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KatLondon wrote:
I have the hands of a ten-year-old...
I hope that's in reference to their size, and not that you suffered a ghastly accident and were the recipient of donor appendages!
KatLondon wrote:
And the other is a Studio 44 - I really like Olivettis - I know you have a different view on these, Uwe!
I won't say a word!
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Just cute little fingers. ;)
I keep waiting for the Studio 44 to start feeling muddy, but it hasn't happened yet - keys are flying! The only downside is that it's a little bigger from front to back than the little table I use for typing... I'm sure I'll work it out.
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Based on this thread, I pulled out my Studio 44 last night and gave it a whirl. I have a dickens of a time getting it to print evenly (touch setting is on 2 (i.e. second to lightest). I'm wondering whether I need to clean the segment, or what. Kind of frustrating. (I can hear Uwe saying "told you!")
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I just can't git past that mushy keyboard. Bleah!!
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Fleeetwing, I cleaned every single bit of the whole type bar - every joint, every slot, even the ones that are hard to get to, from the sement at the top to where they come out through the comb and become keys... For the first round of cleaning, I used white spirits. For the second I mixed it about 10/1 with sewing machine oil, even in the segment, as I could see that built-up oil was the issue. I did the whole machine carefully again, all those little out-of-the-way corners or little joints. Then again with plain white spirits.
It's had a day or two of use since then and now I'm thinking it needs a little refresher on the cleaning. I often find it works this way - clean, use, clean use - till it stabilises.
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Thanks, Kat. For sure, the Studio 44 has a different touch than other machines (and I guess this is true of Olivettis generally), so it's partly getting used to that. But more cleaning can't hurt!
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I just had a thought: How in the world can a bona-fide typewriter collector only have 6 typewriters?!! Speaking as a man who once bought typewriters by the truckload (they were once cheap--$3 to $5 apiece), that's like eating only one Lay's potato chip. I STARTED with 6, and went on from there in my first year when I was thirteen!
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More than one of anything can be considered a collection. Some collectors are simply more discerning than those who buy machines by the truckload. Others might be limited by space, or funds, or both. It's not how many you have, just that you enjoy owning them, and even if it's only two or three machines.
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True enough there, Uwe. But what I'm saying here is that there are some of us who have succumbed to "the typewriter bug." I've seen it often. Yes, you say that there are more discerning "wine-and-cheese-tasters" who settle for nothing but the best in everything--including typewriters. Limited funds and space--that's me now, especially the funds part, and that typewriters got so expensive I can't buy by the truckload anymore. Even if I only had one, I would still enjoy having it. But which one?!!
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Now, here I am going to have to apologize to those who are more careful buying typewriters than I was once upon a time. Yes, I did get a lot of IBM electrics and Royals "by the truckload. But, at the same time I did make investments in a little more expensive antiques from time to time as well. And some were given to me, and I still have those typewriters--like my 1913 L. C. Smith and my 1913 Oliver. They are now my oldest working typewriters. I have another given to me by my brother, which is a "flatbed" Royal which I have to repair. It may be my oldest typewriter of all time, but all I have to do is to get the rust out and put feet under it. But, I apologize to the careful ones, but I did feel a potshot was taken at me, and I defended myself in not the best way.