Hi Heltonbiker. Congratulations on your win! That sounds really exciting. 

And it will get a lot more exciting very quickly if you will take some methylated spirits - what I believe is called in the US denatured alcohol - and a load of Q tips, and clean that segment as carefully and meticulously as you can, slot by slot and type bar by type bar, to get out all the oil - and also all the dust and little tiny bits that have accumulated over the years. Give it a good dousing first using something like a small paintbrush, to loosen and dislodge, and then use Q tips - carefully, from the top of the slot down to the joint with the type bar - and clean your type bars, too, up to and including the slug. Maybe one Q tip per letter, maybe even more. The point isn't just to 'apply' solvent but to safely gather up and remove the dirt with something. To loosen the dirt, & then to scrub it off. The best thing to use for this is Q tips. And patience.

I say methylated spirits, you can buy this ANYWHERE, at least here you can. And it works an absolute treat. I can't see the point in mixing ever-more-recherché mixtures of solvents and taking parts of the machine off... There are threads on this forum, and there is info all over the web, on best ways of cleaning a typewriter, but for a modern, uncomplicated machine like yours it's going to be all about simplicity I should think.

There are times when a type bar is sticking and needs bending - but this is ONLY when it's the type head itself that is sticking in the ribbon bit when it hits the platen. You can feel where the resistance is. If it isn't there, don't bend the type bars. If the resistance is in the slots, you'll feel it there and only need to go at it with some alcohol and something that will remove the dirt. You may well have to clean it again, and then again... The typewriter's performance will improve with each cleaning as you dislodge more and more old dust and grease. (A very meticulous guy I know uses electrical contact cleaner; I have found this really effective too, especially if you alternate it with the alcohol.)

There are several sets of slots that the type bars go through, between the keys and the platen. You'll get really good results from giving the less obvious places another clean or two, as dust can just as easily make them sluggish as well.

And the carriage rails. These are really important to how smooth the thing feels. You DON'T have to remove the carriage, just use patience, Q tips and observation. It might take a little time to get the Q tips to come back clean from the middle bits of the rail, but this is what you are after. 

And after all this, you won't have to feel that you're sitting on a 'sewing machine oil timebomb'! I think that the machine will be working at its most optimum, too. 

The Studio 44, even more than the other Olivettis, has a little reputation for a 'muddy' or slightly spongy or sluggish touch - I had one but it had other problems and I got rid of it. But I'm discovering that I do quite like the Olivettis, so you could have fun with this one! They are great-looking machines, obviously.

Last edited by KatLondon (21-9-2015 09:31:26)

KatLondon wrote:

Okay like an idiot I have just realised that this is p2 of a longer thread, and indeed a thread I had already read! I made the basic schoolgirl error of reading social media before I'd had any tea or coffee and without my glasses on.
...... snip .....

Well, yes, Kat, but your advice here is well-thought-out and well-written so if you hadn't just jumped in we would have been deprived of a clear approach to this. Thanks.