Friday, February 16, 2024

Carriage on the Standard Folding typewriter

Moving on to the carriage, the front support studs first needed aligning. These three studs are set-screws that were adjusted in the factory and then fixed in their correct position by 'pinning' then from the front. (That is the cause of the small holes in the front-edge of the base, and why there is a central cut-out in the front carriage-clamp.)

The centre stud had become loose and lost its position, luckly it had not yet worked itself completely free. Against a ruler and using the wear as an additional guide, it was re-fixed at (probably) the right height.

With the same method as before, all parts and screws of the carriage were cleaned and bagged ready for re-assembly. 


The feed roller was left in place (could not work out how that would have to be removed). The combination margin-stops / paper-bails are ingenious. The paper-bail finger is always at the edge of the paper, just out of reach of the typing :)

The carriage slides on the machine-base on the two steel bars or strips at its edges. It is simply metal-on-metal sliding, no rollers of any kind. The rear strip rides in a slot in a profile on the base. The front trip rides on the tops of the three studs.

The carriage is then held in place by clamps at the front and back. The front clamp was missing on this machine - using the useful images of Standard Folding 2's on The Typewriterdatabase and especially the clear photos at Words Are Winged, a functional replacement was crafted from 1 mm aluminum sheet. This is not a strong as the steel original, but should hold the carriage on well enough - this typewriter is unlikely to ever again be used heavily.

Painted satin-black, it works to hold the carriage on its rails. It is now again safe to fold the Standard Folding typewriter!

A length of waxed hemp as draw-string and the escapement works! The spring somehow slips its anchor and won't keep the full pressure needed for the entire travel. Maybe this will be looked at, but maybe not - this typewriter will not be used heavily. Rather, the goal of this restoration is for the machine to be preserved. Ideally it should become functional again, but not to the level of it being a practical typer

Now complete with carriage and platen, the little typewriter is starting to take shape - progress :)

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