Good Companion Model T problems

Skip to: New Posts  Last Post
Posted by thetypewriter
03-1-2025 11:54:29
#1

Hello everyone,

I have an Imperial The Good Companion Model T that's a great looking machine. I do have some thoughts/questions:

The typing in not as sharp as I want it to be. It feels like it doesn't hit the right spot on the ribbon so it comes out 50/50. And it also makes tiny holes in the ribbon!

Is there a simple solution for this problem? 

Pictures:

https://ibb.co/rQdpLBH (typing)
https://ibb.co/1zKHWgm (front on the machine)
https://ibb.co/PZV0X0c (keyboard)
https://ibb.co/26WT1g5 (inside left)
https://ibb.co/mbd7d3g (inside right)

 
Posted by Pete E.
03-1-2025 17:46:09
#2

Start with a good cleaning.

Then a new fresh ribbon and some backing paper behind your typing paper...and see if you get better print-out results.
.

 
Posted by thetypewriter
03-1-2025 17:48:48
#3

Thanks! I switched ribbon quite recently and cleaned the type letters. What other cleaning do you recommend?

 
Posted by thetypewriterman
04-1-2025 08:04:47
#4

If the characters are cutting through the paper, then the platen has probably hardened with age.  You would need a re-rubbered platen.  Where are you located ?

 
Posted by thetypewriter
04-1-2025 10:47:03
#5

thetypewriterman wrote:

If the characters are cutting through the paper, then the platen has probably hardened with age.  You would need a re-rubbered platen.  Where are you located ?

 
I'm located in Sweden!

 
Posted by skywatcher
04-1-2025 14:19:23
#6

Hi TTW

As Thetypewriterman says, type slugs punching holes in the ribbon is a sure sign of a rock hard platen. I bought a 1936 Imperial Good Companion S/N AL-018 several years ago which had the same issues. Although I had given the unit a thorough deep cleaning, servicing and tune-up, the ribbon was still being cut by the type slugs. Other issues were the paper not tracking true, the type bars making a sharp clack as they hit the platen and my fingers getting jarred at the end of each keystroke.

Living here in Canada, I was able to send the platen to J.J. Short in New York state to have it re-covered with new rubber a few years ago. The difference a renewed platen made was incredible. The paper tracks true, print quality has improved, the type bars now make a dull thud when they hit the platen and I'm sure that I can feel the softness of the new platen through the keys as I type.

I don't know of any rubber specialty companies in Scandinavia that would be able to re-cover typewriter platens, but who knows, someone might. Shipping to North America and back would be expensive no matter how you slice it. Hopefully this will give you a few ideas to work with. All the best,

Sky


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 
Posted by thetypewriterman
04-1-2025 16:45:42
#7

If you are in Sweden, probably the nearest that could re-rubber your platen (assuming that you are competent to remove it and re-fit it afterwards) would be AKB Longs in The Netherlands.  If you e-mail them, they do speak good English.  Why not put your location on your profile ?  It is always helpful to know where other members live !

 
Posted by Laurenz van Gaalen
04-1-2025 16:57:35
#8

For platen recovery you could consider AKB Longs in the Netherlands. I asume the shipping
costs will be lower to the Netherlands than to the US.

There's one caveat, AKB Longs uses brown rubber. It seems a bit harder than the common black rubber. If my memory serves me well I have read that the brown rubber was used for making stencils back in the days. Still it is a huge improvement over a rock hard platen. It is just not as soft as you might expect. 

 
Posted by thetypewriter
07-1-2025 13:43:47
#9

Thank you for your help! Now I know what to do if I decide to take action 😎

 
Posted by Pete E.
10-1-2025 14:39:13
#10

Here is my "fix" for hard platens in my collection.

I just use a sheet of this Avery product as a backing sheet to my typewriter paper.

I cut the sheet to the size of my typing paper on my flat-bed paper cutter.

I keep the peel & stick backer-paper on the laminating sheet and place its clear plastic side in touch with my typing paper.

In a month or so when the laminating sheet is full of typing "dimples", I just toss it and start with a new sheet.

The laminating sheet provides for a soft landing surface for the type-slugs before they contact the platen.  And it makes for quieter hits on the platen, as well.

When my local office supply does not have the Avery sheets in stock, I get them on eBay.
.

 p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120% }

 


 
Main page
Login
Desktop format