hello my name is Danny I'm with FGA products.com I'm going to show you how easy it is to change the spool ribbon in your manual typewriter for our demonstration we'll be using a 1949 smith-corona portable typewriter yours might look a little different depending on the make and model you have but all have the same basic components I'll begin by doing a run-through to identify the components and to show you how easy it is and I'll go back and do it again using tweezers showing the step-by-step process to begin open the dust cover to gain access to the area you'll need to work in once the dust covers raised you'll notice the two spools one on each side near the ribbon spools you should locate the two ribbon guides more on the right and one on the left in the center you'll also see the vibrator this stabilizes the ribbon where it's then struck by the slug transferring the ink to the page my preference is just to use my fingers if you don't want to get ink on your fingers you can always use tweezers you can see how easy it is again begin by opening the dust cover you can start with either side I'll begin on the Left first remove the ribbon from the ribbon guide by looking for the slot simply work one edge of the ribbon through the slot lift it out and do the same thing on the other side once you've removed it from the guides go to the vibrator we need to work it out of the vibrator guides this can usually be done with a simple down and up motion once the ribbon is free of the guides you can remove the spools from small cups by lifting the mount to reinstall your new ribbon it's basically just a reverse process you notice make sure the ribbon will be feeding from the top or the side nearest the platen begin by inserting the spools onto the spindles in each spool cup and pushing them down into place with the spool seated in the cups begin by inserting the ribbon through the slot in the ribbon guide on one side and then the other once the ribbons installed in the guides move to the vibrator holding the ribbon out on each side of the vibrator use a simple down and up motion again to reinstall it to its guys now with the ribbon in place you can check your work by just using your finger to spin the spool to take the slack out of it and also take note that the guide isn't there the ribbon isn't twisted you have a typewriter that uses colored ribbons level lever with different colored indicators in this case bringing on the dots if you have this feature fga products also offers these multicolored ribbons in black black and red and black and white if your typewriter happens to be a Remington it might use larger spindles in this case your new spools have an adapter or a knockout that you can simply use a pencil or pen to push out the insert this will accommodate the larger spindles thank you for watching our video we hope you found it helpful and we'll watch for the others in the future