I hope this will help with this question:
**Typewriter Ribbon Sources**:
FJA Products: https://www.fjaproducts.com/ , and 1 - 800 - 982 - 9989.
Baco Ribbons makes ribbons in many sizes, colors, and materials. Contact Charlene Oesch, Baco Ribbon & Supply Co., 1521 Carman Road, Ballwin,MO 63021, 314-835-9300, fax 636-394-5475, e-mail bacoribbon@sbcglobal.net.
Ribbons Unlimited, https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/Default.asp, or write to lanie@ribbonsunlimited.com
Tony Casillo of TTS Business Products in Garden City, NY, carries many varieties of ribbon and can advise you on the correct spool, ribbon material, etc. Call 516-489-8300 or e-mail typebar@aol.com.
Jay Respler of Advanced Business Machines Co. in New Jersey carries ribbons for virtually all typewriters: Phone 732-431-1464 after 11 AM Eastern,or e-mail jrespler@superlink.net."I offer nylon, cotton, silk, and all colors. I can get many odd sizes.I stock newer cartridges as well as older spools. I supply pictures of spools to help determine what the customer needs. We ship anywhere in the world."
Earl De Barth, of www.debarth.org, telephone number 215-855-6851, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm ET, e-mail imanager@debarth.org,has the material for the 25 mm and wider ribbons. He has no spools, so requests that the purchaser send him a spool on which to wind the new ribbon. He can sometimes provide ribbons in colors other than black or black/red. Prices vary according to length, number of ribbons purchased, etc.
TypewriterStuff: see Tony at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TypewriterStuff
Other US manufacturers are Fine Line Ribbon in Ennis, TX and Bushnell Ribbon in Santa Fe Springs, CA.. Other sources include Royal, Scantracker, ....
Of course, someone will suggest Amazon and eBay but I would rather support the guys who do the work and need the support.
In addition to the sources above, you might find some in office supply stores and you can surely find 1/2-inch-wide calculator ribbons which you can then rewind onto your typewriter spools while you're waiting for mail order ones to arrive. (If the universal ones fit OK, don't throw away the original metal spools; keep them with the typewriter or sell them to collectors.)
Be aware that calculator ribbons are usually much shorter than typewriter ribbons, so you will go through them faster, though they are great when you need them. They also tend to be more heavily inked, so they might leave smudges until they get used a little bit. To replace, before you remove the old one, just note how it is threaded (unless it's wrong to begin with). Make a diagram or photograph if you want to. Then put in the new one the same way. The two key points: the direction the ribbon comes off the spools (from the front or back of the spools), and the exact path from the spools, around various posts, and through the arms that raise and lower the ribbon while typing, called the vibrator.
Finally, if you have metal spools in there, save them. Metal spools have the period look and feel, sometimes they actually work better, and if you don't want to bother with respooling ribbon, other collectors will want to buy metal spools.
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