1 of 1- typeitup
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- Posts: 28
Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Hello all,
I was doing a thorough cleaning of my Hermes 3000's (1st gen, curvy body) detached carriage, finding all sorts of black gunk, when a ball bearing fell out of one of the carriage rails. A couple minutes finessing and the ball bearing was back in the rail running happily along; however I then noticed something a bit strange - in two of the four sets of 2 ball bearings, the 2 ball bearings are angled in the same way, while in the other two sets of 2 ball bearings the ball bearing pairs are angled perpendicular to one another. The carriage still rolls pretty smoothly, but I'm sure the ball bearing angles should be uniform in each of the 4 pairs. Can anyone tell me the correct way the carriage ball bearings should be lined up on this model of Hermes 3000?
Sorry if this is not written clearly enough - I might add pictures if no one understands my predicament 
Thank you.
- skywatcher
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- Registered: 14-3-2013
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Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Hi Typeitup
From what I understand, because Hermes use cylindrical rollers as opposed to spheres or balls for the carriage bearings, each pair of rollers on each end of each carrier are angled at 90º to each other to give proper stability on both X and Y axis so to speak. Which roller goes in what position, I don't know. Tom the Typewriter Man would be the authority on that one.
That being said though, looking at my first generation 3000 S/N 3268320 and using the clock number reference system for the axis of the outboard rollers, this is what I see:
Viewed from left side: both rollers 10 - 4, so the inboard rollers would be 2 - 8
Viewed from right side: both rollers 10 - 4. so the inboard rollers would be 2 - 8
This tells me that the outboard left rollers slope backwards, inboard left rollers slope forward. inboard right rollers slope backwards and outboard right rollers slope forwards. Hope this makes sense. 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)
- typeitup
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Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Hi Sky,
Thank you for your prompt and detailed reply. I think I understand what you are saying but just want to check - when you say 'viewed from left side,' you mean your point of reference is looking down the length of the carriage rails from the left side of the typewriter so that you can only see the outboard rollers (and vice versa for the right side) - correct?
Thank you.
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
BINGO !!
I got to thinking about this a little more while in bed last night, and this is the conclusion I drew about the rollers:
Each carrier holds 4 rollers and one indexing or star wheel to keep the carriers properly timed to the carriage in its track. If you have the carriers out of the machine and set them on the work bench or table with the indexing star wheels horizontal, no matter how you turn the carriers, the axis of the left outboard roller will always slope back and the right outboard roller will always slope forward. This would definitely make for ease and uniformity of assembly at the factory. 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)
- typeitup
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- Posts: 28
Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Huh. Right now in my machine, looking from the left side of the typewriter all the way down each carriage rail, the rollers' axis is as follows (I have thought carefully about the consistency of the left point of view for this observation):
Back rail: 2-8, 10-4 ---------- 10-4, 2-8
Front rail: 10-4, 2-8 ---------- 10-4, 10-4
I may have put one of the outboard rollers in incorrectly when it fell out, but it doesn't explain the inconsistency of the pattern and how it compares to your machine. 
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Thread Starter- typeitup
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Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Just to make things clear for myself and not go crazy 
, from your comment I understand that looking from the left side of your machine down the entire length of each carriage rail, the rollers' axis are as follows:
Back rail: 10-4, 2-8 ---------- 10-4, 2-8
Front rail: 10-4, 2-8 ---------- 10-4, 2-8
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Hi Again
Yes, I would say you have the sequence correct, both retainers loaded the same way. This is assuming my machine has never been taken apart before, which I don't believe it has.
I could say "That's a big 10-04 good buddy", but that may just add more numbers than necessary. 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)
- typeitup
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- Registered: 24-10-2019
- Posts: 28
Re: Hermes 3000 carriage ball bearings
Thanks Sky. I've rearranged the ball bearings and the best I can do without endangering my ability to put things back again (didn't want 2 risk f8) is the following, looking from the left side of the typewriter all the way down:
Back rail: 2-8, 10-4 ---------- 10-4, 2-8
Front rail: 10-4, 2-8 ---------- 10-4, 2-8
I'd be interested in what others might report from their own machines, and if Tom the Typewriter Man has any knowledge I'd be interested.
Thanks again
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Thread Starter