Starting out: what I've learned from the first three typewriters
Three machines, three different problems, and the beginning of an approach to restoration that I'm still refining.
When I bought my first typewriter — a battered Olivetti Lettera 32 — I had no idea what I was doing. I knew it looked cool and I’d read that they were fixable. That was it.
Six months and three machines later, I have a better sense of the territory. Here’s what surprised me most…
Not everything needs to be taken apart
The urge when you get a new (old) machine is to immediately disassemble it. Resist this. Most of what makes a typewriter sluggish is dried lubricant, debris in the typebars, and a tired ribbon — none of which require disassembly to address.
Start with:
- Compressed air to blow out debris
- Denatured alcohol on the typebars and type slugs
- A new ribbon
That alone fixes 70% of machines.
The escapement is the heart
If a typewriter doesn’t advance properly — keys sticking, carriage not advancing, double-striking — the escapement is almost always involved. It’s also the most delicate part to work on. My current approach: clean it gently, lubricate sparingly with Nyoil, and leave it alone unless something is genuinely broken.
Finding parts
This varies a lot by machine. Olivetti parts are scarce. Smith-Corona parts are abundant. Hermes and Olympia are in the middle. Before buying a machine, it’s worth knowing which camp it falls into.
More on all of this as I go.