Alan, I am in the same situation and have figured that we need a 7/16 inch wide ribbon. Many people I have asked about this did not seem to know about this and claimed that any regular 1/2 inch ribbon will work fine; they do not. One eBay vendor, I think called "oliverservices", sent me "Oliver-specific ribbons" that were 1/2" and he claimed not to know about any 7/16" issue!

One active eBay vendor offers 7/16" ribbons as item number 251358215310. There may be others.

Another comprehensive source is Jay Respler at <jrespler@superlink.net>. He has a large variety of ribbons, understands the issues, and also runs the Yahoo! forum "Typewriters" at <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TYPEWRITERS/>

HTH
== Michael
 

Earlier Oliver typewriters had a smaller ribbon vibrator, hence the need for 7/16" ribbons for those machines. The later models, from the Oliver 9 up, had a slightly larger vibrator capable of accomodating the now-familiar 1/2" ribbons, so in that sense, it is correct to say that SOME Oliver typewriters used a half-inch standard ribbon.

I solved the problem myself using a very un-orthodox procedure: trimmed a new 1/2" ribbon to the right size for my Oliver 5.

Another, even more radical solution (but also more practical in the long run) would be to replace the original vibrator with a newer version, or try opening the clips a bit so that it can accomodate the 1/2" ribbon. Of course, this should be left as the last resort.

In this entry I describe how I discovered the difference in ribbon widths used by the older Oliver typewriters. Don't worry, it's still a bilingual entry: http://modernidadyobsolescencia.blogspot.mx/2013/11/poniendo-trabajar-la-abuelita.html

So, if you have some free time, you could trim a new ribbon using scissors and then use it on your Oliver. OR, you could buy 7/16" cotton ribbon like the ones used to ornate clothes and then ink it manually with rubberstamp ink. That would make a very decent substitute for the original ribbon.


 

Hello People,

All I can say is Hurrah !! I've just spotted that http://www.thetypewriterman.co.uk/index.html is now supplying different sized Typewriter ribbons including the correct size for Oliver 5's.
Tom Lucas is the man to contact there and he seems to respond very quickly and is very helpful as well.
Cheers,
Alan.

Just wanted to tell folk on here that I ordered 2 x Oliver 5 (7/16") ribbons and 1 x 1" ribbon, hopefully to work in my Remington Standard 7 from Tom and they were delivered very quickly and look great.
Toms communication is excellent and I can fully recommend him as a supplier.

Cheers,
Alan.