Thanks John, I'll look out for them. Meanwhile, I use a specially fashioned paperclip as a spring hook. It could do with a slightly finer point but I can bend it to fit inaccessible corners.
Rob - speaking of re-tentioning springs, I was thumbing through my copy of The Typewriter Repair Manual (by Howard Hutchinson) yesterday, and he made a recommendation that I've yet to try - and it's not to cut-down the spring, but instead to unhook one end and then twist the spring 1 and 1/2 rotations with the twist of the spring and then hook it. This is something that I will be trying in the future. Congrats on the Imperial!!
Thanks Brian. I see, like winding it up a bit. Makes some sense, but surely the spring would then have a rotational as well as longitudinal tension which might pop it off the locating peg, especially if the spring in its normal resting state doesn't have a lot of tension in it in the first place. Certainly, you have to hold the hook end of the spring in two places and independently of the spring itself when you are forming the new hook, otherwise you can easily deform what's left of the spring. I suppose the best solution will depend on the nature of the spring (this one's a tension spring), its elasticity at rest, the size/accessibility of the spring and, here's the rub, the thickness of the spring wire. I'd say the spring mentioned above is about 8mm long and the gauge of the wire is about that of a human hair. The hooks need to be at 90˚ to each other to locate on both the machine stub and the little ratchet pawl without too much friction.
It should reverse direction automatically when one spool empties. This requires the correct Imperial spools which have a special lever in the core and acts on the reversing mechanism. There's an override on the 66 but I can't see one on the 55.
A good result in the end Rob. Could you invest in some spring hooks? You can obtain them on Amazon. They will make live much easier.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
John
Thanks John, I'll look out for them. Meanwhile, I use a specially fashioned paperclip as a spring hook. It could do with a slightly finer point but I can bend it to fit inaccessible corners.
DeleteI regret missing out on a pristine Imperial 66 that came up on Gumtree. I just liked the look of it. Unfortunately I was not alone. :)
ReplyDeleteThere's one out there with your name on it.
DeleteRob - speaking of re-tentioning springs, I was thumbing through my copy of The Typewriter Repair Manual (by Howard Hutchinson) yesterday, and he made a recommendation that I've yet to try - and it's not to cut-down the spring, but instead to unhook one end and then twist the spring 1 and 1/2 rotations with the twist of the spring and then hook it. This is something that I will be trying in the future. Congrats on the Imperial!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian. I see, like winding it up a bit. Makes some sense, but surely the spring would then have a rotational as well as longitudinal tension which might pop it off the locating peg, especially if the spring in its normal resting state doesn't have a lot of tension in it in the first place. Certainly, you have to hold the hook end of the spring in two places and independently of the spring itself when you are forming the new hook, otherwise you can easily deform what's left of the spring. I suppose the best solution will depend on the nature of the spring (this one's a tension spring), its elasticity at rest, the size/accessibility of the spring and, here's the rub, the thickness of the spring wire. I'd say the spring mentioned above is about 8mm long and the gauge of the wire is about that of a human hair. The hooks need to be at 90˚ to each other to locate on both the machine stub and the little ratchet pawl without too much friction.
DeleteHow do you reverse the ribbon once one side is done with the 55
ReplyDeleteIt should reverse direction automatically when one spool empties. This requires the correct Imperial spools which have a special lever in the core and acts on the reversing mechanism. There's an override on the 66 but I can't see one on the 55.
Delete