Olivetti Studio 44 portable typewriter at work

The Studio 44 was Olivetti's full-sized portable, produced from 1951 until 1967. This example dates to sometime in the period 1957-1960 -- the typewriter database lacks more specific information than that. You could put an experienced typist at one of these machines blindfolded, and they'd be able to identify the unique Olivetti touch right away.

[@ramonburciaga6681]

Music to my ears! Beautiful machine...

[@maciejjarzebinski7643]

Hi! At the beginning, when I wrote on Olivetti Studio 44, I had a very positive writing experience, but when I tried Erika 10, Hermes 2000/3000 and Facit TP 1 and Olivetti Lexikon 80, the Olivetti Studio typewriter dropped a lot in my ranking.

[@OConnelsSideOfDaRiver]

Yeah Olivetti's are solid machines, but I would agree with your assessment. As the text that Nis copied suggests, Olivetti's are good at simply getting out of the way. That being said, so is Microsoft Word. Not to mention mine exhibited a rather unfortunate mechanical flaw which is very tricky to fix: there is a tie pin in the return lever which can break easily. If it does fail, the pin's absence renders the return lever useless. To make maters worse, there's no easy fix to this, as there aren't any replacement pins floating around on the internet and you end up having to use whatever you can to fix it and that process alone is quite frustrating. I eventually got mine working, it came broken, but it's never quite felt as solid as my Royal.

[@NisKildegaard]

@@OConnelsSideOfDaRiver -- you make good points here, but I'd start by saying that almost nothing feels quite as solid as a Royal -- especially if you're talking about their KMM office machines. If I could have only one it would be a KMM. I currently have an Olivetti Studio 45 on my shelf of parts machines because I could never get its line-spacing to be consistent. A shame because everything else worked wonderfully. The problem included that annoying pin, which was NOT designed for easy replacement, as well as a bent shaft on the left carriage knob that I could never get exactly right.

[@NisKildegaard]

Maciej -- I too am a big fan of the Facits and the Hermes machines, but in terms of value for the dollar it's hard to beat the range these Studio 44s are trading in on eBay lately. I think the Hermes 300 is one of the very best typewriters ever made, but it typically goes for irrationally big money at auction. Almost as bad is another wonderful machine, the Olympia SM9. As for the Lexikon 80 -- it's hardly fair to compare a portable to an office machine, which if properly built and set up will always be better. They didn't build them so big and heavy just to keep them planted on the desk . . . You can find passionate discussions online about whether the Facit Tp2 and 1620 are inferior to the TP1; I own all three and my sense is that people are comparing individual machines which, after half a century, have their individual quirks. My three are almost identically wonderful.

[@Tanimal__]

@@OConnelsSideOfDaRiver That's exactly my problem right now. I have no clue how to fix it.

[@user-zg4ir8ug3s]

I have both a Lettera 32 and a Royal Deluxe and prefer the touch and feel of the 32. However, I'm wondering whether to get a Royal KMM or a Studio 44. Are they essentially similar to their portable counterparts? Which would you suggest? Thanks for the vids!

[@NisKildegaard]

Touch is a very personal thing where typewriters are concerned. I've owned hundreds of typewriters, and if I were allowed to keep just one it would be the Royal KMM. I'm not alone in considering this machine a favorite, but this is by no means unanimous. The Studio 44, incidentally, is not a full-sized office machine like the KMM, but one of the larger portables. (I think a better word would be "luggable.") Having said all this, you should seek out opportunities to sample these two typewriters to see which one has the touch you prefer. Finally, since we're talking about vintage machines, condition is a huge issue. Any two KMMs, or any two Studio 44 typewriters, can have sharply different personalities depending on how they've been used and maintained.

[@ivanzypher4532]

How heavy is the action? Compared to my SM9, my Studio 44 feels very heavy. It's clean, and it's on the lowest resistance. Is this just part and parcel of the larger Olivetti portables?

[@francohic]

In order to replace the ink ribbon you need to "transplant" the ribbon from the new modern plastic spool to the original metalic spool? or can you use the plastic modern ones? Because I heard it is a little painful operation. Thanks.

[@NisKildegaard]

I always save the original spools -- and I don't find it a painful process at all. Wearing a pair of disposable gloves saves you the trouble of washing the ink from your fingers.

[@someonespadre]

Get a board and 2 finish nails driven in 5mm or so about 5 to 10cm apart. Loaded plastic spool over one finish nail with ribbon end free…connect to metal spool, put metal spool over other finish nail, wind away.

[@agricolturadimontagna2.0]

Is it an Elite typeface?

[@NisKildegaard]

It's a metric font, 11.5 characters to the inch.

[@agricolturadimontagna2.0]

@@NisKildegaard Thanks, regards to you!