Saturday, January 29, 2011

Fixed! Late '60s Hermes 3000 (Epoca typeface)



By the time the typewriter was finally up and running, it was quite dark outside so I couldn't stage a photo shoot as per usual. Some artificially-lit pictures will have to do for now:

As you can see, it's in excellent cosmetic condition - nothing to indicate that it had ever been dropped (if that indeed is the case). Both carriage knobs are intact, there is not a dent or a scratch anywhere, nothing askew except for a bent tang of iron inside that holds a screw which in turn aligns the carriage properly. 

One thing is for sure - small problems, like the ones this typewriter had, are hard to see if you don't know what you're doing and even harder to describe on an internet forum in a way that will get you constructive help (unless someone else has suffered the exact same misfortune).  If - like my technician - you have not had to fix many typewriters, it will take a couple of hours of trial and error, close mechanical observation, and a bit of luck. To think I was ready to drop it off the balcony...


Up close and personal with the epoca typeface. There's a tiny bit of ink crud but not enough to hinder typing - this was really quite clean, if not functional (at least for a while!) right out of the box.

Despite having complained in my last post about losing the green metal cover of the feed rollers (which we might try to replace as soon if we locate springs that fit), I really don't notice that it's not there while I'm using the machine, or even in general, since that part is well-hidden by the ribbon cover in any case. 

10 comments:

  1. Gorgeous machine, wonderful typeface! I'd call it "Grade School Early Reader". Very nice.

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  2. love it! that typeface is right up there with techno!

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  3. superb. I love it when a fix can be achieved quite simply - as opposed to tearing everything apart and hoping to find the problem, and then reassembling etc etc.

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  4. Congratulations to you and your mysterious technician. I like the typeface and don't think I've ever seen it before.

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  5. Excellent! Isn't it a great feeling to get a sleeping beauty going? Speaking of beauty: last week I had the very same feeling on my Hermes 3000 (same model, except is has techno typeface): first not very attracted to it, it felt just perfect when writing. Your photos highlight that it really is a classy shape, too.
    I now put several Hermes 3000 manuals online - interesting to compare.

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  6. So glad to hear it was repairable! Really like the typeface, too. It's so...clean. And friendly! I've not seen anything like it before.

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  7. Its interesting how first looks can change. When I first got an Oliver, I really hated it, but slowly, it grew on me and now I kinda like the look of it.

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  8. wow, that's beautiful! i really like that typeface. i think you may have started me on a another hunt. :-)

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  9. I have a Hermes 3000 (shipped to me) whose carriage is STUCK. I have freed the release key, but still jammed. I unscrewed the bottom, took apart the back so I could poke around. Like you, I feel this close to dropping it just b/c nothing seems to disengage it. I was so excited to get typing on it, alas, I will continue to pray for some luck I guess...but it is depressing. You have inspired me not to give up though...thanks for your great posts.

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  10. COuld you post some high res photo of the mechanic, please? I have a Hermes media 3 (similar to this one) but I have a problem with the mechanic: it seems that all the hammers are collapse. I suspect that some kind of spring or lever is not doing his job. But I can't find where, what [and whyyyyy :-( ].
    Thanks
    Paola

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