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15-2-2020 13:22:45  #1


My Hermes 3000 arrived today

Here she is. Even nicer than I expected. Clean, and smooth. Works perfectly. 

My second typewriter since my awakening.





 

15-2-2020 14:09:14  #2


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

Hi Rdnzl

This looks like the later first generation model judging by the cover, I have the exact same machine, love the way it types. What you need to do now is to go to your nearest Walmart and pick up a low cost exercise (Yoga) mat, cut a 13" strip off one end, then cut that in half and you'll have two perfect 12" x 13" typewriter pads. Set your 3000 on one of those pads and type to your heart's content. The typewriter will remain perfectly still and the pad will absorb up to 50% of the mechanical noise from the machine. Happy typing,

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)
 

15-2-2020 14:28:12  #3


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

It types very well if I do my part. Its a bit of relearning after typing on nothing but computer keyboards and laptops for so long. Nice, consistent taps are coming!  And of course I did the "why isn't it typing?" thing until I moved the ribbon selector off of the stencil setting.  lol  The only think missing is the manual and the brushes. But I would imagine they aren't too hard to find. 

 

     Thread Starter
 

26-2-2020 14:16:27  #4


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

Yes, a beauty. I have one in the same condition BUT it has the French AZERTY keyboard which I didn’t want. However, at 15 euros I couldn’t resist. It’s a lovely typer and not too critical of my poor technique. While on this subject has anyone come across the Japy SB 930 which looks like a horribly cheap later Hermes 3000? I didn’t know that there had been any cross fertilization between the two makers.

 

26-2-2020 15:08:40  #5


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

There was a lot of co-operation between Japy and Hermes.  Most of Japy's machines were licence-built Hermes.  Even a full-size office typewriter which was sold as the Beaucourt Style.  The outside appearance was nothing like a Hermes Ambassador - it even had a lock for the keyboard so that the typist could lock it up and take the key with her - but inside the casing it was an Ambassador !  The only exception was Japy/Beaucourt's lightweight portable which wasn't a Hermes Baby as one might expect, but a licence built Swissa.  Even this was adapted to take the same ribbon spool as the Hermes.  Hermes finally bought Japy and it became the factory which made the 3000.

 

27-2-2020 03:53:57  #6


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

Thanks for that information Keymaster. No matter how old one is there is always something to learn. I have now come across a Japy Baby and indeed from the photo of the rear panel I see, ‘Engineered by Hermes Precisa International Switzerland Made in Brazil’.

 

27-2-2020 05:45:32  #7


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

Ah yes, Brazil.  Another interesting tale.  When Olivetti took Hermes over, they ended up with that factory in their empire.  They used the factory to put the 'works' of the Hermes Baby (by now very diluted in quality from the original) in a casing that looked remarkably like the Olympia Traveller and sold it as the Olivetti Tropical.  The ribbon carrier spindles were made much thicker so that it would take a standard Olivetti ribbon.  How they didn't get sued by Olympia for making an external clone of their machine is anyone's guess !

 

27-2-2020 10:31:24  #8


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

thetypewriterman wrote:

How they didn't get sued by Olympia for making an external clone of their machine is anyone's guess !

I suspect that it's because Olivetti incorporated a number of design differences, enough of them to ensure that the two typewriters couldn't be mistaken for each other in a direct comparison. Both utilize a boxy design distinguished by a contrasting external frame, but that's where the similarity ends - particularly in profile. 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

28-2-2020 04:05:13  #9


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

Quite so, but even then (to the untrained eye) they look alike.  Even the snap-over carry case is the same shape although they do not interchange due to slight dimensional differences !  By the way, although I am sure that you might have guessed, the genuine Olympia is streets ahead of the 'Tropical' - even though the 'Tropical' is based on the Hermes Baby which was in turn the original and best 'flat portable'.

 

28-2-2020 14:17:42  #10


Re: My Hermes 3000 arrived today

I only bought the Tropical because it's a curiosity. There are far worse ultra-portable typewriters out there, but you're right that when compared to the Traveller it's no match. 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

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