Haven't posted here in a little while, but my most recent  purchase is a late 60s or early 70s Hermes Baby with a French keyboard. I like the design of it visually but find typing on it a chore, it's very stiff (even after cleaning) and doesn't leave a consistent imprint. I am also not a fan of the carriage shift compared to the basket shift on my Smith Corona Galaxie XII. Hopefully I can get my Olympia on working order to have a second machine that has a smoother typing action than this Hermes.

I removed the rubber buffers and it doesn't really seem to help much.  If I type a letter in the dead area and then lightly tap the side of the carriage, it will advance the one space. The carriage will move from side to side in all positions using the carriage release or return lever.

Thank you for helping and being patient with me, my only other typewriter works flawlessly so I am new to dealing with these problems. The carriage runs smoothly when I press down on the release. It only jams up during typing, both the space bar and striking the keys will not advance the carriage.

Update: I checked the carriage belt and it is in good condition. It's slightly brown from age but otherwise looks intact.

The Smith Corona Galaxie XII seems to be an underrated and undervalued portable in the typewriter blogs and  on eBay. This model is my first typewriter I got in a thrift store several years ago when I initially caught the typewriter bug but was too young and impaitient to learn to use. Overall it is a solid, sturdy machine with crisp typing action and a number of features not available on ultra portables that seem to have more popularity, at least online. Because of it's low cost on eBay and Goodwill, it is a great typewriter to buy if you want a solid writing tool. They are also aesthetically pleasing, especially if you like the 1960s Smith Corona portable body style.

Setting up paper is simple enough and the margins are easy to set, and it has a "rabbit ear" paper rest that works quite well. The Galaxie XII has options for single double, or even triple spacing. It also features a two color ribbon selector. It also has touch adjustments for low, medium, and high, which do make a difference (apparently the effectiveness of the touch selector isn't as reliable on other models). It also has tab settings and a covenient tab bar at the top of the keyboard. The power space is another feature, although I do not use it that often. One really great feature is the long and ergonomic carriage return lever. Another novel feature that may be of limited use now is the changeable type; the number one key and plus/minus keys can be changed.

The Galaxie XII does have a few minor issues: the key spacing is just slightly too wide and my fingers fall into the gaps when I type quickly. The design of the ribbon cover makes it difficult to see into the printing area, so you can only see the few letters you have just typed and not the preceding line. The size and weight can be a drawback depending on your preferences. I find it comfortable for lap typing, and it's easily luggable with the metal case.

The Galaxie XII is not as "sexy" a machine as some of the other 60s portables with th