Not to fear I bought this as a non working typewriter for parts. It is a 1964 rounded housing Hermes 3000. I wanted all the goodies that came with it for my other rounded Hermes 3000.
Now the problem. This is one fine, I mean the best touch I have on any of my Hermes machines, typer! It works, almost. I think the seller or someone not experienced in typing and typewriters tried to work on it for what ever reason. It types excellently. If all my Hermes had such a nice touch I never could have commented on their normally mushy feel.
As noted above the machine has problems. The worst is the margins do not work. The back carriage cover was not reinstalled correctly so I removed it and unjammed the ribbon indicators and now they work, but no left or right margin.
I will compare it with my other one to see if anything is missing.
Margin release key is jammed. It is up in its normal position, but will not press.
The bottom of the case was not reinstalled correctly so the machine rocks a bit while typing.
Now I thoroughly understand Little Flower Petals post on her Hermes 3000 that was a bit beat, but an excellent typer. My machine has not yet lost all of its distinctive Hermes machine shop aroma either.
http://littleflowerpetals.blogspot.com/2008/09/about-that-hermes-3000.html
I also got some weird looks from the Mrs. as I opened the second box and removed my Skyriter. It is one with the stripes. It is also one that many have posted about: the Skyriter stink, yuk! This one has mildew smell and mildew on the keys. More work, a later post and I hope a typewriter to take along on my travels. Well, a choice. Now I have 3 Skyriters.
So being a bit perplexed I need to decide: fix this Hermes that I wanted for parts, only take the card guide, or to keep the peace -- clean and repair what I can and resell it?
I need to repair Hermes 3000.2 and see if it types as nice.
I love hearing of the dilemmas faced by typospherians! Have fun, Bill. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou must have one that feels like my own 3000. It's nice, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, the ribbon indicators are rather tricky to fix. If a machine works, though, I have a hard time justifying taking it apart. Decisions, decisions...
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about this whole "buy-a-typewriter-for-parts-only-to-find-it-types-better-than-the-one-I-intended-to-fix" issue.
ReplyDeleteI say, go for fixing this one up, since you like the action on it better than the other.
Judging from your past repair successes, I am confident that you'll be able to fix this one. Please keep us posted!
It's quite a dilemma. But I agree with Cameron and believe you'll be able to successfully repair it.
ReplyDelete