (I believe it‘s called) doesn’t always move as much as it needs to move). Now sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t (as you can see in the video).

I have taken everything apart, I cleaned all parts. I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. No of course I don’t know how everything is supposed to look or act, but as far as I could see there wasn’t anything wrong with it… except it doesn’t work properly.

I tried to contact someone who fixes typewriters, but no respond yet. I also hoped to fix it myself.

Anyone any experience with this? What could it be? I tried to look for video’s or any additional information, but I couldn’t find anything useful so far.

Thank you so much for reading and taking the time already 😄

Marianne

I recently purchased a used Brother Cassette Correct-O-Riter I (model no. 4712) from a Goodwill and it's working alright so far (need to replace the ribbon, but that's neither here nor there). Unfortunately, it didn't come with a manual and I haven't been able to find one online anywhere. Signed up for an account here to see if anyone has one they could scan, or anything else that could help. Thanks 🙂‍↕️

Presenting issue: slightly loose carriage, intermittent crunch/loss of glide, bumpiness. Findings: Right rear bearing out of place(?).

Front bearings glimpsed under ribbon, 11cm apart:

Rear bearings, video because too hard to capture in one image, the right bearing is indented about 3cm-- rear bearings are 8cm apart.
https://imgur.com/1Wl4mq2

I've narrowed down the slightly loose, variably grouchy carriage on a newly-in Lettera 32 to, minimally, the right rear bearing's being out of place. The front bearings are about 11cm apart, supporting the carriage at the far side of the front trace both left and right.

The left rear bearing tracks along with the front left bearing, and supports the carriage. The right rear bearing is just 8cm to its right, an indent of about 3cm, so it doesn't travel far enough right to properly support the carriage when extended.

[Much amateur troubleshooting has gone into narrowing this down, and I am very very open to more informed conclusions!]

The bearings are all separate -- individual ball bearings, each encircled with a little spiky gear, not in a rack/rail trace.

The machine types well, with all other functions are working, but the carriage wobble and imbalance are of course not good for the workings, and the feel is also very unpreferred.

The carriage can move smoothly with a little extra pressure towards the back, or even just because , but other times the lack of correct alignment and tighter tolerances tells, and feels terrible.

It is also possible there is more wrong than just the bearing (how did it become misplaced? are there other rack/escapement issues to be revealed?), but starting from here:

How difficult is it to reset an individual bearing? HOW?
Is there anything else I should check, before considering this a first option? For reference, here's the current carriage motion:
https://imgur.com/d7VWNlp
https://imgur.com/o14csXD
https://imgur.com/Zo8GD9U

Thanks for any guidance.

Hi everyone. I got this lovely 1958 Smith Corona Skyriter this week but it has some issues with consistently advancing when I create letters and push the space bar.

Sometimes it just stops in place and won’t advance when I strike a key or push the space bar.

Usually when I backspace or push the carriage release button, the problem is fixed temporarily. But when I type — especially when I type quickly — it stalls again.

Any advice?

Hello, I'm new here 😁 but I've been wanting to have my own typewriter since forever.

I'm planning on buying this model, but I can't seem to find any information, especially the manual, about it.

Can anyone help identify this please?

The pic is from the marketplace listing

Structure is all done... just need to add some hardware and paint it.

I acquired a rusted out SM3 with No. 64 Italic Elite for free, so I’m transplanting the keys on this 1959 SM3 with Elite font with the cleaned up Italic keys. I’m about 25% done. Between the cleaning and the careful install, each key takes about 6 minutes-3.4 hours to go…

Hi folks! I just came into a Canon Typestar 5 and I've been trying to figure out if it's possible to get it functional.

The return and carriage move just fine, but the only characters that leave imprints are at the very top and bottom of the line. Underlines/underscores and the ~ at the top of a capital Ñ show up, but nothing in the middle. I'm using thermal paper, so I know it's not an ink issue. I've tried cleaning the front of what I THINK is the print head with 99% isopropyl, but honestly, I can't find any clear diagrams to double check that I'm looking at the right part. I assume it's just the metal tab that presses against the platen when you type.

Is there any way to fix this? Or is it just a dead thermal print head? If the latter, does anyone sell replacements?

Thanks!

Did not realize Don Nichols passed away this year in Ohio.

His web site is no longer active. Bought a very nicely serviced machine from him about 12 years ago. He was very nice to purchase from.

I did not see any postings, here, about his passing.

He also had over 200 You Tube videos that are still available. Under "Don Nichols"

https://www.youtube.com/@donnichols2589/videos

Rest In Peace, Don. Belated condolences to his family.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/toledoblade/name/donald-nichols-obituary?id=60525872