Not sure about the SM8, but the SM9, and most other machines with auto-reverse mechanisms, use a fork or two-pronged "arm" with a gap in the middle. The ribbon is threaded through the gap in both arms. There should be a rivet or grommet near both ends of the ribbon, that is too wide to fit through the gap in the forked arms. As you near the end of the ribbon, the grommet pulls the arm over and it reverses the direction of the ribbon takeup.

~Joe

I suspect that your SM9 is a later model.  The earlier ones had the ribbon reverse fork that JoeV describes.  On the later models, this was revised to just a solid arm with no slot.  On both versions, the ribbon isn't supposed to have any eyelets - although the eyelets will not do any harm on the earlier version; they will simply give the ribbon reverse fork an extra pull.  The ribbon reverse is supposed to operate when the ribbon begins to go taut as it reaches the end.  If it is looping and jumping away from the ribbon reverse arm as you type, I wonder if there is a problem with one or both of the spring loaded ribbon tensioner arms.  These bear on the surface of the ribbon.  (You have to swing them out of the way before changing a ribbon spool)

I wonder if someone has bent the ribbon reverse arms.  Is there any way you could post a photograph so that we can have a look ?

It's hard to get a great view of the reversing arms, but this is one of them. Maybe it's what it's supposed to look like, but it seems to me that it's positioned in a way that the ribbon is bound to slip off of it--unless I'm just not setting the ribbon right, which is a real possibility.

You were right! Thank you so much for the help. I did the pliers thing and it worked.

Why do people want to make my life harder by making things the wrong kind of bendy?

And so...


 

Last edited by Uwe (18-4-2016 14:05:01)