1956 Olympia SM3 #775631

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Justin De Mello (jademello)
Created: 09-17-2019 at 10:57PM
Last Edit: 09-19-2019 at 04:44PM

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Description:

Recent flea market find. I got this for $28 but the carriage would not move. Otherwise in wonderful condition. The carriage problem I thought was a jammed carriage lock. Well, once home I spent 2 hours trying to figure out the problem. The carriage lock was fine, not even engaged. After a while I had a feeling it was an escapement problem, somewhere deep inside and very hard to get to. Dismantling is hard when the carriage will not move out of position. I got the back off and with flashlight an needle nose pliers found a wire jammed in the escapement mechanism. I feared that it was important and wondered what it was for but I had to get it out. Well, I did. It was about a 1 inch long curve half circle but the carriage still would not budge. So then I took a long screw driver and pushed at the teeth on the escapement to see if I could get it to move. It moved a fraction of an inch and so did the carriage. I then got some oil, lubed it up, and things began to move. Evidently it's been jammed for years and years and just needed a little lubrication once that wire was out. There appears to be no issues at all now and the wire was evidently a transient piece since the machine works perfectly. I'm delighted. I have not even cleaned this yet but it's in great shape and types well.

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Hunter: Justin De Mello (jademello)

Justin De Mello's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 432

I fell in love with typewriters when I was 13. I'm retired now. My first was a Corona #3 which I got free from a neighbor. Decades pass, life happened, and I lost interest. Then a few years back as a retiree I renewed my interest which is a bit of a happy obsession now. However, it's not just typewriters that captivate me; I love all types of old office equipment, too. I have a Dalton adding machine (which I've restored), several different working antique check writers, a Dictaphone, antique steno machine, business card press, postage stamp scale. I have a well equipped antique office that is spilling into all parts of my home. Most items are from the Machine Age: 1880's into the 1930's. Still, typewriters are complex and amazing pieces of machinery that I'm always drawn to.

Oddly my background and profession was in the computer industry. I worked in the banking business for 30 years developing systems for ATM,s, phone banking, then PC home banking. I started out in banking sorting mail in a mailroom, moved on to a hardware operator: keypunch card machines, huge IBM printers, printout bursting machines, tape drive and cathode ray tubes. I guess we have come a long way but typewriters have taken me back.