Those springs are a nightmare. They take forever.

Markmotown wrote:

Say, TypewriterGuy:
After a months-long hiatus, I'm finally back working on reassembling my Smith Premier #4 after a thorough cleaning. I'm working on reattaching the carriage, and was wondering if you remember where the ball bearings go, and how you went about putting that all back together. 

My memory fades with time, and all I remember is that, when I was disassembling it, a few ball bearings fell out up there before I had any idea where exactly they came from. 

Any suggestions you might have would be most gratefully appreciated! 

There are four 1/4 inch ball bearings. Put 2 on the front bearing race and 2 on the back. The front bearing race is removable. Remove it. Put the bearings in the back first. I push them in from the front of the machine bu lifting up either side of the carriage. Then take the front bearing race and angle it in while placing the bearings in. That should do it.

Hi all, just wanted to report back that I have successfully reassembled my Smith Premier No. 1. I am considering writing up a tutorial of how I did it, but for now drop me a line if you want to know more about the process. 
-Eric

I know this thread is old, but I just picked up a fixer upper Smith Premier no. 4 off of eBay, and I was wondering if you ever got yours up and going? Also, I was wondering how rare these machines are in general?