Replacement ribbon-spool clip from battery-strip

Many 1920-ies typewriters use a steel clip to clamp the ribbon to the stem of a spool. For example both the Remington Portable and the Corona folding typewriters use such a clip. This clip can however be missing - surpisingly often this was broken or lost.

Using nickel battery strip it is however fairly easy to make a functional replacement. For example here with 8 mm wide and 0.2 mm thick nickeled steel strip. This is widely available as battery connector strip. At 0.2 mm it can even be cut with (old!) scissors. Snip off a length and then file away any sharp edges.

With small pliers and e.g. the stem of a screwdriver as anvil to bend around, a new clip can be bent in shape. The 0.2 mm mild steel strip is still springy and strong enough to firmly clamp a ribbon to the spool.

With a 1 meter length of strip (at a very reasonable price), that's a lot of replacement clips :)