Great video really effective tutorial. Can I apply this to my Lettera 32 ? also which cleaning product do you use and which lubricatig oils. I have concidered Clock/watch oils , Brass instument oil and sewing machine oil. Thank you. 🙂
Thanks! The Lettera 32 has a completely different carriage rail system, so the carriage removal part of this video unfortunately does not apply. Removing and replacing the carriage on a Lettera 32 is a lot more complicated, and I do not recommend it. However, removing the outer shell of a Lettera 32 is similar, with 4 easily accessible mounting screws in a similar position. You would just lift the shell off the opposite side, as the carriage lock is on the right as opposed to the left. For cleaning, I recommend white (mineral) spirit - it won't harm plastic or paint in case you get it on either - and compressed air to flush. Light lubrication to specific points of friction can be made with sewing machine oil. Good luck!
Thank you for your detailed reply, I've just started my typerwriter journey so it really helpful to know how far to go with maintenance and restoring . The line spacing ratchet feels "sticky" not smooth and crisp. But for a 1966 machine I'm amazed at how well it works. Look forward to seeing you next video. @@the.writetyper
Hi, am about to follow your video to clean my lovely, new-to-me, Lettera 22. It does, however, have a few problems and I'm wondering if you can help? The margin stops don't work. If you return very carefully, the carriage will stop but not if I'm typing at my normal speed, it just shots past, back to the very start of the page. The keys are also quite 'slow' and get stuck together which I'm assuming has to do with just needing a clean - I have compressed air for that. Hoping you can help, many thanks.
Hi - regarding the carriage shooting to the left when you return it as well as the slow keys, these are most likely caused by grime in the escapement and type segment, respectively. Escapements often don't work properly if they are coated in old oil or grease, which is usually mixed with dust and/or eraser shavings. This causes the parts of the escapement, particularly the loose dog, to move very slowly or not at all. I would go ahead with a general clean with white spirit and compressed air. Do several flushes of the escapement and type segment. That may fix the issues you have raised.
"A dirty sticky/escapement is often the culprit of a Lettera 22 carriage that flies to the left" -- don't you mean flies to the right? As in skipping spaces or hitting the space bar and having it the carriage travel several spaces? Mine right now is having this weird quirk -- unless the caps lock is on, then it doesn't happen at all. Also, when you say a "a sticky escapement is often solved by a chemical & compressed air flush, which does not require carriage removal", I don't see how you can even get at the starwheel without taking off the carriage. Do you mean taking off the bottom and just removing the back nut and spraying in lubricating oil + compressed air?
It depends, of course, on your position vis-a-vis the typewriter, but as most people will be viewing the typewriter from the front when they discover this issue, I have described the carriage as "slamming to the left," as that is the direction it will travel in when it skips. You can adequately flush the escapement/starwheel area by moving the carriage all the way to the left, past its margins, and squirting white spirit/mineral spirit into the area. For access to the other side, move the carriage all the way to the right. Make sure to remove the bottom plate, otherwise the debris and solvent will just collect on the baseplate, thus remaining in the machine. Squirting a solvent and (gently) blowing out with compressed air multiple times will generally clean most buidups of old grease, eraser shavings, and dust. This is how most typewriter escapements are cleaned, as removing the carriage on many typewriters is not really not recommended. You need to clean with an appropriate solvent rather than spraying in any sort of lubricating oil. Simply spraying a lubricating oil will only provide a temporary fix, as the old grease and dirt will remain and likely dry again. Some lubricating oils (like WD40) will later dry into a sticky, wax-like substance, making the problem worse. I recommend white/mineral spirit, as it is not that harsh and will not damage paint or rubber parts.
@@the.writetyper Thanks a bunch, I am going to try this. Any tips on how to move the carriage all the way to the left past its margins? If I am facing the typewriter as if I’m typing, I pushed the margin stop to zero and pushed the carriage all the way to the left and the escapement/starwheel area is still covered. The same for the right; I pushed the margin stop past 80 and as far to the right as it would go and again, the area was still covered. The only way I could even see the escapement/starwheel area was picking up the typewriter and tilting it at an angle from either side -- with the the carriage still pushed out. Is there something with the carriage stop that I can do -- remove it -- that will make it extend further without taking off the carriage as you cautioned? Should I also unscrew and remove the shell during this?
On my Lettera 22, when I press on the carriage return lever, if there is too much pressure the carriage will make a grinding noise and sometimes bind up. Any idea on how I can fix this? Thank you
My Lettera 22 has the carriage stuck to the far right of its travel. This means that I can't remove the body (a) because I can't access the mounting screw under the carriage and (b) I can't slide the carriage to the far left position to remove the body. Any ideas? Many thanks.
