Typewriter Video Series - Episode 78: Backspacing

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@johnsaeger4416 7 жыл бұрын

You're the best! Have you ever noticed how after you've fixed something you somehow become attached to it? I have an Olympia SM9 which was very close to perfect, except the backspace key was a little flakey. Sometimes it just didn't do what it was supposed to do, but if I hit the backspace key pretty hard, it would work more often. So I got into the habit of pushing it pretty hard. For the longest time I thought this was fine, it was just training me to not make mistakes. But as time went on, I bought a couple of other typewriters, and their backspace keys worked just fine. So here I was with the peak of German engineering, the number one typewriter in many people's books, so the flakey backspace key became more and more annoying. How come Royal and Remington could make typewriters that lasted 50 years with a backspace key that worked just fine but Olympia couldn't? I think when I watched your care and feeding of the escapement video it inspired me to try to fix it, and one of your videos on the Brother typewriter inspired a solution. The solution was inspired by your reading of the Brother manual where it said not too much lube -- somewhere. I forget where, but I went inside the Olympia and there was lots of grease on the part of the escapement paraphernalia that made the backspace key work. So I went in there with some 99% isopropyl alcohol and cleaned the escapement and the linear gear that goes across the carriage and the backspace started working a whole lot better! You have no idea how pleased I was! So I don't really blame it on Olympia. They wouldn't have done something so dumb. Would they? But guess which side is my favorite side for a backspace key now? The right side! No doubt about it. Besides, since it's the hardest key to press, I like using my strongest arm on it, even though a much gentler touch now works where a lusty blow was previously required. Thanks again for your videos!

@johnc.bojemski1757 3 жыл бұрын

This may seem totally NUTS but... I'll TYPE initially on my trusty ROYAL brand portable then "scan" the documents into a computer if I feel it needs a great deal of correction or "touch ups" before I print M out my final copy.