Typewriter Assistance

[rp2813]

I have a '60s vintage Smith-Corona Galaxie II portable typewriter that has a weird issue, I think.

 

No matter whether you're using upper or lower case, the entire type bar assembly and ribbon carrier behave as if the shift lock is engaged.

 

Instead of the typical three ribbon settings (black, red, none) there are only two:  black and none.  If set for no ribbon, it behaves normally, but setting for black causes the ribbon carrier to raise up as if depressing the shift lever.

 

This does not seem correct, and IMO makes for slower typing speed.  Is there a setting elsewhere on the machine that will return the ribbon carrier to normal operation?

 

I got this machine at a thrift store cheap several years ago.  It types in script.  A friend is interested in it, but I'd like to be sure it's in proper working order and replace the ribbon first.  Any advice would be appreciated.

 

This is the only image I could find on line with only two ribbon selections (no red).

 

 

[petek]

That machine with only the two color selection (black/white) was originally sold as a "corrector" typewriter which used a black and "white" ribbon The "white" section of the ribbon was coated in a white residue resembling dry "white out". You would backspace over your mistake, set that switch to White, then retype your error to cover it..then backspace again and set your ribbon to black and type the correct letter .

You may have the ribbon installed incorrectly, upside down, how is it in there now?,

For example,, when you set the switch to black, and you type,, is the vibrator moving up and typing black letters? If it is,, it is in correctly and that is how the mechanism on those are meant to be.

Many makers started selling those corrector typewriters but they are horrible to keep clean if you use those ribbons,, the white correction powder falls off and down into the segment (the typebar assembly) and can gum them up some good. If any of they keys are sticking let me know.. never put oil down there or wd 40. You can still buy all black or black/red ribbons online

Those are fantastic little typewriters [this post was last edited: 2/8/2020-22:04]

 

[ultralux88]

I actually work in a vacuum store that also repairs typewriters! I'll ask my boss if he has any suggestions when I'm there next, but I do have tomorrow and Monday off.

 

[petek]

I deleted my above comment because I thought that that particular model Galaxie II was a corrector machine that used special ribbons, but from what I could find only the "script" Galaxie II machines had the black/white ribbon selector while the other typeface models also had the red. This may have been because the script typefaces could overlap the red.

Questions; firstly what kind of ribbon is in it now.. all black, black/red, black/white ?

When you have the switch at black, and you type, the ribbon vibrator (the part that is moving up and down with the ribbon threaded thru it) is moving up and is it typing in black?

What happens when you set the ribbon selector on white? Does the ribbon vibrator move at all? or is the slug just hitting the paper directly,, as in making a stencil? If it is not moving at all then that is the stencil positon.

With a normal black/white/red selector switch, the ribbon vibrator will move up and down when set on black or red,, it will move higher for red than the black setting because red is at the bottom of the ribbon so has to move higher for the type slug to hit it. WHen set on "white: the ribbon vibrator will not move at all.

BTW that is a very desirable model being that it is script and it has the color matching platen which they only made for a couple of years before going back to all black. Script machines sell fast and for more than regular typefaces. They were mostly for personal corrospendence because you couldn't use them for business letters and many highschool/college instructors didn't want students writing essays and reports on them.

[this post was last edited: 2/8/2020-23:37]

 

[launderess]

SMC Galazie typewriters of this vintage

Had either three or two ribbon color selections:

Black and Stencil (clear or white box)

or:

Black, Stencil(again clear or white box) and Red

Your post did not say, but is typewriter actually printing all uppercase letters; or are you just concerned about ribbon carrier behavior?

Setting machine to stencil should disable ribbon so typewriter keys strike paper directly, this is how stencils for duplicator machines were made.

Your typewriter essentially has only one color for typing; black. The white/clear box freezes ribbon carrier so no keystrokes do not produce visible characters. At least that is what should be happening.

Fact that ribbon carrier is rising up higher than what you believe is normal may not be a fault, especially if machine is typing correct characters.

If your typewriter had two color choices (say black and red) but you only used one color (black, red or whatever) you could reuse a ribbon as follows.

The bichrome ribbon switch is what tells typewriter what part of ribbon to strike (or not in case of stencils). Upper position for one color, lower for another.... If you only used one color the only one "half" of ribbon would have been used. So when ribbon ended you simply reversed the spools and set typewriter to type in the other color which would strike the unused portion of ribbon.

If your typewriter is consistently striking upper or lower part of ribbon, you can still reverse the spools to use "clean" part, you just have to sort out which is which and where your machine strikes.

