Spazmelda wrote:

I was considering linen thread, only because I happen to have some for book making.  I wax it for the books, and it turns out pretty strong.  I think fishing line is the way to go though for durability.

If you'd like some of my fishing line, let me know and I can mail some to you.  As I said, I have hundreds of yards of it.

Spazmelda wrote:

Did you replace the drawband on your Corona 4? Any tips? I haven't looked at the drum yet in detail.  Do you just tie a knot in the fishing line and wedge it into a slot on the drum?

I didn't replace the draw string on my Corona 4, I just reattached it.  It had gotten loose and tangled under the carriage, so I wound the mainspring using the ratchet pawl (I don't know if this is kosher):



I hooked the end of the draw string temporarily on the end of the carriage, fetched the end of the draw string with a bamboo skewer and fishing line:



And then reattached it to the draw string mounting screw at the other end of the carriage.

When I've replaced draw strings, I usually just make a large knot at the end and insert it into the slot in the mainspring drum.  They seem to hold fine.

You may find typewriter blogger Words Are Winged's posts on re-assembly of an Oliver 11 helpful.  It is very similar to an Oliver No. 9 and could give you some insight into the order of disassembly:

Do You Want to Build an Oliver? Part 1
Do You Want to Build an Oliver? Part 2
Do You Want to Build an Oliver? Part 3
Do You Want to Build an Oliver? Part 4
Do You Want to Build an Oliver? Part 5

 

Spazmelda wrote:

Finally got this solved, enough for me at least.  I took it to the typewriter meeting and it was great to have a horde of typewriter entusiaststs poke and prod it.  They agreed with the assessment of where the problem was and were able to tell me what I needed to bend to get it working again.  It was essentially a problem in the linkages connecting back to the space bar. By bending one of the internal parts of the escapement and one of the space bar link rods I was able to get it typing again once I got home. 

Congratulations on the fix! If you get a chance, post photos of the areas you adjusted.

I saw photos from the West Virginia meeting on Facebook and on Richard Polt's blog - looks like a really interesting and fun time - wish I could have attended.
 

I fixed the QDL that I was working on.  More dumb luck than anything.  I compared the functional Royal Aristocrat to the nonfunctional QDL and observed what was happening in the escapement on key strike. What I noticed was that in the QDL, a pawl (?) or dog(?) in the escapement's workings wasn't darting in and out to engage the escapement wheel like it did on the Aristocrat.


I very carefully (but unscientifically) probed with one of my dental tools around the escapement wheel and dog (pawl?) and then *BOING* the little pawl (dog?) bounced into sight.  Suddenly the escapement was tripping and the wheel was turning and the typewriter was typing. Dumb luck.

Perhaps the QDL had taken a hard knock and the pawl (dog?) had shifted out of postition - perhaps due to a loose spring. In any case, the QDL is now typing just fine.

Good luck and have fun at the typewriter convention! I wish I lived on that side of the US. If you find answers to your QDL problem at the convention, be sure to post.

I may have a completely different problem since I can't get my QDL to work with tilting.  Also: backspace doesn't work on this QDL. I was hoping to find a penny or piece of junk jammed in the works, but no such luck. It really feels like a mechanical obstruction.

Fortunately I have a functional 1938 Royal Aristocrat. It and the QDL have almost identical mechanics. I plan to spend some time this weekend comparing the two machines.