I think that you sould certainly be okay to flip the ribbon over and use the other half. Does your machine have a switch to select a different color, because that would esentially do the same thing, typing on the other half of the ribbon (though, in my experience use the switch to change to red  could also make it require slightly more effort to type since the ribbon has to be raised higher)

colrehogan wrote:

It does, but the ribbon is only black. Does this matter?

Well, you're not going to get red type from a black ribbon, if that's what you mean. Not even if the color selector lever is set to red.

Just try the color selection lever and see if it makes you happy....

A cloth typewriter ribbon is just a piece of cloth lightly soaked with ink. There is not a front or a back to it; the ink is throughout.The type hits on the top half of the ribbon when the color selector lever is set to Black and on the bottom half when it is set to Red. It doesn't matter what the actual colors of the ribbon are; it just hits the upper or lower half. If it has been set to Black for a log time, the ink in the upper half gets used up but there is still alot in the bottom half, which you can get at by setting the lever to Red. That was Ektagraphic's suggestion. If instead you just flip it over, you'll have to change the direction of spooling to make it work right---that's why Ekta suggested the easier way. (Over years the whole ribbon can dry out, so maybe yours is shot for that reason.)

In an earlier post you said, "I was typing earlier and the text faded to nothing. " If it fades that fast, it's usually because the ribbon is not advancing, not because it is wearing out, which shows up during the course of many pages. Open the ribbon cover and stick a spot of tape on each spool and then type for a while and see if the spools are turning while you type. They turn very slowly so the tape helps you keep track of the movement. If they don't turn, let us know.

If they are turning normally, just make sure the ribbon is fresh and you should be good. If it still isn't satisfactory, then there are other problems.

Finally, I think you have more than one typewriter. Please specifiy which one you are talking about in each post or at least each thread. Brand, model, year if known. The same model in different years can be very different from others of the same name. Many times our answers will depend on how a particular machine is designed.

HTH

Sorry, it is my 1957 Royal FP that I am talking about in this thread.  As far as I can tell, the spools are advancing.  When I have the switch set to red, the thing that holds the ribbon as the keys hit it wants to stay up as opposed to going down so I can see the paper.  Flipping the switch again makes it go back down. Should it stay up during typing when the switch is on red?

Last edited by colrehogan (01-3-2015 18:26:27)

On the other end of things, if the ribbon is quite old, it could be dried out or even used to it's capacity. Best of luck to you!

colrehogan wrote:

For a scientist, you would think I could find a better way to describe the vibrator. I have much to learn about typewriters.
 

Oh, you shouldn't feel too bad---after all, you're not the guy who named it a vibrator even though it doesn't vibrate. What's that all about? 

Y'know, there's always a lot more to a subject than one expects before one begins to pay attention to it. Back before they dumbed down Scientific American, I used to amuse myself by counting how many paragraphs I could read of an article before I couldn't follow it anymore; it varied from 2 to 10, way short of the whole thing.