- Spazmelda
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
Interesting question. I just noticed colrebogan's post in the main forum, asking about backing sheets, and the little light bulb went on ove my head. I was like "duh! Why didn't I use a backing sheet with this when I saw the uneven type?" I often use backing sheets, and always with certain machines. Don't know why I didn't think to put one on here,
The platen on this one is not very hard, however, and the print is still uneven and spotty. I tried two different ribbons thinking that was the problem. The letter impressions on the slugs seem to be thicker and flatter topped than most regular typefaces. So, I wonder if the uneven type is related to more surface area having to make contact with the ribbon and paper.
I'm going to try out a couple of backing sheets after I have some coffee here. Oh, and this typeface does look very similar to the one you posted in the database thread.
- malole
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
Mine arrived this morning. It needs a little tinkering with, but it IS in one piece. Phew. I never name my machines, but this one will be an exception, I think.
yeah, still not sure why the image won't go in
(Uwe: I fixed it for you. Please follow the instruction for using Flickr found in theFAQ thread.)
Last edited by Uwe (15-5-2015 10:19:14)
- Spazmelda
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
malole wrote:
Mine arrived this morning. It needs a little tinkering with, but it IS in one piece. Phew. I never name my machines, but this one will be an exception, I think.
Whew, glad it made it. Was the book included 
?
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Thread Starter- malole
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
Ha, no, my daughter was reading it at breakfast this morning, and it was left on the table. I was shoving things to one side, as you do, to make room for the typer, and there it was.
The typewriter came with the Denver Post, and NO bubble-wrap. I can't understand some sellers, you give them the how-to, they reassure you they will follow to the letter - and then don't. ?
This one has a wide carriage too, and a tank of a case, so maybe the case helped. Double boxed it was not!
- Spazmelda
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
Oh man, so lucky that it arrived okay! Mine was well packed but not double boxed. Looks like yours makes better type impressions than mine. I'm sure you'll get the squeak and carriage issue sorted out.
I tried adding up to 3 24lb backing sheets without a real noticeable difference. I'll post a pic later if I remember.
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Thread Starter- malole
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
That type sample has two backing sheets in, I was just pondering how to get it to type more clearly, and then there was the post about backing sheets too!
One of the spools it arrived with was a Remington Portable one. Nice little bonus, sort of!
(not sure about the weight of the paper - the sheets are very cheap 80gsm printing paper.)
Last edited by malole (15-5-2015 06:37:57)
- Spazmelda
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
I'm beating a dead horse, sorry, but here are some samples with different numbers of backing sheets. Also a righ res scan of a small area. Looking at the high res scan, you can clearly see the thread imprints from the ribbon.
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
I think you need to use a high quality ribbon to get a good impression from those type slugs. Here's what I get using regular ribbon and paper on a platen that's in good condition:
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Spazmelda
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
Do you have a recommendation for a good ribbon?
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Large type smith-corona?
Sorry, no. I use whatever generic ribbon I find, sometimes even ribbon that came with a machine and is itself over 40 years old. I do have a few boxes of vintage ribbon that is better quality, but it would be pointless I suppose to suggest a brand that is no longer in business. It might be worth contacting some of the known ribbon retailers on eBay and asking if they offer different grades of ribbon. If I remember correctly, the type sample in my previous post was created using a brand new ribbon, and although some letters are alright, the quality is very inconsistent. And it's not an alignment issue - or how the oversized type on the slugs is hitting the platen - because as you can see some impressions are darker at the top, some at the bottom, and the smaller ones like the hyphen, comma and period are perfect.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
