thetypewriterman wrote:

That will be the former Olympia adding machine factory in Ireland that also made the last Olympia Monicas with the plastic casing.  I never did find out exactly where that factory was.

According to wikipedia and some forums on the internet, it was in Belfast on Boucher road from 1969 to around 1977.

I looked at my Lettera 22 and tried to reproduce your problem. But it works no matter whether I push the spool down or pull it up.

To be sure: Are you using the right Olivetti spools? And with eyelets at the ends of the ribbon? And do you have the correct spool nuts to fasten the spools?

What happens if you move the ribbon reverse lever by hand?

mikeytap wrote:

Would you say both are responsive to a light touch as Pete described the 32? I want to have one some day and wondering if one might be preferable.
 

In my opinion (and compared between my specimens of the Letteras) the Lettera 22 has a much heavier touch, so my fingers (used to computer keyboards) are tiring much faster.

Pete E. wrote:

AndrewP,
Would you say the 22 is better or not so good as the 32 ?

That's not easy to say, and it probably depends on the condition of the typewriters. I feel the Lettera 22 to be a bit more compact and robust, and the end-of-line-stop-mechanism works better (at least on my copy).
 

Hello Brent,

Olivetti bought Underwood in 1959 and thereafter some of the Olivetti typewriters were also sold under the Underwood brand. For example, the Underwood models 310, 314 and 315 correspond to the Olivetti Dora or Lettera 31.

Regards,
Andrew

You mean the problem when the carriage stops at the right margin and you can still type at this position?

I don't have a Lettera 32, but I have a couple of Olivettis based on the same mechanics (e.g. the Olivetti Dora). And all of these machines have this problem (more or less).

Some time ago I took a closer look at my machines. I suspect that the part that was supposed to block typing is a faulty design or too weakly dimensioned so that it bends easily and then no longer works as expected.
Even if you bend it straight again, the problem will soon come back.

(With the Olivetti Studio 46, however, the stop on the right margin works without any problems.)