1 of 1- heltonbiker
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Offline - Registered: 08-9-2015
- Posts: 13
Carriage advance vs. when slug hitting paper on two Olivettis
I have two Olivettis: a Studio 44 and a Lettera 22.
Besides other remarkable differences in typing action (which I plan to assess in a future post), there is something I find intriguing, and I would like to know if the difference is by design or some misadjustment.
I have devised sort of a test which consists in the following: I choose some key and start to press it repeatedly, slowly and shallow at first, but each time further down, increasing key travel until a full hit is achieved.
With the Lettera, when I am almost hitting the ribbon, I can get the carriage to advance before the slug hits the paper. Therefore, I am able to produce "white spaces" this way, with this machine.
Now with the Studio, I am able to repeatedly print a soft ghost of the slug without advancing the carriage, if I hit it softly enough. Only when I hit it with full force it advances. Therefore, I am able to produce "bold" this way, with this machine (I don't do it in production, of course :o) ).
To sum it up: Lettera advances first, and then hits the paper. Studio hits the paper first, and then advances.
Each of these behaviors may cause different errors when you type a key with insufficient force, namely unintended blanks (Lettera) and overwriting (Studio).
Other thing I find interesting: with the Lettera, I cannot get the shadow at the letter's right, because if I hit the key and keep it bottomed, the slug comes back a little (some 2mm) after it hits the ribbon. I find it a bit disturbing, because I sure remember that with my previous Lettera 22 I could advance the carriage by bottoming the key multiple times without returning it to rest position, and with the current one I can't. Now with the Studio, if I keep the key bottomed after the slug hits, the characteristic shadow to the right appears in its full splendour...
So, my two questions would be:
> Is this the standard/designed behaviour for these two models of Olivetti?
> Is there any adjustment to be made regarding how the typebar position where carriage advance occurs with relation to the position where slug hits the paper? And how is this adjustment performed in these machines?
Thank you very much for any help!
Last edited by heltonbiker (07-10-2015 15:26:35)
- skywatcher
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- Registered: 14-3-2013
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Re: Carriage advance vs. when slug hitting paper on two Olivettis
Hi Helton
Although I have an Olivetti Studio 44, I haven't had a chance to look at it closely yet, so I can't say anything specific to this model. However, in the Royal minor repair and adjustment manual, the carriage advance is supposed to trip when the type bar or slug is 3/16" to 3/8" away from the platen. I picked up a Remington Quiet-Riter a little over a year ago and gave it my usual clean out and lube job.
Even after that, the machine just seemed dead soaking up energy as I typed. The carriage wasn't advancing until the type bar was actually contacting the platen. After some close examination, I figured out which screw had to be adjusted to change the escapement trigger point. 1¾ turns on that screw so the escapement tripped when the type bar was 3/8" away from the platen and it was as if the machine came to life, quick, responsive and a pleasure to use. I can't promise anything soon, but I'll try to take a look at my Studio 44 to see where that sort of adjustment may be made. 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)
- heltonbiker
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Re: Carriage advance vs. when slug hitting paper on two Olivettis
Hi, Skywatcher and folks!
I apologize for not coming back to report my findings, but I found the solution to the problems on both machines, it was very easy and, in the Lettera, almost obvious, since there is a hole on the lower cover to do that adjustment (but only if you have a special tool, otherwise - my case - you have to remove the cover.
In any of the two machines, if you let it stand on its back and remove the lower cover, you can type and see, just below the segment, an arched plate pull a trigger forward. That is the escapement trigger, and you can move it by hand to advance the carriage. There is a small bolt with a nut around. You only have to losen the nut, and slightly turn the bolt, then retightening the nut.
I have done this in opposite directions for each machine. The Lettera was advancing too early so I got blank chars, so I released the bolt a bit, and now it advances only when slug is closer to the platen. On the other hand, the Studio was giving double chars for lack of advancement, so I tightened the bolt and now there's no way I can tap the paper without an advance. No more double chars!
Unfortunately, the Lettera is now as good as it gets, but it gives me awful sore knuckles after a single page. I guess its lack of inertia forces me to go full-finger to the bottom, and that impact of the finger at end-travel stresses the joints.
On the other hand, the Studio is full of inertia, and even though it seems heavy at first, once you get used to it it yields a lot of comfort and speed.
So I am considering to resell the Lettera, since I have already quenched my nostalgic feelings with cold, hard reality of my grown-up, sensitive fingers limitations...
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