1898 Oliver 2
Okay, let me hand this to ya straight. I have written this article three times over, and have spent hours on it, yet each time I near the finish line the darn thing gets deleted. I am done. I am so done. I am beyond being done about being done. So here is the freaking oliver article, don't expect anything fancy. I was fancy the first and second time doing this, now I won't be.
The Oliver Typewriter Company made typewriters.
There. That's it.
Fine whatever, they made, as Jonathan Posey would call them, "half'-assed boat anchors." The Oliver was most famous for its batwing design, in which two vertical rows of type were suspended above the platen on either end. The number two pictured here ran from 1897 to 1901, and the model 1 before it only ran for one year. The 2 is distinguished from it in two ways. First, this machine featured an easily removable carriage, something the Oliver 1 didn't have. Second, this machine also had upturned handles built into the frame. These allowed for both the easy carrying of the machine, as well as protection for the carriage rails. After the 3 came out, being near identical to the two but with a bulkier frame, the Oliver 5 came out. This machine featured a larger and more enclosed body, a backspacer, and most notably the only mechanical cursor to exist on a typing machine. This cursor indicated exactly where the next letter was to strike, and moved out of the way as the type came down. Soon after, the Oliver company went backrupt due to selling machines on a credit system that had yet to be established. As a result, customers defaulted on payments, sending the company under.
There are two very important things to note about working on these machines. I know them very well both from experience and from writing this article multiple times.
The first of these are aligning the type. This is singlehandedly the most pain-in-the-ass thing you can do with this machine. Each of the machine's slugs are oriented on a large U shaped piece of metal. This delicate bit of trash is so easily thrown out of balance that the keys lock up and the machine is rendered useless. This is fixed by gently bending the pieces back into shape. Below the slugs are two rows of screws on either side. These apply tension to the pivots, as well as a means to hold them in place. Some techs use these to adjust the type, but I haven't had much luck with them. Instead, in the more extreme cases, I end up needing to resolder the type with a blowtorch and a pair of pliers.
those screws...
The second thing that throws most people is the complete lack of a carriage return leaver. None of the oliver models featured this, and instead used the carriage tension and the left knob. When you push in the left knob, it moves a metal rod inbetween the teeth on the platen ratchet gear. The act of hitting the left margin causes the platen to rotate the set number of spaces.
Look, no return.
Here you can see the metal bar descending from the left knob. This slots through the vertical gear plate and into the ratchet teeth.
From the underside, you can see the base or horizontal gear plate. On the left is a descending metal rod that hits the left margin stop. This gets pushed and rotates the base gear plate, which in turn rotates the vertical gear plate. This then rotates the entire left platen knob, rod, and the platen itself, as indicated by the line space select. One thing to keep in mind, from the front view of the carriage, the index pin on the vertical gear plate must rest in front of the tab on the line space indicator.
see?? allow me to show you what it
looks like when its WRONG:
From here on out, the rest of the carriage can be easily taken apart. One of the front facing spring clips can be removed to allow removal of the front two feed rollers. The Oliver has three of these, and the third main one can be removed from the two screws in the back of the carriage. To take the platen out, the right knob needs to be removed, and all the platen set screws. Then the left knob can be pulled out from the left, along with the platen rod and the left hand assembly.
Now onto the machine itself. It is pretty easy to clean up and adjust. To start, the two name plates on either side can be removed with the screws accessible from the bottom of the mahcine.
Capital and Figure alignment are controlled with the two sets of lock nuts on the rear rod of the machine. This is slightly different on the 5 and later models, and is usually there covered by a dome. If the machine is still binding, try relieving some of the pressure on the mechanism by adjusting the two stoppers on the sides of the bat wing columns.
On to the escapement. If this is binding or not tripping, there are two things you can do. First, on the right side there is an adjustable lifting rod. This can sometimes not be enough to clear the star wheel teeth, and can be moved and adjusted to help with that. It also affects how high the ribbon vibrator moves, which can prove useful as well. The second thing to do is remove and clean the star wheel entirely. This is done by removing the two screws in the bracket on top. There is a spring inside, and that spring is necessary for the function of the carriage release, so don't lose it.
As far as troubleshooting mechanical adjustments, that's about it. The Oliver 2 I worked on was a unique machine, including two special Norwegian/Danish characters: æ and ø. But as pointed out by my Norwegian friend Isak, this machine is missing the å, a vital character for both languages. Also, the capital and lowercase z were relocated. The lowercase is the figure P, and the capital is on figure Q.
The number two had a few troubling issues. First were the missing keys and cracked spacebar, which were easily replaced. Second came rust removal and cleaning, and adjusting.
All of the above methods of working on this machine were applied in this case, and the machine itself turned out very nice, though worn out, and worked well.
My pain is almost over. This machine takes 7/16 inch ribbon on wood core spools with spring clips. Here is a video of it working and a type sample and thank god I'm done this better save and publish.
Comments
Post a Comment