1 of 1- TheScribe
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Offline - Registered: 26-10-2016
- Posts: 4
Smith Corona Classic 12 Help
I recently purchased a SC Classic 12 typewriter. It's in near perfect condition, works wonderfully. However, when I go to use it, the ink hardly shows. I have given it a brand new ribbon, changed the settings on how hard it hits, and where it hits on the ribbon. Any help would be appreciated.
- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Smith Corona Classic 12 Help
The touch control on the left side of the keyboard doesn't adjust how hard the slugs hit the page, it adjusts the spring tension on the key levers to tailor how much resistance a typist prefers.
I'm not sure what the other adjustment was that you referred to ("where it hits on the ribbon") so I can't comment on that.
The first thing to determine is whether or not you have the ribbon threaded correctly through the vibrator. A photo would help. Also, where did this replacement ribbon come from? Is it newly purchased? Does changing the ribbon colour selector from black to red make any difference?
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: Smith Corona Classic 12 Help
Hi T.S.
Here's a simple test for your machine. Load a thick piece of paper, a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet of regular paper into your machine and type. After you've typed a few lines, set the color selector to stencil or white and type a few more lines. Now wind the paper out and check the carbon copy. If the carbon copy is all good, your ribbon is dry. If the carbon copy is barely visible, the type slugs aren't striking the platen with enough force.
If the carbon copy is faint where you typed with ribbon, but good where you typed on the stencil setting, the ribbon is acting like a tiny trampoline and preventing the type slugs from contacting the platen. As Uwe says, this can be caused by the ribbon being threaded incorrectly through the vibrator. Also make sure the feed-off ribbon spool is free to turn while the take-up spool is ratcheting as you type. Hope this helps you to trouble shoot your machine.
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)
