I agree with Uwe on several points:  1.  A typewriter is a precision instrument; 2.  Typewriter repair, let alone typewriter restoration and/or teardown, is not for everybody, as different people can look at the same machine and have different ideas (or lack thereof) about its complexities and idiosyncrasies,  and have different ways of going about making it work, or attempting to make it work.  Even though I've been at this hobby for 35 years, I STILL don't know all there is to know, and like Uwe, don't consider myself a professional.  I can tell you I've gotten away with quite a bit, and on the other hand, I have left alot of wreckage in my wake, and I have even gotten hurt here and there with it.  But the key thing to remember, all of us, is that the reason we're into typewriter repair and collecting is that to us, it's fun--it's what we do.  There are people out there among us who would like to have the chance at taking an old carcass apart to say they did, and try to put it back together again.  No, it may never be the same again, perhaps, but being able to learn about what lever makes what other lever, or wheel, or gear do something is all part of the learning experience.  You can't save every typewriter on the planet.  The important thing is to try to get what typewriters we can save, and concentrate on those.  Not everybody that wields a screwdriver to an old carcass is a professional, or even mechanically inclined, but I encourage people to look at the many discoveries there are in the world--mechanical or otherwise.   

TypewriterGuy wrote:

KatLondon, he was dealing with a Blick, and I know what tuning screws are and dont foolishly take them out, haha. The only thing that came out of alignment on my Oliver was the type bars (Obviously) and the ribbon vibrator, which I then adjusted to perfection! (It seems like it to me).

Keep in mind, Im not telling people to go dissemble their 1956 Royal whatever, you can really only rebuild EARLY machines! They are very simple!

Whew!! for a minute there, I thought I might have to tear down and put back together my 1962 IBM Executive electric typewriter to get it to working better.  With 4000+ parts, I might be able to do it within about six months, give or take?
 

Repartee wrote:

The Remington short is amazing. Though what first struck me was the metal grinding operations they were sometimes even getting close to to get a better look without any form of eye protection. Yeah, I know, modern standards of industrial safety and etc... but you'd think after getting metal shavings into their eye a few times they would be more cautious! The stop motion sequences are of course amazing squared - and I think must have involved some animation. How do you take stills of parts in mid air? I am reminded of the easy fallacy that we are more clever than people in the past - do we not have hideously complicated software and integrated circuits never known before? Yes. But from time to time we are reminded that they were just as clever as we are but directed their energy into different channels. The mature typewriter was an integrated circuit in mechanism.

How right you are, Repartee.  You said a mouthful.  The average manual typewriter has about 2000 parts, and an average electric has about 3000 parts.  Proportional spacing typewriters have a wee bit more.  And the Selectric, that's about as integrated a mechanism as you can get.  You take just one part out of one of those and the whole works goes kaplooey!!