Typewriter Video Series - Episode 60: Olympia SF, and More!

[@rustyalcorta3643]

This was a great video. It helped me decide to get an OLYMPIA SF although I am an OLLIVETTI UNDERWOOD addict. I have several other brands in my collection Almost all my typewriters were gifts since I was 12 I'm 67 now.

[@BrightBlueJim]

Typecasting letters! This is a great idea. And using the proper software tools, it should be possible to send scanned letters as PDF files, with copy/paste support.

[@danlinder2249]

Nice work Joe! I got an Olympia just like this, and it has been a favorite of mine for 10 years.

[@mikequinlan9585]

This is the best looking typewriter yet! If I owned it I would pay someone to repair it. 😊

[@copyrightfreevideobyttf]

That Olympia typewriter is cute and so beautiful Joe! 😍 Really admire your community focused attitudes, both online and in your local area. You are definitely both a kind and a COOL person!

[@JamesSmith-od7po]

Hey Joe, Glad you got the letter ok. Really decent of you to mention me in your video and show the letters. Glad you liked them. Very unusual to have two Olympia logos like that. Quite rare I think. I had the Splendid 33 which I really liked until I l took off the right carriage end cap to take out the platen and think the lower screw is something to do with the rack which pivots and my screw sheered off so it meant the carriage was free moving all the time, I never found a screw to fit so I sold it as spares or repair. So if you do take it apart be very careful of that screw on the right. It wasn't getting it out, I overtightened putting it back in and it never held the part it was attached to (some kind of clip related to the carriage release) Had a very nice touch. When you get a bit more space and flog a few others, keep an eye out for an Olympia Traveller de luxe. I'm guessing you might have a hard time getting one of those in the States but I might be wrong. Similar feel.great rugged cases, but very 70's angular styling so you might be put off by that. Some people don't like the feel but I love mine. Great little typers these West German portables.

[@yefei4218]

Hi Joe. I saw an Olympia SF or (Olympia SF De-luxe) listed up for auction in my country, it's about $30 USD, not working from the seller's video, but appearance seems good, no rust no paint loss, no grime, I feel I could make it back to work order. but most important thing is how does Olympia SF feel like when typing with it? what different with Olympia Splendid series? and what different with Royal Mercury? I only experience the typing feeling on Royal Mercury and Smith corona galaxie.. Should I buy that Olympia SF? let me know your ideas. thanks.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

The SF I had felt heavier on the keys than the Splendid. But it’s still a well-made German machine.

[@yefei4218]

@@Joe_VanCleave thanks. I will give my offer to the auction.(I will have 3 typewriters in restoration at the same time)

[@user-io2pd8rv8r]

I like the idea of doing anything with typewriters.

[@TypewriterMinutes]

Keep up the good work. My second typewriter was an Olympia SF and I love it. Incredible typing machine in such a compact footprint. Love the typing feel.

[@Queenmom313]

Loved this video! I have a 1965 Olympia SM9 and just this week, I received a Hermes 3000 from a Goodwill auction. I didn't know much about its condition when I bid on it, but went strictly from the pictures of it. It looked beautiful in the pictures, and it really is in person, too. I was pretty excited to find out that it has a script font (I had no idea the font until I received the typewriter)! I Love it! I wish I lived in the Albuquerque area (Texas), I would definitely love to join up for the Type-In. I hope you can show video of this event!

[@nictheartist]

Great video. I'm pretty sure my Dad had one of these , and I used to play around on it. I, too, used to do the thing with the manual ratchet thing, that way you could do fairly narrow line spacing if you chose to do so. I recall the keys needing to be struck fairly hard, but then maybe the machine just hadn't been serviced for a while. The platen on your machine looks very nice and clean. I'm pretty sure his machine did not have the number one key, either. I think there are quite a few slightly more recent models around on the internet, at least in the UK. I like the shape of these typewriters, they have real character.

[@joanneginever1890]

Hi I just bought an Olympia Diplomat with the dark red keys and butter colour. Waiting on delivery. Very excited. I am glad I learnt to touch type all fingers in school! I also have gorgeous Underwood 315 and old heavy Remington Rand portable on back "Made in Great Britain". The Underwood is a pure work of art and types beautifully.

[@drandallesq]

I have one of the later versions of this typewriter Joe, and a life saver shaped piece of one of the grommets that hold the ribbon cover on was stuck under the middle of the carriage, causing mismatch of the letters in a similar way, and making the carriage rock slightly. Could be worthwhile taking the base cover off to check. I don't know about the ratchet fault, but this is a great machine, very portable, and worth having fixed professionally. Best regards, David.

