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1955 Olivetti Studio 44 Serial # 821624 1955 Olivetti Studio 44 typewriter, Serial # 821624 Paolo Dal Chiele's 1955 Olivetti Studio 44 typewriter. 2020-04-27 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Paolo Dal Chiele: 1955 Olivetti Studio 44 Serial # 821624 The story of Studio 44 nr. 821624 produced in 1955 is strictly related to that of the Sudio 44 nr. 905620 produced in 1957 which I will present in the next gallery. Both were wrecks, badly damaged due to disastrous falls: as obvious consequences, the first had lost the return lever, the second had the body broken in several places. More less obvious damages were hidden inside... but being the Studio 44 an extremely robust machine, I thought I could save at least one. In the end, I managed to make them both working.
By the way, I have realised that the production date of many of the Studio 44 in the Database is wrong, and that still some problem exist to correctly date them considering that the serial number of early machines have been repeated on late machines produced in 1966-67. I will discuss the criteria for dating the Studio 44 typewriter in the nr. 905620 gallery.
At the beginning, the idea was to recover the body of the 1955 machine that was intact, and replace the broken one of the 1957 machine whose mechanics seemed decidedly less compromised.
At the beginning, the nr. 821624 was in the conditions illustrated in the photos, which does not require comments. The carriage not only had lost the return lever, but was blocked and completely out of alignment. In the impact, the marginator setter was deformed, and about a third of the marginator pins of had come out of their seats blocking the movement of the carriage. The paper bail was significantly deformed, preventing the release of the carriage from functioning. Otherwise, the sturdy die-cast frame seemed in order, and the carriage frame also seemed to have held up well. At that point I decided to try what at the beginning seemed unlikely, to make this typewriter writing again.
After detailed four baths cleaning to eliminate any possible source of undue friction to the mechanics, I straightened and repaired what was obviously damaged and aligned the carriage to the frame, and after a few hours of work the machine was back to working conditions.
In the end, the nr. 821624 gave as intended at the beginning its body to nr. 905620, but has had much more attention in return, and now it has become the machine I use to experiment with ideas and solutions. I love the shape and mechanics of Studio 44, but I share the opinion of many that the typing is too stiff , and that the keystroke adjuster is not very efficient. From what I have understood, the original typing quality of the Studio 44 was very good, and therefore it is possible that it degraded somehow in time due to wear and non-use. I hope that the tests I am doing on nr. 821624 help me understand how to give Studio 44 back a typing experience at least at level of its shape.

1955 Olivetti Studio 44 #821624

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Paolo Dal Chiele (pdcox)
Created: 04-27-2020 at 12:45PM
Last Edit: 04-27-2020 at 01:22PM

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Description:

The story of Studio 44 nr. 821624 produced in 1955 is strictly related to that of the Sudio 44 nr. 905620 produced in 1957 which I will present in the next gallery. Both were wrecks, badly damaged due to disastrous falls: as obvious consequences, the first had lost the return lever, the second had the body broken in several places. More less obvious damages were hidden inside... but being the Studio 44 an extremely robust machine, I thought I could save at least one. In the end, I managed to make them both working.
By the way, I have realised that the production date of many of the Studio 44 in the Database is wrong, and that still some problem exist to correctly date them considering that the serial number of early machines have been repeated on late machines produced in 1966-67. I will discuss the criteria for dating the Studio 44 typewriter in the nr. 905620 gallery.
At the beginning, the idea was to recover the body of the 1955 machine that was intact, and replace the broken one of the 1957 machine whose mechanics seemed decidedly less compromised.
At the beginning, the nr. 821624 was in the conditions illustrated in the photos, which does not require comments. The carriage not only had lost the return lever, but was blocked and completely out of alignment. In the impact, the marginator setter was deformed, and about a third of the marginator pins of had come out of their seats blocking the movement of the carriage. The paper bail was significantly deformed, preventing the release of the carriage from functioning. Otherwise, the sturdy die-cast frame seemed in order, and the carriage frame also seemed to have held up well. At that point I decided to try what at the beginning seemed unlikely, to make this typewriter writing again.
After detailed four baths cleaning to eliminate any possible source of undue friction to the mechanics, I straightened and repaired what was obviously damaged and aligned the carriage to the frame, and after a few hours of work the machine was back to working conditions.
In the end, the nr. 821624 gave as intended at the beginning its body to nr. 905620, but has had much more attention in return, and now it has become the machine I use to experiment with ideas and solutions. I love the shape and mechanics of Studio 44, but I share the opinion of many that the typing is too stiff , and that the keystroke adjuster is not very efficient. From what I have understood, the original typing quality of the Studio 44 was very good, and therefore it is possible that it degraded somehow in time due to wear and non-use. I hope that the tests I am doing on nr. 821624 help me understand how to give Studio 44 back a typing experience at least at level of its shape.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

At the end of the work...
At the end of the work...


The two 44s side by side.
The two 44s side by side.

Testing on the way. Replacing the key lever springs has given about 10 percent stiffness reduction without side effects.
Testing on the way. Replacing the key lever springs has given about 10 percent stiffness reduction without side effects.

The 44 at the beginning of the works.
The 44 at the beginning of the works.


The broken return lever.
The broken return lever.









Typebars removed.
Typebars removed.

Typebars levers removal.
Typebars levers removal.







Rust, rust, rust...
Rust, rust, rust...

The carriage as it was.
The carriage as it was.




The deformed paper baill.
The deformed paper baill.

After four baths cleaning.
After four baths cleaning.










Re-assemply of the typebar levers.
Re-assemply of the typebar levers.


Typebars in place.
Typebars in place.


The blocked marginators pins that were interfering with the marginator setter.
The blocked marginators pins that were interfering with the marginator setter.

The carriage totally out of alignment.
The carriage totally out of alignment.

Testing the alignment of the carriage with the frame and with the escapment.
Testing the alignment of the carriage with the frame and with the escapment.

Final testing.
Final testing.





The final result. Commercial value zero, but the satisfaction to have make this typewriter typing again plenty repays the time spent.
The final result. Commercial value zero, but the satisfaction to have make this typewriter typing again plenty repays the time spent.




Hunter: Paolo Dal Chiele (pdcox)

Paolo Dal Chiele's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 2417

Interested in historic motoring and vintage cars, I received a typewriter as a bonus when I bought and old off-road car. The previous owner had found somewhere a typewriter produced for the German army and when he sold me the car he gave me the typewriter too. As I learned later, it was a1961 Olympia SM7 Robust..
Of the typewriters I value more character than perfection, the signs that time has left and the stories - or fragments of stories - of those who used them ...


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