If you will allow me to gender inanimate objects. And idolize cats, always the cats.
I think of typewriters as HANDSOME and PRETTY. This always runs through my mind looking at our cat Frank. I gush “Isn’t he sooo pretty!”
And handsome, such a handsome boy.
This L.C. Smith Standard 8 is a customer machine in for cleaning and the upper and lower case were way off. This is one HANDSOME typewriter. Stately, dude like, authoritative in its presence.
The little round shift pad under the type basket often is so old or quite missing that the shift is off. The cure is to replace that pad with new. In the numerous times I’ve replace this item the original is either leather or felt. Neither last. To get to the 3/8″ and 1/2″ nuts holding the lower case pad you remove the tabulator key levers. If you don’t get them out of the way, you are just a glutton for mental and physical anguish.
After installing the new pad and a minor adjustment, the type alignment is good. Such a handsome boy!