Replacement Typewriter Feet for Olympia SM9 / SM8 / SM7 (set of 4) Round & Rect.

Description: These are a set of four replacement feet for the beloved Olympia SM7, SM8, and SM9 typewriter. It took me over a year of making typewriter feet to realize that the lovely feet on these seemingly pristine later-model machines were hard as rocks and had zero grip! I really adore all my various Olympia typewriters, but like many other brands the design of the feet vary over the years and models. So, please be sure these feet are the correct style for your typewriter. As far as I can tell, there were two foot styles of these machines. Initially, they were rectangular, but at some point in 1969 they did an update in body style, and with that came new large round feet. Rectangular Feet. I offer these in two colors, Black and Gray. These are frustrating feet, not the German Engineering genius so evident in all other aspects of the machine--you must literally take the bottom frame off of the typewriter in order to access the metal tabs that must be bent upwards to free each foot (see associated picture). Frustrating, but it was easier than I thought, I did this on an SM7 and an SM9 in my collection. The SM9 required only removing the four bottom screws, while the SM7 required that as well as the back panel (4 tiny screws) and a horizontal bracket on top (2 screws). Note that I have another SM9 with round feet that screw in, so please check closely for compatibility. Installing the new feet is just the reverse of removing the old ones. Doing so, I quickly noticed that it was hard to push in the clips from below while trying to push down the tabs to lock the foot into place (they are really hard to bend!). So, I designed a little tool to solve this problem, and one is included free with your order. Once you put the clip in the new foot, and push the tabs through the bottom of the shell so the foot is in place, set the frame on a flat hard surface with the foot down--on top of the installation tool. The tool pushes the metal clip upwards when you push down on the frame, ensuring a tight fit while you push the metal tabs back down onto the inside of the frame. If you don't do this, the new foot may install loosely. I installed 8 new feet this way without incident, the tool really helps. Round Feet. I make these in Black only (but contact me if you have your heart set on gray). These are a really elegant, improved, and impressive foot design. They incorporate the best of all ideas I've yet seen. The lovely circular rings on the bottom provide the highest possible grip to hold your machine in place, and they look really great. They slide into a slot to offer some mechanical stability, but then you screw them in place. Not only is there a washer to hold the foot in place with the screw, but the screw fits through a cylindrical collar to guide it through the foot to the hole in the chassis where it must thread through. My only worry is that some of these collars may have been lost on some machines, or even disappear during foot replacement. So, I designed 3D printed collars just in case, and I am including a set of 4 collars with every order of round feet at no extra charge. These are easy to replace, the only tricky part being sliding the feet out and into the metal slot in the chassis, it's a tight fit. I used a channel lock pliers to remove the old ones, squeezing them to make narrow and escape through the opening. Installing the new ones I just did pushing and twisting by hand, perhaps hold off on installing the collar and washer until after it's in place, then just screw it in. I must apologize for the extra cost of these feet, they are rather huge, use a lot of expensive polymer, and one set takes 8 hours to make! I designed these to be nearly an identical replacement, but with the advantages of modern 3D printing technology we can engineer materials that were previously impossible. I printed with NinjaFlex TPU polymer (https://ninjatek.com/ninjaflex/), which is nearly indestructible (but a knife or scissors will cut it, just like rubber!), flexible, and pretty gripping on most surfaces. I can print these in Steel Gray or Midnight Black (see photos). Some people may prefer the original dull rubber look (and those are also likely being made and sold), but I actually think these are a superior look to rubber, and the glossy finish better matches the rest of the machine. I also think these will last far longer than natural rubber without compressing or falling apart. I designed these for my own typewriters as shown, and this is an ongoing experiment to see if it's worth my time to make some more for the community. Please ignore other's marketing claims that 3D printed feet have no grip, or that their feet are more "professional". Look at my reviews, these are beautiful and amazing typewriter feet being bought by collectors and dealers alike, I'm regularly told my feet are the best. Compatibility Info: Your responsibility, please don't order unless you checked! As far as I can tell, this should fit SM7, SM8, and SM9 machines from the 1960's so long as they look like my photos--rectangular (19.5mm x 40.6mm x 10.6mm) and mount with the metal clip/bracket as shown, or round (30mm x 21.4mm). On rectangular machines you must have your metal clips. The round machines require the cylindrical collar (but, you can use my supplied plastic ones) and screws. PS: Ebay's volume discount display is a bit confusing, each purchase is a SET OF FOUR feet, so picking "1" is one set of 4; "2" is 2 sets of 4 (8), etc. You get one set in one color only, plus the installation tool, everything else pictured such as typewriter and metal clips is NOT INCLUDED (you need to save your original clips!).

Price: 39 USD

Location: Leesburg, Virginia

End Time: 2023-09-26T03:41:39.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD