1 - puleddu
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- From: Berlin
- Registered: 15-1-2016
- Posts: 14
Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
Hi Everyone,
I'd like to buy an Olivetti Lettera 22 and I started looking around. I found a couple of interesting offers.
It's quite difficult to find something functional and aesthetically preserved.
By the way, one of these offers is interesting, but the writing proof is not exciting.
See the attached image.
Any idea of the why? Is it something broken? Or is it not even a problem and something just needs to be cleaned out?
Any help is welcome, thanks in advance. 
Typography lover and book sniffer. I make and enjoy simple things.
- TypewriterGuy
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
It probably just needs a small adjustment on the typer plate (Forget the proper name).
Someone else here can help you out, but its not a bg problem if thats what your wondering.
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- puleddu
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- Posts: 14
Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
Thanks, I guess I could service it. Or is that something I could do myself?
Also, I notice some weird "kerning" and variable line-height between letters.
This is related to the same thing you mention? Or it could be something else?
Typography lover and book sniffer. I make and enjoy simple things.
- •
Thread Starter- TypewriterGuy
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
*Typebar link plate
Im tired... Sorry..
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- Uwe
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
Odds are the ribbon hasn't been correctly threaded through the vibrator and is dragging on the paper. If that's the issue then it's a ten second fix. Alignment is another issue and there are numerous adjustments that can be made; however, you would need to perform a proper alignment test to determine which adjustments are required. Personally, I don't think the current alignment is all that bad and I probably would leave it as is, but if you want perfection then you'll have to spend some time working on it.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- KatLondon
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
Also, clean the type bars, faces, etc, and then clean them again (and then maybe again).The alignment looks all right to me. I had a machine tying like this the other week, and once I'd eliminated the ribbon-threading issue I just cleaned and cleaned the type heads, and the bars, and the slots, and it's now really nice.
- Spazmelda
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
I agree with Uwe that the ribbon is probably threaded wrong. From my meager experience that is what usually causes the ribbon to drag on the paper like that.
The kerning also seems okay to me. Typewriters are not proportionally spaced so sometimes the letter spacing looks weird. The only letter that is looking off to me really is the I. That should be easy to form the I typebar a little to the right to adjust that slight space that is occurring whenever that letter is typed.
- Spazmelda
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
Actually, looking again, the I is not bad.
- beak
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
By 'varying line height' do you mean that a double line space has appeared between lines 2 & 3 when it should not have done?
Sincerely,
beak.
- KatLondon
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Re: Reason of dirty type on Olivetti Lettera 22
Good point, Beak. But that's separate from the 'dirty' quality of the type...
I really think it looks like, if the ribbon's on right, it just wants a clean. Even if it\s what Beak says. Generous applications of cotton buds and methylated spirit (or whatever).
