1 of 1- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
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1964 Facit TP1 - Loose Spring...
Opened up the bottom panel of my newly acquired 1964 Facit TP1 late last night.
Out falls this odd little spring on my workbench. (See photo 1, below).
I was looking to see why the carriage made a loud ratcheting noise when it is returned with the C-R lever.
Then I remembered I had a 1966 Facit TP2 and took a look inside that machine...since they have a lot in common with each other. (See photo 2, below.)
So now I know it is the Tab brake spring...and I know where it belongs and how it is oriented when back in place.
Snowing today and through the weekend...so I will wait for a bit warmer day out in my garage. Machine needs a good cleaning and light oiling as well.
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- Pete E.
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Re: 1964 Facit TP1 - Loose Spring...
Enough light in my hobby room...so tackled getting the Tab brake spring back in place.
I used the magnetic tip of my telescopic pick-up to hold the hooked-end of the spring in place and started it in the groove along the edge of the escapement gear. With that end in place and secure, I took my long tweezers and gently prodded the spring into the groove around the circumference of the gear groove. For the last 1/2 the spring just popped into place all buy itself.
Took about 15 minutes total from start to finish.
Carriage movement is now silky smooth and there are no ratcheting noises left.
Tab stops work well, too.
Since I had the ribbon cover off and the bottom panel off...gave those a line with peel & stick felt padding and it really changed the sound of the typing on the TP1.
Cleaned the ribbon vibrator and placed on a new silk B&R ribbons. Cleaned/polished all body panels with auto carnauba-wax. Shines like a brand new machine. Not a scratch, chip, dent on the machine's finish.
Remaining to-do is an overall cleaning of the mechanics. Saving that for a bit warmer day in the garage.
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Thread Starter- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
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Re: 1964 Facit TP1 - Loose Spring...
Photos of the Facit TP1 next to my TP2 (cursive script) :
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Thread Starter- Guth
- Platen Punisher
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- From: Oregon
- Registered: 20-12-2020
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Re: 1964 Facit TP1 - Loose Spring...
I really like my TP1, both the way it types as well as the way it looks. It would probably benefit from the application of the felt that you've mentioned. I just ordered some to use on a recently acquired Olympia Traveller, but wasn't even thinking about the Facit at the time. I'm planning on sending the TP1's platen off to JJ Short to be resurfaced, making it the first of my typewriters to undergo that process.
Find me at typewritemosphere.com
- skywatcher
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Re: 1964 Facit TP1 - Loose Spring...
Hi Guth
Having the platen re-covered at J.J. Short may cost a little, but the difference it makes is remarkable. Imagine you have a vintage 1962 Ford Thunderbird which has been fully restored and the engine has been tuned for peak performance, but the car is still running on a set of 1960's weather hardened bias ply tires. It's a beautiful car, runs like a top but doesn't handle worth a darn. Now you install a set of brand new performance radials on those rims and you have a completely different car.
I had the platen of my 1936 Imperial Good Companion (AL-018) re-covered by J.J. Short. The machine itself is a bit clunky by design, but the paper feeds through perfectly squarely, the quality of print has dramatically improved and the noise level has gone way down. The type bars now make a dull thud as they strike the paper as opposed to the sharp clack they used to. I also had the platen of my 1938 Remington Bantam (C151584) done at the same time with the same results.
Peter Short at J.J. Short tells me the Shore rating of the rubber they use for manual typewriters is spec'd at 88 to 90 Shore-A, and platen rubber for IBM Selectrics is about 95 Shore-A. When you have a favourite typewriter with a hardened platen that rubber rejuvenator won't soften, having the platen re-covered is definitely the way to go. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