 

[vacerator]

Is it elite, or

pica type letter charcters? Typed on both in high school.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks for the helpful replies!

 

Pete, I'm pretty sure when set to stencil (white?), the ribbon carrier is immobilized, as it should be.  I'll double check on that.  Interesting information regarding script typewriters needing to use the shift mode even for lower case-- that explains a lot.  And yes, it currently has what appears to be a white correcting top half on the ribbon.  I don't even see how this white portion matters.

 

My machine does have the color-match platen.  I'll post some pix once I migrate them onto my laptop.

 

L., I've been ribbon shopping on line and thought the best idea would be to go with all-black.  I'm an old hand at flipping the spools of an all-black ribbon to use the other half of it.   The current ribbon is way used and renders typed copy in a fairly light grey shade.

[this post was last edited: 2/9/2020-14:34]

 

[rp2813]

PIX

Here are some pix of my machine.  The picture in the OP is something I found on line.

 

I do have the case for it along with a rubber cushion, but no instructions.  I know my way around a typewriter as far as settings and functions go, but have no experience with troubleshooting, repairing or cleaning the innards.  Any cleaning tips would be appreciated, as the ribbon carrier doesn't drop back down freely.

 

I don't know re: Pica or Elite.  Script seems to be a different animal.  My preference has always been Pica/10-pitch.  Bigger type = less words per page, which made a difference with term papers of a specified length.

 

I particularly like the classic 10-pitch "Bookman" type that IIRC some Olivetti machines have.  I would jump on one of those if I ever found one.

 

[petek]

Well that's definitely a messy corrector ribbon in there which intrigues me because for it to work properly the ribbon vibrator would have to move up slightly when set on "white" . If the ribbon vibrator is not moving up when set on "white" then the typebars shouldn't hit the white strip which would seemingly make having that type of ribbon in there useless. That crap falls like dandruff and can gum things up.

Never oil the typebars, use compressed air lightly.. If they're are sticking then you have to resort to cleaning and can use lighter fluid or some other degreaser.. I use a produce made by WD40 but isn't a lubricant.. It's their Specialist Industrial Degreaser. Comes in a spray can,, no harmful fumes , doesn't wreck paint.. etc. Works really well.

For the sticking ribbon vibrator first see if it sticks when the ribbon is removed, could be the actual ribbon itself isn't in correctly. If it's still sluggish or sticking look closely and move it up down to see if somethings touching it that could be gently bent out of the way.. or in this case again being a corrector ribbon some of that schmutz could just need blowing out and it could just need a
bit of lube, like a drop of sewing machine oil.

 

[ea56]

My aunt was typing teacher at Richmond HS and I once watched her clean some of the typewriters after school.  She used carbon tetrachloride to clean the linkage to the keys, which is highly toxic, and probably not even available anymore, so I would think that any solvent that evaporates rapidly would be a good thing to clean the mechanism, after first using compressed air to blow out as much of the dirt as possible.   I would avoid using oil, except maybe on the carriage if it isn’t moving smoothly. 

 

  To clean the lettering on the keys she used molding clay, which she pressed on to the keys and pulled it off and the “schmutz” that was clogging the lettering came off on the clay, leaving clean keys that made sharp impressions of the letters.  The stuff that can be used to secure fragile items on shelves would probably work just as well at the modeling clay.

 

She always said that when erasing for correction to move the carriage as far to the left or right as possible, so the debris from the eraser wouldn’t fall into the mechanism.  Erasing now is hardly ever done anymore since white out and correct-o-tape came on the market.

 

When I was 9 yrs old she gave me an old Underwood for my birthday that she’d had refurbished at a typewriter shop. It had been dipped into some kind of light machine oil, then a solvent, probably the carbon tetrachloride.  It always had the scent of the machine oil as long as I owned it.

 

Eddie

 

[launderess]

I would take that black/white ribbon out for a start and find single color. Machine wasn't made for it and is likely not MSRP. This can cause issues if someone tried to fit a ribbon through holder that isn't proper size.

Have a few typewriters including a nice Hermes that does script. Simply use correcting tape (got a box of fleaPay for very little money), so that's me for you.

You can try fleaPay or searching on internet for copies of service manuals which will tell how to clean and troubleshoot SM typewriters. Owners manual only covers the basics, suggesting otherwise machine be taken/sent to an authorized service place.

Back in the day there were hundreds of typewriter/office machine sales/service places in most towns, but most have gone way of Dodo thanks to computers. That and or they mostly concentrate on modern office equipment (again computers, etc...).

