- beak
- Key Master
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- From: Qld Australia
- Registered: 24-3-2013
- Posts: 912
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
A good week for me!
Hermes 3000 (50s roundy one).
Another Olympia SM4 as my workhorse.
Underwood 18 with cursive / script typefce.
The Hermes is a dream; people say that the controls are a mess, but I found them clever and easy to understand. The script produced by the ugly little Underwood is great; good for personal letters when I don't have time to write longhand.
Pictures and full reviews can follow in a few weeks if anyone wants them.
Happy hunting.
Last edited by beak (23-10-2013 08:04:44)
Sincerely,
beak.
- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
- Posts: 47
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
beak wrote:
Pictures and full reviews can follow in a few weeks if anyone wants them.
If? Yes please. Especially the Hermes sounds interesting.
- Uwe
- Moderator
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Even though I'm not very sure if this apparently rare plate makes the machine more or less valuable from a collectors' standpoint, but I still intent to paint it. I saw this during searching info and immediately thought that's what I want too.
I doubt that the rarity of the name adds much if anything to its value; you would have to find a fervent Olivetti collector who has been looking for one of these for years before you can expect a decent offer. And considering what you paid for it, I'd say a paint job wouldn't hurt its value at all.
In my part of the world a Lettera 31 is a $50 (CAD) typer at best. Of course there are those who will ask four times that amount, but they don't have a clue.
Make sure you post photos of your new paint job!
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
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Thread Starter- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
- Posts: 47
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Only took me close to three months and the result still ended up being a disappointment. In summary, I acquired an ugly Lettera 31 in October, I felt the desire to paint it. Now I finally have... well mostly at least. Turned out that previous owner apparently already had tried to take the carriage's knobs off, with very poor result. The HEX screws are practically smooth, impossible to open with HEX keys. A friend suggested to try slightly bigger Torx key to force the screws open, however the project is on ice since I don't own such things at the moment. I'd rather find another/compatible machine and change the whole carriage.
Nonetheless I went ahead and painted rest of the machine. I wasn't happy with the green paints available so the machine ended up becoming blue instead. Quite cheerful colour as well.
Oh, and since the ribbon was in such a bad condition, I decided to throw it away. As I was unrolling it from the spools I noticed that there was bark, from a tree, lodged between the layers of ribbon...
Last edited by tatte (13-1-2014 21:22:42)
- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Nice job! 
That's a far nicer two-tone paint scheme than what the original had. You've probably already seen it, but there was an Underwood-Olivetti with a very similar paint scheme to yours. I have one somewhere and should find it as it would be interesting to compare the two.
As for those screws, which are obviously seized, it wouldn't hurt to start using penetrating oil on them so when you do try to loosen them they will break free much easier.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
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Thread Starter- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
- Posts: 47
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
As for those screws, which are obviously seized, it wouldn't hurt to start using penetrating oil on them so when you do try to loosen them they will break free much easier.
Thanks, and great advice.
Today's purchase was Triumph Tippa 1 from 1966. It came with manual in four languages, a warranty sertificate and a sheet that shows recommended finger positions. Papers are in great condition and I pretty much like them more than the machine itself.
I had known about this individual machine for nearly two months already, it just sat under a shelf with "Waiting for pricing" -tag on it. I didn't want to ask the store to price it because I believed they'd price it lower if no one showed interest towards it. However, today I got a message from a friend, saying that she's considering to buy a typewriter. While chatting about typewriters I remembered this Tippa, and finally went and bought it. To my surprise, I ended up paying only 4.8 euros. It's not certain yet if my friend want's it, but for that price I wouldn't mind keeping the machine for myself.
Isn't that large sticker beautiful? Good thing someone decided to stick it right there (instead of, let's say, the bottom for one example.) It's a baggage identification label for air travel.
Last edited by tatte (15-1-2014 10:23:30)
- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
I quite like the various Tippa models that were made over the years, and this one is a very nice machine and reminds me quite a bit of Olympia's SF-based Splendid models. The Finnair sticker is an eyesore and I would definitely remove it, but I'd also take a good photo first and include it with the documents as it is a part of the machine's history. I find the keyboard to be very interesting too. Nice find!
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
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Thread Starter- JanetLand
- Platen Punisher
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- Registered: 16-12-2013
- Posts: 99
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Yeah, that paperwork is great!
- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
- Posts: 47
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Something different today. A friend picked up a typewriter from a flea market for me, I don't have it yet or in any immediate near future, so let the guessing game begin! At the moment, my guess is Seidel & Naumann (Bijou) Model 9, Google however isn't very precise friend in this case. The keyboard suggest 60's, but most other info I found tends to say 50's.
In any case, this is one beautiful machine, price was only 15 eur.
Last edited by tatte (22-1-2014 15:10:17)
- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
A very nice machine. Please send it to me; I'll even cover your costs!
Based on the East German markings, I'd say it was either a late '40s or early '50s model.
Last edited by Uwe (22-1-2014 15:21:31)
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
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Thread Starter
