I hope you'll be able to post a few photos of the machine some time, in particular a full type sample would be interesting to look at. I have a Model C, and possibly a service manual for a few IBM models, but all that stuff is in storage and I won't be accessing it for around a month. If you haven't figured it out by then I'll be sure to look for it for you.

If the typeslugs are Braille embossers, the platen would have to be very soft or have a tight pattern of little divots over its entire surface. Is that the case? How does the embossing happen? Fascinating. Is there a ribbon fitted to this at all?

Not sure what a "customer service manual" would be. If you mean a user manual, it wouldn't have any instructions about how to get inside the machine and if you mean what is generally known as a Service Manual, that would never be intended for the customers to see. The latter will be quite hard to find, though it is the only thing that will be of use. There is at least one IBM typewriter forum on Yahoo Groups, apart from the Selectric ones, though you'll have to search for it as I am not a member.

Be aware, too, that disassembling or even removing the carriage is a major task and not to be undertaken lightly. Getting it back together is even harder. Try to diagnose things and see if they can't be corrected from the outside first. Barring actual damage from trauma, things don't usually go wrong internally, especially with IBM, dirt and dried grease being the exceptions. User application of the wrong kind of lubricant often causes problems, but you should be able to clean that from outside, though it may be fussy work. What is the nature of the carriage problems you have?

HTH

Phil the King wrote:

Thanks for the post. .... snip .... The title of the manual I downloaded is "Model B4 Customer Engineering Reference Manual." It describes all of the adjustments and lubrication points but has no illustration of how to get the covers off the carriage to get at the hardware. Every thing in the base of the unit at hand is enough like the manual that I have been able to get all of the lower parts functional. Just need to get the carriage operational.

Ah, yes. "Customer Engineer" was (is) an IBM term for a tech support person whose job was to service their customers' equipment at the customers' site, generally speaking. The CE's reference manuals were like field manuals and were still never intended to be used by the customers themselves, just by the IBM employees working beyond the IBM repair depots. The CE was expected to remember his training about how to get the covers and major parts off but was not expected to remember all the clearance and timing settings and lube points for all the different machines. Such manuals do turn up but are not common.