Olympia SG1 Standard Typewriter Clean, Oil, and Adjust

Over the weekend I stripped down my 1956 Olympia SG1 and cleaned all the body panels thoroughly. I had taken out all the old foam, but I also removed the remaining loosened felt pieces.

I flushed the internals out with lacquer thinner and blew everything out with the air compressor the following day. I replaced the rubber body bushings and replaced two missing washers on the feet. Then I put everything back together making the appropriate adjustments as I went.

Remaining servicing

Sometime in the near future I still need to replace the feet (they’re reasonably passable), the platen (rock hard), and the felt/foam. I’ll polish up the keys, chrome, and brights. I still need to polish up the keylevers and typebars which I decided not to remove and put through an ultrasonic cleaner.

It still needs a replacement set screw for the tab clear lever on the right hand side. I’ll also eventually need to replace the underlying metal connection on the right hand side card guide—it’s missing the connecting pin and part of the left metal arm. I’ve remediated most of the minimal rust, but there are a few remaining internal blemishes that could be polished up (low priority). I’ll also need to weld back on the curved, flat “spring” on the left end of the bottom of the paper table that shore itself off at some point. The tabulator can also use a bit of additional love and attention.

For historical purposes, I left the tiniest hint of “brown nicotine stain” on the right side of the carriage where a smoker apparently kept their ash tray. That side of the machine almost appeared to be a chimney based on the discoloration which was otherwise remediated.

Beyond this, it’s ready to be in the regular rotation, but will be my primary desk machine for the near future.