1 - lillianmarie
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- From: Maine USA
- Registered: 07-8-2013
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Alpina Help?
I was recently given an Alpina typewriter, but have no clue about it's model. How does one find this information? I also understnad that Alpina's have serial numbers, might someone be able to tell me where this is located on the machine? And lastly, where does one buy two colored ribbon for older typewriters?
- Shangas
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Re: Alpina Help?
I couldn't answer most of those questions, since I'm not familiar with the brand, but provided that your machine takes standard, 1/2-inch ribbons in universal spools, you have no reason to panic. You can buy these easily online. Or from a decent printing/stationer's shop.
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- Uwe
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Re: Alpina Help?
lillianmarie wrote:
I also understnad that Alpina's have serial numbers, might someone be able to tell me where this is located on the machine?
Locations can vary depending on the model; however, serial numbers for all typewriter brands are almost always stamped on the actual frame (chassis) of the machine, so that's where you should concentrate your search.
For an Alpina I would open the ribbon (top) cover and look on the frame of the machine where it runs between the ribbon spool and the carriage.
And lastly, where does one buy two colored ribbon for older typewriters?
Since you're in the U.S., your local Staples, Office Depot, or Office Max. Check in the section that sells ribbon for adding machines and calculators. They might not have the red/black, but do you really need it? They should have the solid black ribbon.
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- lillianmarie
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- From: Maine USA
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Re: Alpina Help?
@uwe thanks for the advice about where to look for the s/n. Will do that as soon as I get home.
I checked Staples online (because theya re local ot me) and all the carry are cartridge type ribbons. Thanks though for the link to Office Max. They recently closed their only store around here, but thanks to the internet, I hope to be ordering one soon!
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Thread Starter- beak
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Re: Alpina Help?
This link gives some of the model identification you need. Also have an advertising brochure somewhere that gives other model numbers - I'll try to find it if yours is not shown above.
What do you think of the machine you have? Does it type well?
Sincerely,
beak.
- KatLondon
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Re: Alpina Help?
Hi guys, I'm reviving this thread to say: where on an Alpina does one find the serial number?!? I have just taken delivery of a very pretty one and have searched high and low, in and out, for a serial number on it, to no avail. Any ideas? Beak, you have one of these machines, right?
Initial impressions btw are that it has a really interesting touch: sort of muffled and with that quality that I sort of think of as a 'double' sound, as on a Hermes - but also with the snap of an Olympia.
It seems not to have quite as light a touch as, say, my SM8, but I've not yet finished looking around it. Maybe there's touch control or maybe it just wants to be used a bit. My main question right now is the serial number - it had me deeply flummoxed at about midnight last night...
Last edited by KatLondon (05-6-2015 02:52:45)
- KatLondon
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Re: Alpina Help?
Scrap that! Got it - behind the lefthand ribbon spool. 249845: 1961. Third machine I've bought almost in a row that was made in 1961. I'm on a roll.
- beak
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Re: Alpina Help?
Scrap that! Got it - behind the lefthand ribbon spool. 249845: 1961. Third machine I've bought almost in a row that was made in 1961. I'm on a roll.
Pix when you have a mo? I like this machine very much indeed - a portable 'standard' virtually. The build quality is second to none, IMO. I have the earlier metal shell version too - they are very similar except that the 1950s verson has no touch control. Yours has the cream nylon return lever, I'm guessing. I'd be interested in your opinion of the action when it's fettled and has been used for a while.
I bet you're making our American friends quite lealous; very few Alpinas to be found across the pond, I believe.
Last edited by beak (05-6-2015 06:23:41)
Sincerely,
beak.
- KatLondon
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Re: Alpina Help?
I got this one direct from a guy in Germany. Including postage, I paid the same for it (reasonable though more than I should have) as I paid for the 1952 QDL I recently got. I need to let it settle in I think, though my first impression is that it doesn't kind of leap into action almost of its own accord the way the SM8 does - but it's sooo much more forgiving than the QDL which bunches and skips unless you type like a metronome.
Yes, it is the two-tone grey-&-cream one with the lovely nylon return lever; the shell is very much metal though! Here's a quick pic. Tiny scratch on the front.
That 'standard portable' thing is how I see the Hermes 3000, which this machine possibly reminds me of. Except this one is actually smaller - it's very neat.
That little lever on the right, with a + and a -, is that touch control, or tab, or what? Does anybody have a manual for this machine?
Last edited by KatLondon (05-6-2015 07:48:00)
- ztyper
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Re: Alpina Help?
I am pretty sure that little lever on the right is for adding/removing tab stops. It just makes the most sense. But I'm not sure, I don't have a Alpina yet...
A high schooler with a lot of typewriters. That's pretty much about it.
