1969 Olympia SF De Luxe #5-1828574
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Jerry Himes (JJH)
Created: 06-26-2024 at 03:54PM
Last Edit: 10-14-2024 at 01:51PM
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Description:
In a very nice condition, which was a pleasant surprise, as the seller's photos did not do it justice. These machines have a nice and unique "quick" type action which feels rather light to me, although the heaviness of the touch apparently varies a lot between individual machines, and some complain that they are heavy machines to type with.
The platen is still nice and soft, as seems to be the case with the SFs and Travellers I come across. It came with a nice black faux leather carrying case, but the handle had come off, so I had it replaced with something sturdier.
The platen rotation on this machine felt unnaturally stiff at first, but thanks to Laurenz and his advice on the matter, I was able to fix it by adjusting the pressure roller on top of the platen gear. The positioning of this part has to be very precise though, or you will get problems with line alignment: if the position of the roller is wrong, it doesn't sit correctly on the ratchet after a line change, and if you have to roll the paper up for a while in order to fix a type with correction fluid, for example, you will lose the original line spacing position. Then if try you roll the paper back down to the line you were typing on, you are no longer typing on the same alignment. I know this is a very poor and convoluted explanation of the issue, but that's the best I could come up with for now. I'm not the only who has ran into this problem., and it took me a while to figure out what exactly was the issue. I'm glad I figured it out though, because these are lovely little ultra-portables to work with.
Laurenz's Olympia Traveller webpage also inspired me to install some wool felt at the bottom to help with the vibration sounds, although this one cannot fit a piece quite as thick as the Travellers, but the sounds aren't quite as loud on these anyway.
This machine has the old Finnish Standard keyboard layout, also known as the Underwood keyboard in Finland. Standard Pica typeface.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Jerry Himes (JJH)
Jerry Himes's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1042
I have been looking for ways to spend less time on electronic devices, and because of this I started doing my writing and translation work with pens and pencils, and now on typewriters as well. I have noticed that adding typewriters to the process has been beneficial to the quality of the text, plus it's just more fun this way.
I have started selling and giving away some of my machines now that I have figured out which ones I want to keep. Some people have asked me for working typewriters, so I have been on the lookout for machines purely for that purpose as well. As fun and instructive as it has been, soon it is time to finish this collecting and tinkering and move back to my original intention: writing. I hope.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Olympia SF De Luxe on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Olympia Serial Number page and the Olympia SF De Luxe By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
