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- Platen Punisher
Offline - Registered: 09-5-2014
- Posts: 76
Disconnected carriage release on a Olivette
At a flee market I was given, what looked like 1960s , Underwood portable in a plastic case, damaged--the case that is. It worked well. But...looking at the works I could see that it was an Olivette, as I have a Lettera 22. The works are exactly the same. The only difference was that it had only one carriage release, on the left side. At home I noticed that the carriage release was a little bent down, so...taking a pair of pliers, I bent it straight again. But then, the carriage release did not work. I examined the works all around the lever: inside, outside, undernieth, I could not see the problem. Surely something got disconnected, but where? How could straightening the lever disconnect it? Does anyone have a clue?
- M. Höhne
- Key Master
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- From: Maine
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 640
Re: Disconnected carriage release on a Olivette
Guess I'll Try wrote:
.... snip .... How could straightening the lever disconnect it? Does anyone have a clue?
Yes. Easy---happens all the time. Especially if you're bending with a pliers and not holding the rest of the lever rigid. If you're using a pliers in the first place, then your fingers probably aren't strong enough to hold the part and the rest of the system wasn't designed to hold it either.
A metal lever is more-or-less stiff and force applied to it on one end tends to flex the whole piece, especially to where it is anchored and if the anchor is not absolutely rigid---as it is not at a pivot---then the flexing continues past the anchor, i.e., the other end moves. If it moves enough, it can move off its connection (if the connection is, for example, a pin in a hole) or it can distort or jam some part that it is connected to, thus disrupting the operation of the linkage.
Maybe it didn't happen here, but it's also easy to break parts by bending them. You'll eventually get a feel for which kinds of metals can take it.
I do Hope This Helps
- Guess I'll Try
- Platen Punisher
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- Registered: 09-5-2014
- Posts: 76
Re: Disconnected carriage release on a Olivette
Thankyou. Correction...the carriage release is on the right side, not the left--not that it makes any difference here. No, I did not hold both parts of the lever--vertical and horozonal--so I will look for a disconnect. I was a little conscious of a break in the metal but it did not break. Next time I will follow the time- honored rule: "If it isn't broke, don't fix it."
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