Sunday, May 20, 2012

This is the Rounded Body Hermes 3000 Taken Apart

Sorry for my blasted typos.

This is the second Hermes 3000 I bought last year.  I wanted a rounded one.

Why do these older style knobs stay in one piece and the newer one fall apart? The odd shaped plates to the left of the feet hold the typewriter to the housing and the bottom plate.

Almost naked.  I guess it would be should I remove the key tops.

Carriage.  The covers will be removed when it all gets cleaned.

Left-most part of the angle was bent.  Apparently this machine was dropped on its left rear corner.  Cheap aluminum sides for an otherwise very high quality machine.

close-up of the worst damaged end.

Carriage fastener in the remove position.

When both are in this position the carriage is fastened to the machine.  Small screw moves carriage closer to or farther away from the front of the machine?

There was some slight bending to this sides ends also.

Where the damage had been.  Now straight.  There is some distortion to the slot that does not affect anything.

To remove the housing the tow screws that go in these holes must be removed.

It even has genuine Hermes ribbon spools.  Ribbon is dry.
So from seeing the typecast done on a full sheet again may give another hint as to the typewriter used.  I'm surprised at only one guess from yesterday's post.
I'm giving a few more days to see if there are any other readers who want to post a guess at what this machine without a 1 or a 0 key just might be.  Then as many of the old portables; no tabulator either.  It came home with me because I liked its typeface, and it had a good ribbon too.

This project could or would not be done if it were not for this post I found when I got my first Hermes 3000:

Replacing a Hermes 3000 Platen

And a big thank you to Tom Furrier of Cambridge Typewriter Co. for his very detailed and easy to follow post as well as the help he gave through some emails when I had some problems with my first Hermes 3000.  This got me started in tinkering with my machines.

I also thank Richard Polt for his help and fine website.  Richard has always taken time to answer my emails on typewriter questions.

Well there are many others in the typosphere also.  I get my ideas and confidence to take on my projects from all of you.  Thank you.

15 comments:

  1. Are you using a Royal Signet?

    I have never seen original Hermes ribbon spools like these. Cool.

    Nice disassembly work. Be forewarned that, in my experience, getting the carriage back on is 10x harder than getting it off. You have to make sure that the piece that the margin release key moves is in the right place, then wiggle and jiggle, hit the tab key several times, and pray.

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    1. Richard,
      Thank you for the warning on reassebmly. The putting-it-back-together part is usually where my fear lies. I have found since my childhood that it is easy to take things apart, but not always to put them back together, and make them work.

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    2. I put the carriage back on last night. It went quite easily, but I may be really fooled when I get the platen back on and find the machine won't type. I doubt it. So far it seems fine.

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  2. You are a far braver man than I! Good luck with this project. All those little screws would make me nervous. I tend to fat finger small parts and listen to them skitter away.

    I like Richard's guess ;-)

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    1. I only (99% of the time) only remove screws when something is on my workbench so if the screw falls it will land on the bench. The anti-static pads for electronics work tend to keep things from rolling. Before that I used a terry cloth bath towel or piece of carpet on my bench. Old egg cartons and muffin pans (Learned that as a kid building HeathKits) make great parts holders and I also use small coin envelopes so I can label what goes to what.

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  3. Richard & Dwayne, since you are the only readers who took a try at the model of my typewriter I will post a photo of it as my answer.

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  4. ooh, I've got one of those, I'm not brave enough to take it to pieces though (I'm supposed to be re-homing two out of my three but I don't really want to! lol) X

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    1. When my 2 round body ones are finished I should find a new home for one of them. I do not know if I will since I like number 2, but it is an elite. I like pica like on the beat-up one.

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    2. I have a Remmington Portable (1930's I think) which I love and is staying with me! x

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  5. i love the type. i wish i could find a machine with that or similar type. wow on the disassembly! I don't think I'd have the courage to take apart an Hermes. I can't wait for the followup to this post.

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  6. My hats off to you and those like yourself who are bold enough to tackle these kinds of projects. I don't have the constitution to even make the attempt. You're a brave person!

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  7. Bill, this helped me. Thank you!

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  8. I recently aquired a Hermes Media 3 in the round body style, but I dont have a clue how you take the body off it? As it is nearly identical to the 3000 I thougt you can maybe help me out? I have searched a lot, but didnt find one who had some kind of instructions. A big Thank you in advance!

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    1. Dan,
      The Media 3 is a 3000 without a tabulator. The covers are removed by removing the 4 feet from the bottom cover and lifting the rear of the cover loose. Then as the bottom comes off the top and is fully loose in the front slide the bottom plate towards the left to release the space bar holders. Then the base plate will be free. Then remove the type bar / ribbon cover. After that the final cover is free to remove with a bit of care. If you plan to remove the carriage there is a bit more work. Removing is easy, but sometimes replacing it can be tricky.

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  9. Hello! I removed the carriage and body of a Hermes 3000, the same model as yours, but now I cant' put the carriage back on. Any tips?

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