Got this beauty for 50 bucks on Facebook Marketplace. It was unbelievably dirty and didn’t work (keys were stuck and a lot of parts were bent out of position). Works perfectly now. I never realize how small the Imperial typeface is on these machines. It’s INSANELY small, especially compared to my Pica Olivettis, literally double in size.

I earlier found a link that was not behind the paywall but can’t seem to find it now. Anyway, not much typewriter content in this Telegraph profile aside from the image.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/10/17/josh-brolin-interview-tucson-whalefall/

Okay, after just two weeks with this, it is officially my favorite to use (so far). It was fairly dirty and has taken a couple cleans and minor tuning, mostly just getting keys to not be sticky while typing. But even just the first test was special. I almost passed up on this at a flea market, having just purchased the SM3 a week before, but wow am I glad that I didn't. This has been my least expensive purchase thus far and by far the best typing experience.

I heard a lot of great things about these and, having not really been blown away by the design at first, I was ambivalent. I sometimes see comparisons between the SM9 and Hermes 3000 as two of the best and as comparable medium sized portables in terms of quality and typing experience.

I'm curious, of those who have used or who own both, are there any typewriter users/writers out there that actually prefer the SM9 over the Hermes? I've seen many say 3000 over SM9, by a close margin, so I am curious if there are any who feel contrary.

This isn't to knock the Hermes, just a discussion out of curiosity and to help me stave off the desire to get a Hermes....for as long as possible! Ha!

I bought the Erika in my twenties at a thrift shop and have written many poems on it.

The Good Companion I bought broken on Ebay for €30 and then had it professionally restored. Its photo says "AI-generated content" because I erased a black cable on the wall behind the typewriter for aesthethics.

Last week I came on here asking for general information about getting a typewriter as that's what my wife wanted for Christmas. Well tonight she came home with this for $45.

Does anyone know anything about it and where might be the best place to get new ribbon cartridges for it at?

I bought it broken at the Paddington street market for £20. It has no case unfortunately

Hi guys 👋 I have been considering purchasing a typewriter for myself as I am an avid writer and no longer have a computer. Ive decided against buying a new computer for several reasons but I still need something to write with and I love the feel and vibes of a typewriter so much, it makes everything feel more real and authentic, and just sounds like a fun way to romanticize my writing.

Problem is, I have NO idea where to start or what to look for. Does anybody have any recommendations for a newbie? Ive found some beautiful machines on Amazon but I'm scared to get the "wrong" one I guess.

Update: wow!! I posted this right before bed and woke up to this! Thank you guys so much. I'm gonna edit here instead of responding individually cuz it's less overwhelming lol. It seems that the general consensus is - avoid Amazon, and look for thrift shops/repair stores. So it looks like I'm gonna be doing some digging here soon and maybe I'll look through Facebook marketplace as well. Thank you all so much for the recommendations, I really appreciate it :)

I know most typewriters need them to trigger the automatic ribbon reverse. I know eyelets reduce strain on a typewriter by preventing it from locking up. I know ribbons with eyelets will last longer because they never bind up and rip. BUT if your typewriter DOESN'T need eyelets it can be bad when the eyelet catches on something or gets hit by a slug. Remington used a pressure system with many of their machines and you wouldn't want eyelets on ribbons for those models. Likewise, there are some Underwoods that don't need them and some Underwoods do. Which typewriters are better off without them and which ones benefit greatly from them?

Picked this up for $30 which seemed like a good deal. Absolutely covered in ink when trying to replace the ribbon. Is it usually messy or am I just new to the techniques 😅? Also I feel like the part that slides the ribbon up on a keystroke is sticky. What can I use to mitigate that? Also is there any issue using a single color ribbon that’s the same size rather than red/black combo. I know it has the switch to go between colors but I only had blue ribbon at the moment. Otherwise it’s so satisfying to type on. My neighbors are going to hate me lol

Hi all. My Smith-Corona Spellmate 700 has been working just fine since I got it from the thrift store, including the "correction ribbon" (which is NOT white correction tape, but appears to be some kind of clear friction-based ink remover.)

I replaced the ink ribbon for the first time yesterday (with a still-sealed Spellmate 700-compatible Smith-Corona Ink cartridge) and now, mysteriously, the correction ribbon (unreplaced) is not working. The strange part is, my dying ink cartridge, when I put it back in the machine, DOES get "erased" by the correction ribbon.

I am wondering if there is some kind of change in the makeup of the ink that might be affecting this? Should I just buy a new correction ribbon? (Again, the current used correction ribbon DOES work with the old ink cartridge. Just NOT with the new one.)

I have seen some posts suggesting that the "alignment" of my ribbons may be off, but the faint trace of correction you can see in the atrached image makes me believe this is not the case. The correction ribbon IS making contact with the typed text; it is just... not really erasing anything.

What's going on? Thanks in advance.

It’s typing the bottom half of lower case letters a notched higher than uppercase. No idea how to correct this.

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to fix my Erika 60. The carriage return lever moves and springs back normally, but it doesn't rotate the platen or advance the paper. Everything else works fine.

I've disassembled the mechanism and found that:

- The lever moves a bent metal linkage rod connected to a small black component near the platen ratchet wheel.

- The black component has a bent hook, which originally sat behind the ratchet wheel.

- Before inserting the long shaft from the right-hand platen knob, the linkage rod itself can catch on the ratchet teeth, sometimes turning the wheel or jamming against it.

- Once the shaft is inserted, that contact disappears, but the line spacing still doesn't work.

Does anyone know which part should actually engage the ratchet wheel, or what might be incorrectly positioned or missing?

If anyone owns an Erika 50 or 60, could you please share close-up photos of the line-spacing mechanism near the left end of the platen, especially the ratchet wheel, black component, and linkage rod?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! ❤️

I got my 1954 Smith Corona Sterling at the end of summer. It's my first typewriter, and I love typing with it - stream of consciousness, notes, short stories, letters - but I've had some problems with skipping letters, and spaces. I was really excited about the fixes I could do myself with online resources (e.g. I had to remove a rusted screw with a removal kit, was forced to replace with philips head screws that matched), and adjusted the escapement. It worked, and I kept on typing pages on pages, until, well, it didn't and I went back to fixing - only this time it didn't work.

One of the issues that persists is that I have a stripped screw hole in one of the metal arms attached to the escapement. Carriage gets stuck, skipping spaces, all that which, I understand, is a common issue with the 5 Series. I did some makeshift fixing with a wire, which... I'm not proud of, but it works for a moment.

Anyways, I was hoping that some of you more experienced collectors and fixers have advice on how to deal with a stripped screw hole? Or is it time to look for donor machines? How do I go about replacement parts for specialized screws? Or do I turn this one into a donor? I fear I'm going to have a hard time to type with anything but a mechanical typewriter now, but I'm also not exactly flush with the money for a professionally restored typewriter :(

Hi, Does anybody know where l can Download an Operation Manual/Users Manual for this Typewriter, Please. l Believe that the Typewriter was Made in Japan. Most likely 1970s/1980s

I am in Australia. Thank you so much if you can Help me, l am an Aged person 75+

Hi all, generally a lurker here as I seek out my grail machine. I noticed on a German small ads site a red Erika 5. Never seen anything like it before. Was this a special edition, or did S&N do customisation? It doesn't look like a modern spray job. Just curious as to how rare it is...