[@av8bvma513]

Hi Joe. This is the first run of the Splendid 33. The SF, on the other hand, has a very noticeable wedge shape from the side, and they all had bi-color. The 33 is one of my favorites. I have the 33, 66, and 99, but spend more time on the 33. Mine is the same color as yours, and my 'dream-machine' is one in Black, with the white keys, wicked cool!

[@johnc.bojemski1757]

This OLYMPIA "SF" looks like an "ultra" portable? No case? Bare bones model? Possibly designed with heavy travelling in mind? Looks like a great machine for reporters from the pre-laptop computer era. Pity its case didn't come with it. Nice.

[@哥人四了有汉四]

A Saxony's salute to Albuquerque! Joe, you're broadcasting a pretty detailed knowledge about Type writers. I appreciate that! It's hard to find continued informations of specific machines. I too recognized the alignment issue between the lower/upper case, but I'm sure to fix it. It's gonna be anyone screw to adjust the >maximum point of lifting the rubber roll< (oh lord! or how you're calling that thing in English?).

[@desiluus]

Those red indicators look nice... Keep up your good work, Joe!

[@desiluus]

Getting my second typewriter next week (Olivetti lettera 32)

[@BrightBlueJim]

As you said, the SF models are kind of angular, which this is not. Specifically, the SF's ribbon cover is wedge-shaped, much thicker at the carriage than at the front, while the Splendids have flat ribbon covers like this. Comparing this video with several eBay ads for Splendid 33 machines, I think this is an early 33, since the 33 has no color or touch selectors. It looks like neither the Splendids nor the SF had tabulators. The only discrepancy I see is that the Splendid 33s I've seen have plastic card guides rather than metal, but that's the sort of thing that Olympia changed over the years, for a given model. Similar with the '1' key - for the most part SM8 and SM9 before 1968 have the =/+ key, while others (as well as all of the the later body 68 and later) have a 1/* on the left and =/+ on the right. Since I've never seen an Olympia with two Olympia logos on the top, my guess is that the Splendid 33 logo probably got broken off and lost at some point, and rather than just leave two empty holes in the ribbon cover, somebody found a script logo and just put that on it. As for the caps alignment, since the test you did at the left end of the platen looks identical to the test at the right, this suggests it's just a matter of shift adjustments, but I don't know how hard those are to get at on these ultra-portables. Now I see that this video is 7 years old, so chances are you've already fixed this, or maybe don't even have this machine any more! Great videos always.

[@iracema1]

I think the famous Irish novelist and short-story writer, Elizabeth Bowen, used an almost identical machine, but it was badged as a “Splendid” in Ireland.

[@lovelaga]

Joe, Very Much like your KZbin video's. My father was born April 1897 and pounded away all night long (day-time too), on his vintage 1916 Underwood typewriter. He was a business man and sent out letters daily. I can still remember the all-nite type-writer sound as I attempted to get sleep so I could go to school in the morning. I'm now 79-1/2, and have 7-Typewriters. I need a Print-wheel for my Royal Alpha 101. I like it as it is small and does what I need. The "0" is missing on the Print-Wheel. Yes, I realize I can use a 'capital "O"! I recently purchased the print roller wheel, but the print is weak. Please acknowledge if you can provide me with a print wheel. Regards, Edwin Thoma. Retired US Navy (1961~1993).

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Edwin, there's a guy in Australia who's a recognized expert on electronic "daisywheel" typewriters, he runs a blog, here's his contact page: etzone.org/contact/

[@gmcenroe]

I just found your channel. I am interested in mechanical computer keyboards, and recently restored a Northgate Omnikey Ultra keyboard with ALPS switches that I am using on my windows system. I have several computers, one old SGI Indigo 2 that I have boxed up at present, will unbox when I retire. I also like typewriters, my favorite is the IBM selectric II. I don't have one, but I may pick one up, like the sound of the typewriter and the typing elements. Anyway, enjoy your channel and will watch more of your videos.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you! Welcome aboard.

[@johnyoung4747]

On my later, 1970s disco-era SF, if you bunch up the keys you can release them all by hitting the margin release key. Keeps your fingers clean.

