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Hello.
I'm trying to get my great aunt's typewriter working and need a ribbon. Can you help me know what's the right kind?
Photos:
Thank you.
-Geoff Ferdon
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I found this ribbon on Amazon from FJA Products (who make typewriter ribbons):
I'm not an expert on ribbons, but they look to be the same design as the ribbons you have. I might wait for others to reply to this topic though, to double check. Hope this helps!
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Thank you for your help!
My spools are 2 1/8" diameter and the spoolholders are barely larger than that, so these won't work, but they seem very close!
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Hi Gferdon
If you still have both spools as pictured for your typewriter, simply wind any ½" ribbon onto your spools. These LC Smith typewriters have a proprietry drive system for the spools and regular universal 2" spools will not work on these machines. The spool you have pictured was used on many of the Smith-Corona desk-top and office machines right through until the 1960's and possibly later. Hope this points you in the right direction,
Sky
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Thank you very much, Sky.
I can't find just ribbon that isn't already on spools. Would I just buy something like in the link below and unroll it onto my spools? I guess that's fine. It just seems a little wasteful of the spools I'd purchase.
-Geoff
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The spools we get today are plastic and are just pennies of the total price of a ribbon.
If you think about it, you'd want an inked ribbon to come on a spool anyway, even if you weren't going to use it. Any other method of delivery would make a royal mess.
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Hi Geoff
When it comes to ribbons for these typewriters, why settle for boring old black when there are so many choices of color. take a look at what Ribbons Unlimited has to offer. All the best,
Sky
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Geoff,
I eventually secured metal spools for all of the machines in my collection. I think they are more robust and more precise than the "universal" plastic spools that most seller offer. Plastic ones can "wobble" on your machine, in use. I use 2-color ribbons and with plastic i did get a bleeding of one color into the next. Not so with metal spools meant for a particular machine.
Re-spooling a new ribbon from a plastic spool to metal spools on a machine only takes a couple of extra minutes.
Ribbons Unlimited sells 1/2" wide ribbon (in a variety of ribbon fabrics) that are a full 18 yards in length.
Many Amazon sellers and others on line sell spools of ribbon with only 8-10 yards. So if you are price comparing...you need to find out the length of ribbons offered to see if a deal is really a deal.
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Thank you all very much! I just ordered from Ribbons Unlimited.
Much appreciated.
-Geoff