1914 Oliver 7 #513940

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Mighty Jabba (MightyJabba)
Created: 04-27-2024 at 10:17AM
Last Edit: 04-27-2024 at 10:21AM

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Description:

I’ve wanted an Oliver ever since I first started collecting typewriters, since their “batwing” design is so unique. But I was a little reluctant to jump in since I didn’t know anything about them and they tend to be expensive, in terrible condition, or both.

But I eventually got this one for $60 on eBay. From what I could tell from the auction pictures, it was pretty dirty and rusty in places, but there was nothing obviously missing or broken, aside from the draw band

It turned out that not only was the draw band broken, so was the mainspring. But I was eventually able to disassemble it and re-use the remaining part of the spring. It took a while to get it adjusted properly, but I eventually got the spring working and replaced the draw band. There were a lot of little adjustments that had to be made, and each one required a fair amount of experimentation.

One thing that confused me for a while was why the ribbon wouldn’t advance — turns out there is a little gear with some pawls on the underside of the machine that had gotten gummed up, and the spring that kept them taut had also been stretched out, but once I fixed those it started working like a champ.

I spent quite a while cleaning and polishing it, and removed quite a bit of rust and corrosion. It looks WAY better than when I got it, but it’s still fairly rough. Still, I guess that’s part of the charm.

Overall, I’m really happy with how this turned out. (BTW I'm not totally sure if it's from 1914 or 1915.)

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Hunter: Mighty Jabba (MightyJabba)

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I'm relatively new to typewriter collecting, but am rapidly making up for lost time...