1 of 1- skywatcher
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Offline - From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
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Ring & Cylinder Adjustment on 4Y- Series Skyriter
Greetings All
Hoping someone here, especially Typewriterman can help me here. I have a 1961 Skyriter serial number 4Y-537004-W that I want to list on Etsy, but the print is very light. The platen has some give and responded well to 3 treatments of Max-Pro rubber rejuvenator. Brand new Ribbons Unlimited green over brown ribbon, sheet of 32 lb. backing paper and 20 lb. typing paper but still very light type.
Put the same ribbon and paper into my 1962 Skyriter serial number 4Y-632415-W and it prints lovely and dark. Is there any adjustment between the type segment and the platen or ring & cylinder on these little units? Both units built at the former British Typewriters factory in West Bromwich, near Birmingham in England. Thanks and 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)
- thetypewriterman
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Re: Ring & Cylinder Adjustment on 4Y- Series Skyriter
Unfortunately there is no ring and cylinder (platen and anvil) adjustment on these machines. The light printing could the result of :
1. Tolerances stacking up the wrong way during production.
2. The machine has been dropped and the frame slightly distorted.
3. The platen has shrunk in diameter very slightly (pretty unlikely although I have cured this problem on earlier Coronas by having the platen re-rubbered slightly oversize)
I think the only way to cure this is to file a little off each typebar where it meets the anvil (ring) until the impression comes up. Try with something like a fraction or number first to get the feel of how much to take off. The typebars are very soft on these machines and it may only require a stroke of two of the file. Readers with other machines please note - This is a last resort because without the appropriate tools, you cannot go back the other way if you have removed too much metal. It should be almost unnecessary on other makes/models, this is a special case.
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
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Re: Ring & Cylinder Adjustment on 4Y- Series Skyriter
Good Morning Tom
Thank you for the advice, this is what I had concluded with this machine, but wanted to exhaust all other possibilities first. The machine in question has evidently seen a lot of use judging by the fingernail wear on the key tops. The type bars do no appear to have ever been worked on in any way, so I'm thinking it's simply time for a tune-up.
The SCM 6YC service manual from 1974 indicates the use of mauling pliers # 1209 fitted with # 1213 jaws on the type slug to increase type impression, but I would imagine that would be more for correcting just one or two type bars that have light impression. I will experiment this evening and let you know what I find. Thanks again and 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)
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: Ring & Cylinder Adjustment on 4Y- Series Skyriter
Greetings Again
Figured I'd give an update on this unit. Using my 1962 Skyriter for reference, holding the type bar against the ring or the anvil, the type slug sits about 0.003" from the platen. This just gives sliding resistance to a sheet of typing paper placed between the slug and the platen. On the 1961 Skyriter, this gap as measured with feeler gauges ranged from 0.008" to 0.016". Filed the required amount of metal from each type bar to get as close to 0.003" as possible, now the unit types as it should.
Thanks again Tom for your advice, another typewriter fixed and ready for Etsy. 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)
- •
Thread Starter