I've sorted out the caps clanking (I had set too high the metal strip that goes across the front of the carriage).

Still scratching my head over the skipping issue for the leftmost keys (Issue #1, above). Anyone have suggestions for me on that? 

Nice find and an interesting machine. Neat to see the control keys in Finnish (e.g. Vaihto).

I also wonder if this is a repaint & re-decal. It looks a lot like an SM1, except for the centered, decal logo (which is a little like an Olympia Progress) vs the embossed logo on the right as Pete noted. Nothing on the TWDB matches it that I can see. 

For manuals, Richard Polt's site has a manual for an Oribs, very like yours. My German isn't great, but from what little I can read, it doesn't mention a carriage lock: olympiaorbis.pdf (xavier.edu). I can't find any English manuals, either. 

For apostrophe, (I can't believe I'm suggesting this) perhaps you could use the acute accent and a space as a very crude proxy...
 

I thought I'd give you all an update on what happened with this little typewriter.

After posting this thread several years ago, I decided that this problem was beyond my skills at the time, and I put it on the shelf until I'd learned more.

Last week, I decided it was time to give it a go.

First, I made several attempts at removing the starwheel in situ, but there was no way to get wrenches near it, with enough room to operate. I was not able to remove any body panels to get access since the side and back panels had screws under the immobile carriage.

I decided to loosen the four screws that attached the escapement to the bottom plate of the carriage. This freed the carriage, enabling to move the panels around. Even with more access, I was unable to do much with the escapement where it was, so I removed the entire carriage, including the base plate.

From there I removed the escapement to assess the situation. The starwheel itself looked in good shape. One of its axel pins had its point flattened in whatever blow knocked the starwheel loose. The pinion gear refused to turn. Finally, I saw that the escapement frame had been bent. The side that contained the flattened axel pin was bowed.



Looking at the assembly from the side, both axel pins were pointing upward. Exactly what you'd expect given the position of the starwheel before disassembly.



I removed the starwheel and axel pins. The pinion gear wouldn't turn on its axel, but when I tried to turn the axel screw, it turned with it. So, it was not hung up on the frame. I put some Kroil on it and it freed up immediately. The copious amounts of congealed lubricant that covered everything inside the machine had turned to glue. I still could not free the front screw of the pinion from its axel adjustmen

Or maybe Facit had an Asian factory and licensed the "Hermes" name there because it worked better for that market... 

Interesting find!

The upper rail screw holes (at least the front upper rail) are circular and not slotted, so it does not appear that there's any way to adjust or compensate for this.

Looking at the bearings at either extreme of carriage travel, they seem to be in the right place (about 3/4" from the end at extremes).