It is a bit hard to give an exact solution without being hands on, but here are some things to check/ try: have you tried moving the carriage while engaging the backspace key, or the tab key (if yours has a tab key)? Where is the left margin set? Can you move the carriage if you move the left margin? Does the margin release key work? The escapement might be jammed because it is sticky or dirty - have you cleaned it with mineral spirits and blown it out? Or, a linkage might be binding somewhere and causing the escapement to stay engaged - in the following case, the "trip screw" was jammed against the universal bar, preventing the universal bar from moving, which caused the escapement to be stuck (myoldtypewriter.com/2019/06/04/crushes-and-crushed-lettera/) You can get a better look at the workings in the above link by simply unscrewing the screws in each of the Lettera 22's 4 feet. This will allow removal of the baseplate.
while putting it back together the drawband slipped and now im having trouble setting it correctly so that it doesnt unwind when the carridge reaches all the way to the left. I have been trying to figure out for days and im just not sure whether its because the line is too short or too long or i didnt wind it enough times. if you could answer this that would be great! great video too btw!
hello, glad you found the video useful. Regarding your issue, is the drawband original, or did you install a new one? If it is original and was with the typewriter before you started your work, then its length should be correct. As for winding the mainspring, how many complete rotations of the mainspring are you winding before attaching the drawband to the carriage? If you aren't winding the mainspring enough, then there won't be enough tension in the mainspring to keep the drawband taught when the carriage is at the left. Without enough tension, the drawband can slip off the mainspring. When winding the mainspring to set the drawband, you will want to make sure the mainspring has 5 full rotations. Hope this solves your issue. You may also find this blogpost useful: oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2013/11/reattaching-drawband-to-mainspring-on.html?fbclid=IwAR3X1uV8SJaSNRrnk7RCZIO17ewt91Cj9u2IW4H8oD2r0ShHdYbU9wfcg2U
This is going to help SO many people in our community. Thank you.
Thanks - I hope it helps quite a few people :)
Thank you for making this. Took my 22 apart today to clean it and fix the tab and backspace function. This video was the perfect guide!
Good to hear it was helpful!
Thank you, I've got a lettera 22 today but the escapement was stuck, thanks to your video I managed to fix my typewriter!
That's great! Glad the video helped you get your Lettera 22 working.
Very nice thanks for sharing. Good job.
Great video really effective tutorial. Can I apply this to my Lettera 32 ? also which cleaning product do you use and which lubricatig oils. I have concidered Clock/watch oils , Brass instument oil and sewing machine oil. Thank you. 🙂
Thanks! The Lettera 32 has a completely different carriage rail system, so the carriage removal part of this video unfortunately does not apply. Removing and replacing the carriage on a Lettera 32 is a lot more complicated, and I do not recommend it. However, removing the outer shell of a Lettera 32 is similar, with 4 easily accessible mounting screws in a similar position. You would just lift the shell off the opposite side, as the carriage lock is on the right as opposed to the left.
For cleaning, I recommend white (mineral) spirit - it won't harm plastic or paint in case you get it on either - and compressed air to flush. Light lubrication to specific points of friction can be made with sewing machine oil. Good luck!
Thank you for your detailed reply, I've just started my typerwriter journey so it really helpful to know how far to go with maintenance and restoring .
The line spacing ratchet feels "sticky" not smooth and crisp. But for a 1966 machine I'm amazed at how well it works. Look forward to seeing you next video. @@the.writetyper
Part 1 Olivetti Lettera 22 Typewriter Disassembly & Carriage Removal
Part 2 ruclips.net/video/cHSZXKlYjBo/видео.html
Part 3 ruclips.net/video/7ObeMIazxeI/видео.html
Hi, am about to follow your video to clean my lovely, new-to-me, Lettera 22. It does, however, have a few problems and I'm wondering if you can help? The margin stops don't work. If you return very carefully, the carriage will stop but not if I'm typing at my normal speed, it just shots past, back to the very start of the page. The keys are also quite 'slow' and get stuck together which I'm assuming has to do with just needing a clean - I have compressed air for that. Hoping you can help, many thanks.
Hi - regarding the carriage shooting to the left when you return it as well as the slow keys, these are most likely caused by grime in the escapement and type segment, respectively. Escapements often don't work properly if they are coated in old oil or grease, which is usually mixed with dust and/or eraser shavings. This causes the parts of the escapement, particularly the loose dog, to move very slowly or not at all. I would go ahead with a general clean with white spirit and compressed air. Do several flushes of the escapement and type segment. That may fix the issues you have raised.
