Hi Again

​The Olivetti Lettera-32 is definitely a reliable little portable, and light enough to pack in your carry-on luggage, I've done it when I brought my Aunt Celia's Lettera-32 back from England so I could repair it in my shop. Just make sure you tell security at the airport that you have it in your carry-on so they don't get a surprise when they run your bag through the X-ray. If you get one with a good case, you can stuff 20 or 30 sheets of A-4 paper plus a backing sheet into the lid of the case so you'll always have paper at the ready for when inspiration hits.

My only beef with the 32 is the very narrow space bar. For most people it's not an issue, but with my big hands I often catch one of the letters on the bottom row when I'm spacing or miss the space bar altogether and hit the frame instead. If my hands were a little smaller, I would have kept my 32 as a regular use machine. Let us know how you progress goes on this quest. All the best,

​Sky

Hello again.

Sorry for the radio silent all of the sudden. However, yesterday these two arrived:





I've obtained a Olivetti Loretta 32 and an Alder Tippa, with a British and Danish keyboard, respectively.

I've replaced the ribbon on both (the Loretta 32 got a black/red one, while the Tippa an all black one). Here is a picture of some test typing on both typewriters (black first, then red, even on the Tippa):


Tippa


Loretta 32

As you can see, the Loretta has some issues with its 'printing'. I've also noticed that the ribbon gets released from the left wheel, but the right wheel doesn't 'pull', so the ribbon slowly starts 'piling up'. I fear I've attached the new ribbon incorrectly. But it looked right.

I've also noticed that the shift lock tends to get really locked, and I need to use a bit of force to get unlocked again.

The Tippa, on the other hand, has none of these issues. As you can see, it's printing is pretty neat. Although, I get better result switching to red, even though the ribbon is all black.

However, it does have issues of its own. Its E-key tends to keep hanging for a bit, before releasing itself. Which is slightly problematic, since E is a very common key, and I tend to make mistakes quite frequently, because I forget to wait for the E key to release itself.

Also, its one dead key (¨´) gets locked every time you use it. It can only get resolved by manually flicking its lever back.

However, despite this, I must say, I am leaning towards the Tippa more than the Loretta right now. I just like typing on the Tippa a bit more than the Loretta. And its weight is far more appropriate to keep in your lap. Not that the Loretta is too heavy.

And - I'll admit - I do like being able to write in Danish on the Tippa.

(I apologise for some incorrect typewriter term usage, but I am pretty new to this.)

I just wish I could fix the E key on the Tippa.  That really is my main hurdle with it so far.

Hi Svip. Nice buys! A couple of thoughts, the main one of which is that it really sounds like the segment and type bars need cleaning on that Tippa. If a key is sticking that's the cause 99.9% of the time. And yes, using it will also loosen it up - but if you clean it and the use it you will find it typing like a dynamo! 

The printing on both machines seems to be missing the tops of the letters. On the Tippa it looks like the typeheads are hitting the platen too far up, so the bottom of the letters is very black but the top half isn't hitting the rubber full-on. There should be some crews you can tighten up (or loosen up) that control type alignment - usually one on each side. Someone on here is sure to know how you adjust alignment on a Tippa... 

The other one is a Lettera, not a Loretta - once again it looks as if the type is hitting too high, so that when it should be typing red, the very tops of the letters hit black ribbon. BUT - in all-black, it's fine, so maybe the problem is not with the alignment, but with the ribbon vibrator - the bit that lifts the ribbon up when you type. Once again, if you do a thorough clean with Q tips and white spirits, you may find that the vibrator will move more freely and you won't have that issue. (If you do still have it, I'd sort it by just getting asolid black ribbon and forgetting about it!) The Lettera is really also worth cleaning up - the touch is feather-light when it's clean and fresh. 

As for the ribbons, the eyelet that you've found stuck in the works is meant to be an indicator that the spool is near the end, and it is meant to trip the spool into going in the other direction. Sounds like you hadn't threaded it through something... 

The ribbon in the Tippa goes through the double prongs of the ribbon guide at the corner by each spool, and then through the ribbon vibrator in the middle. On an Olivetti it leaves the spool and it should go around the little rod in the corner by the spool - then between the two prongs of the ribbon guide - and then through the vibrator mechanism. When working out how to thread it, just bear in mind that the ribbon itself needs to travel straight through, so it should be lying more or less flat inside all those various bits that hold it in place. 

There's never any harm in having a few spare ribbons about! And you might want to get black ones, as when you wear out the 'black' bit, you can change your colour selector to red - thus doubling the use you get out of the ribbon.
 

The + and - under the ribbon cover should be the touch adjustment. A lever nearby will offer a variable hardness to the feel of the keys - that is, if the machine has been properly degreaser. Often on many old machines the touch adjustment makes little difference.

The other key looks like the margin release, which you press to permit typing past the margin stop. On some machines it also serves to dejam the keys when you accidentally press two at once.