Dear Fellow Typospherians, I need some help.
Recently I bought this a great great Golden Touch--well-engineered, snappy and in rare turquoise. Another good reason to be a fan of American typewirter. My favorite typer now! Look how it nicely fit into my humble adobe.
However, this great typer needs a bit TLC. To be more preice, the spacebar of this machine is not very responsive. When I hit it, I have to hit it very hard and even so, sometimes it doesn't work.
I took off the back-side wall to check the escapement/carriage advancement mechanism, but seems everything is just fine. Nothing on the surface is broken or missing. I guess maybe some spring is missing because when I poke the escapement piece, it moves perfectly well. Or maybe the level beneath cannot hit hard/high enough to hit the advancement piece? I don't know.
I need some help. I can't put up with something that is not perfect. Please help me preserving this great great American typer!
Some more pic for your appreciation:
This may sound odd, but maybe the problem is the feet. If the front feet are worn down, the front part of the typewriter may be sitting too low. The spacebar linkages then hit the table instead of going through their full range of motion.
ReplyDeleteThis may not be what is happening, but it is something to check.
Thank you sir! But I just checked the feet, they are fine. So I still believe that the level that hits the advancement piece is not raising high enough.
DeleteWhat a beautiful and special machine! I believe the same that you wrote before, that the space bar mechanism is not hitting the advancement as it should. It deserves to be fixed.
ReplyDeleteThank you sir, I've solved the problem!
DeleteWhat a beautiful machine!
ReplyDeleteYou need to either adjust the escapement to make it a little more responsive (try this first) or adjust the movement of the spacebar. Check out the 1968 Ames manual that you can download from https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-manuals.html#servicemanuals. See pages 84-88 of the PDF (numbered U-16 to U-19).
Hey Richard, I've solved the problem all by myself! Now the spacebar is super springy. Thank you for your wonderful wonderful manual. I will save it for future use.
DeleteVery beautiful typewriter. I have never seen this model in this color. Congratulations on your find. Good to know you solved the problem.
ReplyDelete