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- limey
- New Member
Offline - Registered: 01-1-2022
- Posts: 4
What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
I have an imperial model 50 that has been kept in my loft and so is quiet dirty.
I intend giving it a good clean with methylated spirit but the '7' type bar does not seem to want to go back all the way. The type head rises and strikes the platen OK but then the bar only falls part way back, with the type head coming to rest about 1cm above the level of the other type heads, even though the key itself goes back in line with the other keys.
If I press the type head gently there appears to me some springiness stopping it going down.
I cannot see anything obvious stopping it going down, but then its rather difficult to se much of anything apart from the top comb (is that the right word?) and that seems dirty but not unduly so.
Can anyone tell me where in particular I should look - and clean - in order to resolve this?
- skywatcher
- Moderator
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 712
Re: What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
Hi Limey
Talking about an Imperial model 50 and methylated spirits in the same post tells me that you are in England. Tom The Typewriter Man from Luton is the resident expert on these machines. With a little luck, Tom will chime in with the answer you're looking for. All the best for the new year of 2022,
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)
- limey
- New Member
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- Registered: 01-1-2022
- Posts: 4
Re: What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
Well spotted!
Yes I am in the UK - my user name probably also gives it away <grin>
I'm guessing that the com URL extension means the board is mostly USA? In which case my apologies. I think it's called denatured alcohol over there.
Thanks for the help re Tom the typewriter man - Luton is only 50 miles from me. I'll look forward to him spotting the post.
Happy New year
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Thread Starter- thetypewriterman
- Key Master
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- From: Leiston, England
- Registered: 29-5-2013
- Posts: 892
Re: What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
My guess is that the typebar link is bent, thus making it 'shorter' than the others. The typebar link is the wire connection attached to the typebar near the segment. 
- limey
- New Member
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- Registered: 01-1-2022
- Posts: 4
Re: What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
Ok Thank you TheTypewriterMan, That would sort of agree with the springiness that I feel as opposed to a dead stop I'll have a look.
One small question though, please can you explain where 'the segment' is and what it looks like?
Regards
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
- Moderator
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 712
Re: What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
Hi Again Limey
Yes, the forum is a North America based forum, the founder of this group actually lives in Toronto here in Canada. The segment is the fan shaped piece of metal with all the slots in which the type bars sit. I don't remember if it was the Imperial model 50, but on one of the Imperial office typewriters, the entire type bar and segment assembly could be lifted out of the machine so a different type face could be installed.
Methylated spirits is called methyl hydrate over here, denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol is the main ingredient in surgical spirits or rubbing alcohol in England. 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)
- limey
- New Member
Offline
- Registered: 01-1-2022
- Posts: 4
Re: What can stop a type bar going all the way down -old imperial model 50
Thank you very much. I'll take another look at the machine today.
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