1 - MrNothsbury
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Offline - From: Berlin
- Registered: 14-8-2013
- Posts: 15
General typebar alignment guidelines
Dear forum,
This is my first post here! I was unsure of whether to post this in "Repair" or "Maintenance" as it is somehow both.
I'm a typewriter enthusiast with a dozen or so machines that have graced my bench on their way to happy new homes on the desks of some of my colleagues. I'm quite familiar with the mechanics of Underwoods, Olivettis, and a few of the smaller European firms like Consul and so on... I was wondering if anybody would like to chip in their thoughts on what for me is inevitably the most annoying part of refurbishing a machine to tip-top shape - typebar alignment.
What would be fantastic is if somebody could perhaps suggest the typical procedure that they use to get a machine typing all lower and upper case on the same line, and straight and even. A sort of "if this, then this, if that, then this" concept would be great. The nitty gritty of using pliers or other tools to straighten and adjust. Does there come a point when a machine is simply too worn to expect it to type in a straight, even line anymore? I have a lovely little Lettera 22 with the smaller type size that I would absolutely LOVE to set up as one of my private machines - the action is beautiful but the alignment is so dismal that I don't think I would be able to tolerate it for any serious length of time.
Perhaps we could put together a small set of guidelines for this frustrating task for other burgeoning repair(wo)men. I notice for example that many machines have a pair of set screws that can be used to set the height of the platen which I assume is to adust the height of the capital letters, but I am unsure of exactly how this works. Do you know? I would be marvelously grateful for an answer to this as the art of typewriter maintenance is largely dead and there is precious little information available. I have found several repair manuals, but no real mention of the techniques used to do this is present.
Many thanks for your time & expertise,
Mr N.
Last edited by MrNothsbury (16-8-2013 03:20:00)
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- Uwe
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Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
Is this an issue that you frequently encounter? I only ask becuase I can't think of a single typewriter that I own (70+) that has misaligned type.
Regardless, in answer to your question I have seen detailed instructions on correcting alignment, but I'll have to find them again. When I do, I'll post whatever I've got. Conversely, there are a couple of typewriter mechanics that are members here and they'll probably be able to answer your question in far better detail.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- MrNothsbury
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- From: Berlin
- Registered: 14-8-2013
- Posts: 15
Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
Hi Uwe,
Yes, it comes up regularly. Perhaps it's only bad luck, or the machines I prefer (small portables) are overly susceptible. I actually posted this because one of the four Lettera 22s I am working on right now has an "a" that types too high and tilts to the left, and when I try and address either problem, it somehow takes another direction - i.e it is very frustrating. The hardest problem for me is vertical misalignment. How on earth do I bring a letter that prints too high/low back to plan?
The second 22 has several such issues and I don't even want to engage without a little more information. I am worried that it is just quite worn, but would be glad to hear of somebody that has rescued a machine in similar shape.
Last edited by MrNothsbury (16-8-2013 03:20:38)
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Thread Starter- MrNothsbury
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- Registered: 14-8-2013
- Posts: 15
Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
No bites? Maybe I should simplify the question. I would really love some help with learning how to fix vertically misaligned letters. I'm about ready to ebay these away and just buy/trade until I find ones that only have mechanical issues that I am able to repair. I'd rather learn how to fix these, but ultimately, I'd rather be writing...
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Thread Starter- ProfessorC30
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- Registered: 20-4-2013
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Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
If one lower-case letter is out of vertical alignment compared to the other lower-case letters, there's not much one can do other than unsolder/resolder the type slug (type head) to correct it's position. Realize that not all machines had the same alignment quality, even when new. You may be trying to correct alignment to standards that are greater than was acceptable when manufactured.
If letters are tilted to one side, the type bar can be formed to correct this. Getting upper-case and lower-case letters to align vertically requires various different up/down adjustments on different machines.
Last edited by ProfessorC30 (17-8-2013 18:17:49)
Clark
- MrNothsbury
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- From: Berlin
- Registered: 14-8-2013
- Posts: 15
Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
Ok, this is great information to know - thanks! It could be my personal standards that are getting in the way here. One of the Olivettis types flawlessly; the others, not so much. The neurotic in me wants them all to be that way. The tilting stuff I am getting much better at correcting. On the topic of soldering/resoldering though, this would be a great time to ask another question: are these silver soldered? What does one use to resolder them? I have plenty of experience doing precision circuit board work, and I've done brazing work but I have yet to take on a typebar. Anything special that I should know in terms of jigging or setup? Is a small butane torch enough?
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
It would be useful to see a few typesamples of what you consider to be alignment issues; As I mentioned before, it's odd that you have encountered so many, and I so few.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- MrNothsbury
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- From: Berlin
- Registered: 14-8-2013
- Posts: 15
Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
Here we are... Not sure how well this actually shows up in photos except for on the pica font machine, but for me sitting in front of them it is obvious. The first paragraph is the "ok" machine, which, ironically feels the worst to type on. The second is the machine that has issues with certain letters not printing clearly ("a", "y", "s") and the third one is the pica machine that I like so much that is just a roller coaster ride the whole time. 
Last edited by MrNothsbury (19-8-2013 06:15:19)
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Thread Starter- ProfessorC30
- Platen Punisher
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Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
Here are my thoughts based on the typesamples you provided.
First machine is "ok" as you mentioned. Type is very consistent.
Second machine: the "y" and "a" are not vertically out of alignment, they don't hit the platen evenly. A thicker ribbon or one with more ink would tend to mask or hide the problem somewhat. This ribbon appears pretty dry. The typehead (slug) must contact the platen evenly top to bottom, side to side in order to print clearly. The "y" appears to need more contact at the bottom. Forming (bending) the typebar with the proper tool to tilt the head (slug) back would probably be called for. The "a" seems to need more pressure in the upper left, so forming the typebar to the left and top forward should correct this. The goal is to make the head (slug) contact the platen with even pressure in all extremities of the typeface.
Third machine: this machine seems to be unstable in lower-case. Notice that if a character is typed twice in succession ("t" and "2" in Lettera 22), their vertical alignment is different. That would indicate that the segment (basket) moved between the first and second strike. There is unwanted motion in the segment. Either it doesn't return fully after a shift or it is floating in the lower-case position. I'm not familiar with this model, but there could be a spring that's missing to positively hold the segment in the upper position (which is lower-case). It needs to fully return against the stops to maintain an even line.
If you are a member of the TYPEWRITERS group on yahoo, you can view pictures of roller benders and nine-prongs that demonstrate their use:
Last edited by ProfessorC30 (19-8-2013 10:44:34)
Clark
- MrNothsbury
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- Registered: 14-8-2013
- Posts: 15
Re: General typebar alignment guidelines
Good diagnosis from the third machine! Closer inspection revealed that the basket/segment escapement mechanism was quite sloppy. It's a little metal piece from the shift bar that is simply bent to the right angle in order to keep the basket steady as long as the shift is not depressed. A bit fiddly, but probably not something that needs adjustment often. I've attached photos so that you can see what I mean, and hopefully this will be of use to somebody else in the future. What do you think could be done about the "e"? Now that the alignment issues are at least consistent, it looks like the "e" is printing lower than the other characters.
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