"A dirty sticky/escapement is often the culprit of a Lettera 22 carriage that flies to the left" -- don't you mean flies to the right? As in skipping spaces or hitting the space bar and having it the carriage travel several spaces? Mine right now is having this weird quirk -- unless the caps lock is on, then it doesn't happen at all. Also, when you say a "a sticky escapement is often solved by a chemical & compressed air flush, which does not require carriage removal", I don't see how you can even get at the starwheel without taking off the carriage. Do you mean taking off the bottom and just removing the back nut and spraying in lubricating oil + compressed air?
It depends, of course, on your position vis-a-vis the typewriter, but as most people will be viewing the typewriter from the front when they discover this issue, I have described the carriage as "slamming to the left," as that is the direction it will travel in when it skips. You can adequately flush the escapement/starwheel area by moving the carriage all the way to the left, past its margins, and squirting white spirit/mineral spirit into the area. For access to the other side, move the carriage all the way to the right. Make sure to remove the bottom plate, otherwise the debris and solvent will just collect on the baseplate, thus remaining in the machine. Squirting a solvent and (gently) blowing out with compressed air multiple times will generally clean most buidups of old grease, eraser shavings, and dust. This is how most typewriter escapements are cleaned, as removing the carriage on many typewriters is not really not recommended. You need to clean with an appropriate solvent rather than spraying in any sort of lubricating oil. Simply spraying a lubricating oil will only provide a temporary fix, as the old grease and dirt will remain and likely dry again. Some lubricating oils (like WD40) will later dry into a sticky, wax-like substance, making the problem worse. I recommend white/mineral spirit, as it is not that harsh and will not damage paint or rubber parts.
@@the.writetyper Thanks a bunch, I am going to try this. Any tips on how to move the carriage all the way to the left past its margins? If I am facing the typewriter as if I’m typing, I pushed the margin stop to zero and pushed the carriage all the way to the left and the escapement/starwheel area is still covered. The same for the right; I pushed the margin stop past 80 and as far to the right as it would go and again, the area was still covered. The only way I could even see the escapement/starwheel area was picking up the typewriter and tilting it at an angle from either side -- with the the carriage still pushed out. Is there something with the carriage stop that I can do -- remove it -- that will make it extend further without taking off the carriage as you cautioned? Should I also unscrew and remove the shell during this?
On my Lettera 22, when I press on the carriage return lever, if there is too much pressure the carriage will make a grinding noise and sometimes bind up. Any idea on how I can fix this? Thank you
Do you mean the carriage release lever (one at each end of the carriage), rather than the carriage return lever?
My Lettera 22 has the carriage stuck to the far right of its travel. This means that I can't remove the body (a) because I can't access the mounting screw under the carriage and (b) I can't slide the carriage to the far left position to remove the body. Any ideas? Many thanks.
It is a bit hard to give an exact solution without being hands on, but here are some things to check/ try: have you tried moving the carriage while engaging the backspace key, or the tab key (if yours has a tab key)? Where is the left margin set? Can you move the carriage if you move the left margin? Does the margin release key work? The escapement might be jammed because it is sticky or dirty - have you cleaned it with mineral spirits and blown it out? Or, a linkage might be binding somewhere and causing the escapement to stay engaged - in the following case, the "trip screw" was jammed against the universal bar, preventing the universal bar from moving, which caused the escapement to be stuck (myoldtypewriter.com/2019/06/04/crushes-and-crushed-lettera/)
You can get a better look at the workings in the above link by simply unscrewing the screws in each of the Lettera 22's 4 feet. This will allow removal of the baseplate.
while putting it back together the drawband slipped and now im having trouble setting it correctly so that it doesnt unwind when the carridge reaches all the way to the left. I have been trying to figure out for days and im just not sure whether its because the line is too short or too long or i didnt wind it enough times. if you could answer this that would be great! great video too btw!
hello, glad you found the video useful. Regarding your issue, is the drawband original, or did you install a new one? If it is original and was with the typewriter before you started your work, then its length should be correct. As for winding the mainspring, how many complete rotations of the mainspring are you winding before attaching the drawband to the carriage? If you aren't winding the mainspring enough, then there won't be enough tension in the mainspring to keep the drawband taught when the carriage is at the left. Without enough tension, the drawband can slip off the mainspring. When winding the mainspring to set the drawband, you will want to make sure the mainspring has 5 full rotations. Hope this solves your issue.
You may also find this blogpost useful:
oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2013/11/reattaching-drawband-to-mainspring-on.html?fbclid=IwAR3X1uV8SJaSNRrnk7RCZIO17ewt91Cj9u2IW4H8oD2r0ShHdYbU9wfcg2U