[@sofiawallin9135]

Hey Joe! Just wanted to say thank you for a great video series! I'm still quite new to typewriters, I only bought my first one (a Royal KH) in April, so I think your series is really good for learning more about this new interest of mine. Since you seem to know quite a lot about typewriters, would you happen to know how to get portable typewriters out of their cases? I have two, a Rheinmetall and a Scriva, that are sort of screwed into the bottom of their cases, and I can't for the life of me seem to get them loose. I have tried to unscrew the screws from the bottom, but nothing happens - the typewriter is still stuck. Any tips? Once again, thanks for a great series, and greetings from Sweden! :)

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I'm not personally familiar with those two. Perhaps the rubber feet on the bottom of the typewriters are stuck, due to age. Try a little more force? Other brands have a latch mechanism, some use a lever on the side of the typewriter while with others the latching mechanism is built into the case's latch. Perhaps ask on the Facebook Antique Typewriters group?

[@MegaGreenman28]

I believe your machine is definitely an sf from 1960 because earlier sf's used a wire paper support.

[@JoePani1]

Thanks again for a good video.

[@jrogerritzman3060]

Can you suggest a possible source for replacement screws for rear carriage back cover on a Olympia SF? I need two.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Try these guys, look for matrix screws: www.microfasteners.com

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Metric!

[@shumi555]

Very interesting typewriter. Remind me Olympia Traveller in some details)

[@scriptkeeper8243]

He got the Blackwings!

[@bletheringfool]

Did you come up with a term for emailing a scanned typewritten page? I thought of Cyber Stenography but perhaps it doesn't roll off the tongue.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Hmm, well, posting a scan of a typewritten page to a blog online is called "type-casting," so perhaps emailing a scan would be "type-posting?"

[@bletheringfool]

@@Joe_VanCleave I like it

[@LightSweetCrude09]

Wondering why my comment doesn’t show after posting...is there a word limit? I just made a detailed remark that was rejected so won’t try again but I think that’s a Socialite that’s had one plastic name replaced. The mounting holes are identical on the two sides of the cover. I have an identical Socialite on the table. It’s got a plastic clamshell cover, looks like a Tippa when it’s put away.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I see this happening sporadically and don’t understand why, it’s evidently a KZbin thing! You may be correct about the name badge, thank you!

[@Frisenette]

Is the MR key for disentangling the type bars? Are you sure there are no adjustability inside under the shield? That where it is on my Olympia.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

The MR key does both margin release (enabling carriage movement beyond both left & right margins) and disentangling of the type bars. On this model there is no touch adjustment under the ribbon cover shield. I believe this same general chassis was used on a number of models, such as the early Splendid series, each of which had a different feature set. This model SF I assume to be the lowest featured version, as it also lacks tabs.

[@tmunk]

Congrats on Episode 60! I should send you a TRB to give away in a contest or something :D

[@kidcool9077]

Hey Joe. Have you made a Videos about young Typers?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Not yet. But that's a great idea.

[@johnc.bojemski1757]

Typewriters use PAPER which is made of wood "pulp" thus... WE WILL BE "PULPING" letters to each other!

[@rancosteel]

Why not just Typescanning?

[@yangliu4506]

Bonjour monsieur, j'ai une machine à écrire d'Olympia Splendid 66, je trouve que quand on ouvre son boîtier, on peut sentir un odeur spécial, j'ai entendu dire que c'est parce que les touches de clavier de cette machine sont fabriquées avec une matière spéciale, c'est pour ça, cette machine sent bon, je voudrais savoir si vous pouvez me dire c'est quoi cette matière spéciale? merci beaucoup pour votre réponse. Cordialement

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I'm not sure what the keys are made of. I'll post your question here in english & see if someone else knows. "Hello sir, I have an Olympia Splendid 66 typewriter, I find that when you open its case, you can smell a special smell, I heard that it is because the keyboard keys of this machine are made with a special material, that's why this machine smells good, I would like to know if you can tell me what this special material is? Thank you very much for your answer. Regards"

[@yangliu4506]

@@Joe_VanCleave thanks monsieur, vous êtes très gentil, et merci beaucoup pour vos vidéos assez intéressantes pour moi

[@johnc.bojemski1757]

"TYPE-BRANDING"?

[@DriveupLife22]

My opinion is, if the sender of a letter has a copy of any kind, it's no longer a true letter. A real letter is one of a kind, the only one in existence, and is solely the property of the recipient, theirs to keep for a day or forever. Not a fan of this scanning letters idea.

[@johnandrewmunroe]

Wasabi!

[@Monosekist]

What if this typewriter is a fake?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

How so?

[@Monosekist]

I reasoned that since it has no model logo and two brand logos perhaps in the wrong place it could be a fake but maybe I’m wrong.

[@Wolverine3660]

@@Monosekist - you are so wrong, that it aint even funny. It is an older Sf which was made for the US market.