Have this Japan-made Olympia 3 ultr-portable coming my way.
Probably made towards the late 1970's.
Curious to see the quality and how it types. Plus I liked that it has a Tabuator (with fixed stops), ribbon color select, and an external touch control.
This Japan-made Olympia 3 ultra-portable cleaned up nicely and got a lubrication and spring adjust to make the carriage-shift a little bit lighter.
Without its case, it weighs in at 9.4 lbs (compared to my 1965 Olympia SF at 9.8 lbs. and my 1971 Olympia Traveller at 10.4 lbs.).
This Olympia 3 types well and fast...but I think both of my other German-made machines feel more robust, sturdy, and precise. But this Olmpia 3 is a "keeper" nevertheless.
The Japanese added a touch-control on the left side of the key-tops but decided a carriage-lock lever/feature was not required.
It does have a single segment metal paper support between the margin stops, but one could easily slice cheese with that metal blade. Will plan to hone-down the metal edges to take their edge off.
And it does have a Tabulator with fixed stops every 10 spaces across the platen and you can set the 1ist Tab at 5-6 spaces if you play around with the placement of the left margin stop.
Font is a nice, easy-to-read Pica 10 cpi.
Funny...this is my 3rd. mostly orange coloured typewriter in my collection. Will have to do a photo of the trio... .
So here is my trio of orange-coloured typewriters...
The Olympia 3 (made in Japan) with its fixed-Tab functions and touch-control on the left of the key board.
On top in the photo is my 1973 Facit 1840 electric (made in Sweden).
And on the right in the photo is my 1981 Brother 1613 manual with a 12" platen...made in Japan. This one is a nicely-done repaint I brought in from Holland. All orange on top and a nice cranberry colour on the bottom. .
