misteraitch wrote:

I'd already become newly-enamoured of other pre-digital technologies: film cameras, vinyl LPs, fountain pens & what not.

Welcome, Stuart! Is that a Graflex Crown Graphic I spot in your display picture?

I've found many old tools like film cameras, fountain pens and typewriters have a similar attraction. You'll find we have several photography and vinyl buffs here, too. And if you're interested, there's also a fountain pen thread in the Off-Topic section, although it may need dusting off (it's been a while since anyone posted there).

I'd say typewriter fanatics are more likely to enjoy these puns than anybody else, but that would be...


...negative stereo typing.

Hi Gaudencio,

What an interesting keyboard layout on your Hermes Baby!

As Skywatcher said, this is a very common problem with old typewriters. My Hermes Baby is from the 1960s, but it's a similar design, so I've posted some photos below.

The string is called a drawband, and the little wheel (with the string around it) is called the mainspring drum. It has a spring inside it, so when it's wound in the right direction, it creates the tension needed to make the carriage move every time you hit a key.

As Skywatcher said, assuming your mainspring is working, one way to fix this is to:

1. Make sure the carriage/platen is pushed all the way to the right, and detach the drawband from the mainspring drum.
2. Rotate up the mainspring drum in the direction of the arrow at least two full rotations, and reattach the drawband so it looks like this (being careful not to let go of the mainspring drum, as it may be dangerous at high tension):



3) Hook the drawband onto the hook at the opposite end of the carriage, like this:



...making sure there tension in the mainspring drum is still there. Then let go and start typing to see if the carriage moves.

If you're having any troubles, there's a good article on OzTypewriter about reattaching a drawband. It's not a Hermes Baby, but it should provide the basic procedure needed.

If you have any questions, do let us know, and welcome to the forum!

P.S. If your drawband has physically snapped (it's unclear in the photos), you can replace it with heavy-weight fishing line, but that requires DIY and is a little more difficult. Hopefully it is still in one piece.

Why must you do this, Uwe? Why must you do this?

There I was, pleased to have finally made a start on my 15,000-word Honours thesis, due roughly the end of November, and happily ignoring all syllables that even vaguely sounded like Na, No, Wri, or Mo. And then you post this.

Curse my creative writing addiction!

It is with great trepidation that I say: thanks to Typewriter Talk, I too am "in". My username is tojeem and my genre is mystery! I can only hope I don't get too many callouses on my fingertips this November.

I'm only joking. We'll have a ball.

Myshkin wrote:

I can already tell that you guys beat the hell out of most motorcycle forum people.

Just as fanatical, though!

My typewriter collection doesn't have enough $2 Royalites. My best deal, I think, was a $15 Hermes. Congratulations on finding such a bargain. If you feel so inclined, I'd love to see a picture in the "Recent Acquisitions" thread.

Welcome to the forum, anyway