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16-6-2018 13:48:52  #1


Weird screws on Olivetti Lettera 32

Hi there,

I'm looking for some expertise.
Has anyone encountered the below screws on the right-hand platen knob on the Olivetti Lettera 32 model before? They are not the same as I have on my other Lettera 32 (which is made a year or two before this one), and I can't figure out what to use to open this.
Is it some kind of special Olivetti screw that you can't open unless you have the proper Olivetti tools or am I just too ignorant, and can it be opened with a simple tool.

 

16-6-2018 14:49:08  #2


Re: Weird screws on Olivetti Lettera 32

I.den wrote:

Hi there,

I'm looking for some expertise.
Has anyone encountered the below screws on the right-hand platen knob on the Olivetti Lettera 32 model before? They are not the same as I have on my other Lettera 32 (which is made a year or two before this one), and I can't figure out what to use to open this.
Is it some kind of special Olivetti screw that you can't open unless you have the proper Olivetti tools or am I just too ignorant, and can it be opened with a simple tool.

That looks like a regular (likely metric) Allen head screw that has been chewed up by somebody already using the wrong tool. If so, your solution is to saw (Dremel, maybe?) a slot in it, use a straight screwdriver, and then replace it with a new one. If the slotting doesn't work, you'll have to drill it out and/or use an Eze-Out.
Good Luck!

 

16-6-2018 15:11:49  #3


Re: Weird screws on Olivetti Lettera 32

Hi I.den

Here's where a small left handed drill bit comes in handy. With the electric drill in reverse, drill into the socket head of the screw and when the drill bit bites or grabs, the screw comes out. They may be a little expensive, but they can make short work of a stuck screw. All the best,

Sky


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 

16-6-2018 16:49:45  #4


Re: Weird screws on Olivetti Lettera 32

These grub screws are notorious for seizing and then getting the heads chewed up when you try to remove them.  It should be possible to use a small allen key (not a special Olivetti tool) to unscrew, but of course someone has already tried that.  Check if both screws are chewed up.  If only one is, it might be possible to remove that screw and then pull and wriggle the platen knob loose.  Once it is off the shaft, you can then remove the screw and replace it with an undamaged one.  Another dodge to try if both heads are chewed up is to jam a jewellers screwdriver into the chewed head and see if the screw will turn that way.  A final way of dealing with this if all else fails is to unscrew the carriage cheek and pull it back onto the shaft so that you can access the 5mm AF bolt that holds the platen in place via a strap.  If you can insert a thin spanner to start the 5mm bolt, you can remove the whole platen, complete with the right hand carriage cheek.  With the platen out of the machine, you have a much better change of loosening the platen knob.  Yes, this is a swine of a job

 

19-6-2018 08:14:16  #5


Re: Weird screws on Olivetti Lettera 32

Thanks for all your advice.
Sounds like this really is a big job (considering I also need to find replacements if I'm taking these out), so I'll leave the machine as it is for now. It actually works fine, and the platen is 'OK'.

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