Wichary's Shift Happens is lovely. 

Welcome!

Nice shop-craft! Well done.

I like Laurenz's idea that it is Korrespondenz.

Pete E. wrote:

Hi Rob,

I hesitate to have to choose between a SKM and a SKE.  Manual vs. full electric is a bit "apples to oranges", in my mind.

Oh, foolish me! Somehow, early on in this thread, perhaps because of the resemblance of the SKM to the SKE, I got it stuck in my head that the SKM was a manual-carriage electric (like and SCM 5TE) - a sort of "retro" 50s feature in a 70s machine. That assumption blinded me to the model acronyms, SKM & SKE, and didn't notice that only one machine had a cord... (Maybe, too, I was wishing for a semi-manual electric from Olympia...)

Pete E. wrote:

Between a SM9 and the SKM...if I could only buy one...I think I would prefer the SKM. I like that the 13" wide carriage SKM can handle any size paper or envelop you could throw at it.  There were some wide carriage SM9's.  Plus I think the SKM sits more stylish and sexy on a desk.  And the SKM gives you that special key to switch from single-character spacing to double-character spacing...which the SM9 did not offer.

Thanks for the more relevant comparison!

Pete E. wrote:

My SGE-35 is a better full-electric Olympia than the SKE.  But a SGE-35 weighs 38.4 lbs. versus 22.3 lbs. for the SKE.  And the SKE is quite a capable, fast, accurate electric in its own right.  And a lot easier to move around the desk and the house.

Good to know that the SGE-35 is probably the better full-electric.

Thanks for the links, Dust! In a way, it's interesting to know that others have the same issue, but also vexing that we don't have a clear root cause. I've tried typing on both my 1" felt pad and my usual rubber bar mats, and the problem persists (though, maybe slightly less frequently on the felt pad).

I'll try another cleaning pass on the escapement and u-bar (going with the theory from Ted Munk's site that working the grime out helps). I'll also try adjusting the trip point - maybe I can find a more forgiving position. I may look at the adjustments on the escapement, especially since I almost completely disassembled it. Who knows how close to accurate it is now.

I'll report back if I find any improvement. I really like this machine, so I'm going to give it my (current) best. 

If all else fails, I can take it over to Bremerton Office Machines and see if Paul can help me out.