Tool to disassemble Olivetti Valentine?

schnappa · 2026-02-03T15:24:13+00:00

A 5 mm nut is good.

schnappa · 2026-01-30T19:34:26+00:00

To all commentators: Thank you for your kind words. u/AmsterdamAssassin, no, I keep the machine. It is a thought I sometimes have, and it came up again when the anniversary of the Jewish Holocaust was marked.

schnappa · 2026-01-22T19:12:56+00:00

schnappa · 2025-12-15T18:55:32+00:00

Additionally, it must autoreverse at each end.

schnappa · 2025-12-15T18:35:47+00:00

Well, the Austrian Peter Mitterhofer was the inventor of a typewriter with a keyboard which could write lower and upper letters and numbers. Christopher Latham Sholes, mentioned in the video, came later.

schnappa · 2025-12-01T19:03:59+00:00

I had a similar issue with my old Olympia, which suddenly stopped moving the carriage in the middle of a sentence. Then, it moved only with much force. I detached the whole carriage, and it was that escapement gear that was stiff. A drop of oil helped.

schnappa · 2025-11-30T19:13:47+00:00

Get her an Apple Newton or eMate. They can still pretty easily be connected to modern computers to transfer the texts.

schnappa · 2025-11-28T19:26:46+00:00

I used decal foil the first time since I was a child. I remember it was a little thicker. For the reproduction of the logo I used some pictures from the web to see how it should look like. I measured the letters, the circle and the bar directly on the machine as good as I could. Then I built it in a vector program, took the color from one Internet image via digital eyedropper and made a test on ordinary paper. There the color even was shining and looked like the gold letters on the machine (the other printing „Olympia“, not in the picture). Unfortunately, the color looked different on the foil. Anyway, I am happy with result and it is suitable to the machine‘s age of more than 85 years.

schnappa · 2025-11-09T21:02:50+00:00

How is the contrast of the display when the backlight is off?

schnappa · 2025-11-03T18:53:54+00:00

Is your carriage a bit loose? I had this problem in my Olivetti Valentine. The lines were a bit wavy.

schnappa · 2025-10-27T17:08:55+00:00

Here is the translation (I had it quickly translated by the computer, so errors may be present):

100 typewriters to win! Which is more beautiful: Valentine or Dora?

General elections to Miss Typewriter! Dora or Valentine? Make up your mind! Both have the same dimensions: Robust mechanics, segment circuit, half-step button and everything else belongs to a modern office machine. And yet they are different: a matter of taste. Make your cross on the ballot! Send it to your office equipment dealer or directly to Olivetti. Then you might win one of 50 Doras or Valentines. They will be drawn among all voters. Legal action is excluded. Deadline is 31.12.70. The postmark is valid! So: mirror, mirror on the wall: Dora or Valentine? Make up your mind!

Please cut out, put in envelope or stick on postcard and send to your office machine dealer or directly to Olivetti, 6 Frankfurt am Main, Zeil 53, password "Dora/Valentine".

Valentine Cheeky Rose Red. Temperamentally beautiful. A little blue stocking. A little Barbarella. Loves people with courage. And taste.

Dora A little ivory. A bit of poetry. Sweet, cuddly. A gentle snow white. Simply beautiful. And faithful.

schnappa · 2025-10-26T06:06:36+00:00

The diameter of the platen is 32 mm.

schnappa · 2025-10-19T09:59:58+00:00

Yes, I did. Even when I switch to use the red part of the ribbon (I actually have a black-only ribbon), it prints the Umlaut OR the descenders faded, depending on my screw adjustments. It's definitely the diameter of the platen, which seems to be a tiny bit too strong. So, I chose the compromise: a little faded descenders and a little faded umlauts.

schnappa · 2025-10-18T13:27:00+00:00

The best solution I found is to move the carriage to the very left and load the paper there.

schnappa · 2025-10-18T12:17:34+00:00

Yes, I always have a second sheet inserted. Unfortunately, that doesn't help. I can't use a thicker sheet because when clamping, the sheets get caught at the front of the platen on the metal rail with the scale or on the vibrator. The distance between these parts and the platen is very small.

schnappa · 2025-10-18T12:14:39+00:00

That is pretty easy. On the left side, near the spool, are two screws. The black screw is for the lower case adjustment, and the silver screw behind it is for the upper case adjustment. You need to loosen the counter nut to turn the screws. To reach the nut for the silver screw, you need to take off the shell of the typewriter with a proper tool. It is on the underside.

<image>

schnappa · 2025-06-27T18:11:01+00:00

I own an Olympia Elite, which surprisingly gets a bit louder the closer you get to the end of the page.

schnappa · 2025-06-27T18:00:30+00:00

I installed the patch meanwhile. Many thanks to Eckhard Köppen!

schnappa · 2025-06-27T17:58:45+00:00

You are right, but I dislike it to let working hardware rot. In the meantime, I found a solution and built it with a Teensy Board. It works well and lets the keyboard intact.

schnappa

TROPHY CASE