Thank God we still have Gramercy Typewriter Company here in NYC.

https://gramercytypewriter.com

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.pr...-shop-making-typewriters-cool-again-1.6294597

https://untappedcities.com/2019/12/18/inside-one-of-nycs-last-typewriter-stores/

We also have Queens Typewriter repair:

https://www.queenstypewriternyc.com/typewriter-tips

 

[rp2813]

California Typewriter is still in business in Berkeley.  Tom Hanks, an Oakland native, is a collector and probably their best customer.  I think I read recently that he's had a hand in funding their continued operation.

 

Eddie, I gave a pristine Olympia portable in its case with all documentation, dust cover, two pads, and a cleaning tool set to my FWB a few months ago.  His 31 year-old boyfriend had been wanting a typewriter, and I picked it up some years ago at a thrift store for only $10, intending to pass it on to a loving home, which it definitely found.   My friend likes to tell the story that soon after the typewriter was presented, from the other room he heard his boyfriend shout with surprise and joy, "It has a BELL!"  That made him smile, and me too when I heard the story. 

 

I got some of that sticky clay-like stuff at a dollar store and when my friend saw it he asked if it would work on typewriter keys.  I gave him some and he reported back that it worked perfectly!  I remember in my dad's desk where our ancient oversized Underwood lived on a spring-loaded return behind a door with fake drawer fronts, in one of the real drawers there was a key cleaner that was in a sort of bar shape in a clear plastic case.  I don't know what happened to it, but it was long gone when I finally realized what it was for. 

 

I agree that the correcting portion of the ribbon it useless in this application, and it absolutely isn't OEM.  So far, I've only been able to find the linked ribbon on line, and I'm not sure if it really does fit my Galaxie II.  If anyone can confirm one way or another, please do!

 

 

 

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[petek]

If those ribbon spools don't fit,, just undo one end and roll it up on the spools that are in the machine now,, after you unroll that nasty black/white stuff and trash it..

Did you check to see if the ribbon vibrator moves at all when you type with the selector switch set on "white" ?

 

[launderess]

Who loves ya baby?

Good resource for research before buying:

http://www.smithcoronatypewriter.com

https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/6N070-Smith-Corona-Standard-Typewriter-Ribbon-70-p/6n070.htm

https://www.typewritercollector.com/collectible/ribbons.htm

https://munk.org/typecast/2011/12/16/on-the-quality-of-typewriter-ribbons/

Just make sure whomever you chose for new ribbons has a reputation for selling fresh high quality. You don't want something that has been sitting on a shelf in a hot or other unfavorable environment since JFK was in office (if not before). It will likely be dried out and neither use nor ornament.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks to all for the help posted above.

 

I got a replacement all-black nylon ribbon and that has made a huge improvement in ribbon operation and typed results.   After installing the new ribbon and doing some typing however,  I discovered that the carriage return lever doesn't spring back into its disengaged position.  It appears to have a complex mechanism and I'm not sure about how or if I would/should apply lubricant, and if so, what kind.  So should I remove the bottom access panel and hope I don't find a spring rolling around?

 

Any additional advice on this would be appreciated.   I'd like to get this machine in shape to hand off to my friend sooner rather than later.

 

[petek]

What does the ribbon selector do when it is set on whitE? If the vibrator moving up or downor just stationery?

Secondly.. can you video what is happening when you do a full carriage return. First do a norma carriage retur,, does the paper move up one, two or three lines? THen do another and Focuse in on the carriage return lever and the mechanism around it.

 

[rp2813]

Pete, I didn't even think to check what happens when the ribbon selector is set to stencil.  I'll check and report back.

 

The carriage return does move the paper up 1, 2, or 3 lines.  The lever just doesn't flip back into its resting position afterward.  I don't recall this happening when I was messing around with the typewriter in the recent past.

 

I'll look into recording a video.  I have a new phone that should be capable of that, but haven't pursued trying it out.

 

[maranoman]

Carriage Return Lever

If your carriage return lever is not returning back to the left, then you are either missing a spring that should do that or the pivot is dirty (possibly because someone oiled it in the past and it has since attracted dirt/dust.)

I would slide the carriage all the way to the left so that the carriage return lever is not sitting over the typewriter and then saturate/rinse the pivot point with isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits to see if cleaning it out resolves the issue.

I have somewhere between 90-100 typewriters in my collection. Only one of them types in script, and it is my Hermes 3000.

 

[petek]

I'm holding at about 45 machines in my collection. It's terrible when you can't remember every one you have. LOL Maybe we should start a separate "show your typewriters" thread.