I had to learn a little typewriter maintenance recently. The ribbon was the still the same one that came with my pre-loved vintage typewriter. And the ink on it was becoming very faint (see my last Typewritings post). My ribbon spools are apparently a quirky size, so a little bit of research revealed that I needed to do the following:
HOW TO REPLACE THE RIBBON IN A VINTAGE TYPEWRITER
- Buy a universal replacement ribbon.
- Remember how everything is supposed to look when it’s put back together.
- Remove the spools with the old ribbon from the typewriter.
- Unwind the old ribbon from its spools.
- Unwind the new ribbon from its spools.
- Rewind the new ribbon onto the old spools.
- Replace the old spools with the new ribbon into the typewriter.
It was a slightly messy job due to handling the new ribbon with lots of ink on it. The ends of the ribbon need to be secured on tiny hooks on each of the spools. And then it needs to be tucked back in under all the clips that hold it in place. I wore a pair of medical style gloves and used a toothpick to help guide the ribbon. High tech stuff.
P.S. The typewriter is a 1950’s Groma Kolibri. You can read up about it here.
P.P.S. I watched an episode of WeCrashed whilst I was unwinding, unwinding and rewinding. I’m watching it because I’m a fan of Anne Hathaway and she’s good in it, as she always is.
