I've just become the very fortunate owner of an early The Empire (aka Empire 1?). I had been after it for a while but the owner wanted too high a price. This week it was back at the local antique yard and after a brief call to the owner, we negotiated a much more reasonable price.
It seems to be in full working condition straight out of the cardboard case (the years have not treated the case so favourably...!) but predictably the ink is dry. There seems to be a supplier in the Netherlands who can provide a new ribbon, but for £25 including postage.
I've reviewed the various earlier threads on sourcing wider ribbons (this seems to be 3/4 inch or approx 20mm) on both regenerating or re-inking ribbons and wondered if there have been any further thoughts or results of experimentation since then (2014/15)? At the moment I'm favouring the regeneration method with glycerin, to have a go at?
Many thanks!
Ian J
P.s. Will post some photos in the appropriate section, once it's cleaned up a little - fantastic looking machine, with a skeletal profile from most angles