Typewriter Talk / Continental Typewriter - Typebars stand up by themself

**Posted by NoAiming** 24-8-2023 14:15:49

Hello Community,
this is my first post ever here. I could not find my specific problem in this forum nor anywhere else on the internet. My girlfriend is absolutely in love with typewriters (she owens already 10-15 or so). Some time ago she found a portable Continental Typewriter from between the 1930s - 50s. I would love to repair the thing to make it work again but i can not find a case on the internet, where someone has the same issue. As shown on the pictures, the typebars all stand up by themself. I cleaned the thing as good as i could and now a lot of the parts move more freely than before. But i cannot figure out why the typebars stand up.
Has anyone seen this before?
Is there any chance to repair it by taking it apart or do i need new parts for it?
The pictures are shared over my owen device. Passwort to see/open the pictures is
Continental
Here are the links:
http://gofile.me/40M4f/ssLTiLAa7
http://gofile.me/40M4f/Hga1GuIFN
http://gofile.me/40M4f/Q3BBB9c7K
(Sorry about my english, i am not a native speaker).
Any usefull feedback is appreciated. :-)
Kind Regards,
Thimo aka NoAiming

**Posted by robmck** 28-8-2023 15:35:50

Gorgeous typewriter!

The first thing I'd look at is if any of the linkages are bent: usually, the key bar pivots pulling a metal wire (the linkage), which pulls the bottom of the type bar to make it move. If those linkages are not straight, then the type bars will stand up.

The other thing I wonder about is the bar at the bottom of your machine with all the springs attached to it. That should be straight (g15700_95312__95312_1616170070.jpg (630×472) (typewriterdatabase.com)).

But there's something that confuses me: In your pictures, it looks like that bar is bent towards the front of the machine, increasing tension, which should pull the type bars down.
It looks like on your machine you can slide that bar forward a bit (though it may take a bit of force as it will increase the tension of *all* the springs) to see what happens...

**Posted by NoAiming** 29-8-2023 10:14:13

Thank you so much for your expertise! Much apprechiated. :-) My love is in the U.S. right now visiting her family. I will discuss the "bending option" with her when she is back (in the end it is her machine ;-) and i don't want to lose a finger or two as punishment for destroying the typewriter. ;-)

But this gives me something to start with. Thank you very much.
Kind Regards,
NoAiming

**Posted by robmck** 29-8-2023 11:48:33

Before you bend anything, it looks like that bar rests in an open-ended bracket, so you should be able to move the bar to see the effect it without bending anything. I think it would be good to do this test because I'm not entirely sure this is your problem. You may be able to use some zip wire ties to pull it back a bit and hold it there while you test the new position.

Once you see the results of this test, you can choose to proceed further to straighten the bar.

It's always good to do small tests that can be undone before making any permanent changes.

**Posted by NoAiming** 08-9-2023 10:55:19

That zip-tie trick sounds genius - thanks. Tomorrow night i pick up the beloved owner of this typwriter from the airport and then i'll introduce her to the rapir suggestions. :-)