Hah, as usual, I figure out the solution just minutes after sending the help request. For some reason I had not thought of checking under the carriage side panels; sure enough there is a hole there which allows access to the screws which hold the knobs in place. Well, that is one problem solved. Remains to be seen if I can actually fix the line space selector though.

Well, the mystery was solved: this machine indeed came out of the Optima factory with that Optima-colored Olympia decal, and without the Elite logo on the ribbon cover. I spotted a similar one for sale:


I have no idea what happened to that machine's margin release key though, as "DEVAM" is not Finnish, unlike the language of the other keys. According to wiktionary, it might be Turkish?

Side note: That Olympia sports the alternative Finnish keyboard layout, which was also known as the Remington keyboard, as it was introduced by Systema Oy, Remington's main Finnish distributor. It was designed to be uniquely fit for the needs of the Finnish language, and this layout competed with the standard layout (which was probably adopted from Sweden, and also known as the Underwood keyboard) for several decades, from the early 1900s until 1960, when the Finnish office machine association finally put an end to the bothersome system of having two competing keyboard layouts. This alternative "XASDF" layout, as some modern enthusiasts call it, must not have been bad at all if you were used to it, but these days it just renders a large amount of old Finnish typewriters unusable for anyone who is used to the standard layout, which is pretty much everyone

Beachycove wrote:

I like the Touch-Master 5 as well, largely because of the late 50s/early 60s look, which is Olivetti work, I gather.

I could be mistaken, but I remember reading that the design of the TM5, aesthetics included, is from Underwood themselves, and I can believe that as the earlier Touch-Master II looks pretty much identical. If correct, it's probably the last non-Olivetti design to come out of the Underwood factory. I quite like the look as well.

Beachycove wrote:

One caught my eye in an antiques mall a few years back, and I thought, wouldn’t a magnificent machine like that be handy for this and that? I had been wrestling with labels in the office and was sick and tired of fiddling with printers. Home — and thence to the office — came the TM5.

There was some very minor damage, so I also bought a parts machine that appeared in a local for sale ad, but I ended up fixing both during the COVID lockdown by making some small parts from metal, so that I now have two TM5s, one pica and one elite, one being wide carriage and the other not. BUT, I am missing the ribbon covers on one, which I can’t find anywhere. I fashioned some from copper sheeting, but they just don’t look right. Any chance you would sell me them from your parts unit?

I would love to help you with the ribbon covers, but as my parts machine is currently fully operational and therefore still sellable as such if my situation changes and I need to get rid of it, I am still hesitant to start removing and selling any parts from it. If I end up removing any essential parts, rendering it non-operational, I will be in touch.

Beachycove wrote:

As to the platen and knobs, I do believe that all those knobs should screw off the platens so that you can swap parts as required. See the repair manual available on the inter-webs.

And as to the carriage removal: It has been a while, but I seem to recall having taken off the spring from the carriage (and secured it on the screw conve

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