From Padova to Firenze I came…my lovingly repaired Olivetti in my baggage. Now I am in Florence visiting with my sister and my niece and some friends–which has been super. We have seen some beautiful sights but most of all we have eaten well and have had a great visit with each other. We depart this city in a couple of days–they to America; me onto Venice. I feel like I am in a variation of a Cole Porter musical…
To sum up the typewriter repair…after disassembly, Alessio removed all the rubber pieces and then bathed the ornate and beautiful chassis in a gentle flow of aeronautic petrol mixed with a very fine lubricant. This removed all the dust, ink, paper and grime that had built up over the years. The high octane solution evaporated in the outside air, leaving behind the machine oil. Then he cleaned up the paper roller by attaching it to a lathe and sanding it gently with fine-grit sand paper. He cleaned and wiped down the external casing. After reassembly and insuring mechanical perfection, he adjusted the letter ‘a’ (it wasn’t striking well), attached a new ribbon, typed a test piece of paper, and gave the machine a final swipe with the cleaning cloth. Presto! Fini! There was more to it obviously. The whole repair process took about four hours. Grazie Alessio!
I will leave for Venice on Sunday, my bag filled with cheese….but that’s another story.
–JDCM
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