- Beachycove
- Novice Typer
Offline - Registered: 30-1-2022
- Posts: 33
Re: Qdl
Well I have no experience of a Royal QDL, but the carriage has to ride on something, which I believe is rails in the QDL, and there will be wheels in there somewhere that make contact with those rails. The mechanism likely needs flushed and lubricated. You can surely access the rails for cleaning and lubrication at least partially by pushing the carriage to one side, and from beneath the machine. Tight clearances may make the latter a challenge.
Phoenix Typewriter has some relevant how to videos on YouTube.
- SoucekFan
- Speed Champion
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- Registered: 27-12-2015
- Posts: 478
Re: Qdl
overwood wrote:
Nobody knows how to tension a Royal drawband?
I don't currently own a 50's QDL, so I am not sure if the mainspring adjustment setup stayed the same, but the instructions for how to adjust the mainspring tension on the late 40's model are in the Ames Vol2 Royal Portables Service Manual, which can be found at the bottom of the page here.
- overwood
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- Registered: 10-11-2018
- Posts: 284
Re: Qdl
Well I have no experience of a Royal QDL, but the carriage has to ride on something, which I believe is rails in the QDL, and there will be wheels in there somewhere that make contact with those rails. The mechanism likely needs flushed and lubricated. You can surely access the rails for cleaning and lubrication at least partially by pushing the carriage to one side, and from beneath the machine. Tight clearances may make the latter a challenge.
Phoenix Typewriter has some relevant how to videos on YouTube.
I searched plenty before I posted. If you know of one specific, please show. I have pushed the carriage to both sides numerous times, looked a it from all directions, and cleaned the rails that I presume it rolls on as well as I can, but you can't access very much of it and any slide points are still completely invisible to me.
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Thread Starter- overwood
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- Registered: 10-11-2018
- Posts: 284
Re: Qdl
Nobody knows how to tension a Royal drawband?
I don't currently own a 50's QDL, so I am not sure if the mainspring adjustment setup stayed the same, but the instructions for how to adjust the mainspring tension on the late 40's model are in the Ames Vol2 Royal Portables Service Manual, which can be found at the bottom of the page here.
Unfortunately that link is broken
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Thread Starter- SoucekFan
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- Posts: 478
Re: Qdl
Unfortunately that link is broken
Sorry. Here is the page from the manual:
- Beachycove
- Novice Typer
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- Posts: 33
Re: Qdl
And you lubricated the rails (and if humanly possible the wheels, which I’d guess have a ball bearing system internally)? The rails on heavily used machines were supposed to be oiled weekly back in the day.
The other thing springing to mind is that the tabs mechanism may be interfering with the carriage motion, which could explain a certain hesitation/ jumpiness in the carriage motion. Phoenix T has a video on that, specifically, showing an earlier iteration of the model, but likely close enough to yours to be useful.
- overwood
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- Posts: 284
Re: Qdl
And you lubricated the rails (and if humanly possible the wheels, which I’d guess have a ball bearing system internally)? The rails on heavily used machines were supposed to be oiled weekly back in the day.
I lubricated nothing. As I said I can' even see where/how the carriage slides. I see no wheels.
The other thing springing to mind is that the tabs mechanism may be interfering with the carriage motion, which could explain a certain hesitation/ jumpiness in the carriage motion. Phoenix T has a video on that, specifically, showing an earlier iteration of the model, but likely close enough to yours to be useful.
That one I did find and watch, but that machine is completely different from my QDL. That's not the problem, unfortunately.
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Thread Starter- overwood
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- Registered: 10-11-2018
- Posts: 284
Re: Qdl
Thanks for posting that. My mechanism seems to be quite different than that one, I don't see any obvious ratchets or adjusting levers. Mine has an adjusting knob on the side of the machine, but it doesn't give me quite enough tension (pending whatever issues there may be with the carriage not sliding perfectly smoothly yet, which I think needs to be ironed out first).
Unfortunately that link is broken
Sorry. Here is the page from the manual:
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Thread Starter- SoucekFan
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- Posts: 478
Re: Qdl
Another way to add tension to the mainspring is to remove the drawband and reattach it with an extra turn on the mainspring drum.
- SoucekFan
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- Posts: 478
Re: Qdl
As I said I can' even see where/how the carriage slides. I see no wheels.
The carriage rides on 4 ball bearing situated inside pinions. There are two in front rails and two in the back rails. You can see them if you move the carriage to an extreme end and look down the rails.
