I recently worked on a 1960 Royal Futura 800 and became familiar with what my research says is a common problem in Futuras: ribbon vibrator forks that flop open allowing the ribbon to migrate out of the ribbon vibrator while typing.

The source of the problem is a missing v-shaped spring, a tiny bit of wire that holds tension between the forks of the ribbon vibrator, keeping the ribbon in place.

I *think* (based on looking at photos in the Typewriter Database), Royal introduced the spring enhanced ribbon vibrator around 1956-57).

It makes changing a ribbon a little easier, but without the spring, the little arms of the ribbon vibrator go floppity-flop.

Here’s a video about the missing spring problem. In it, Ken K. theorizes that the factory forgot to insert the spring in some machines.

In the comments to this video, Duane from Phoenix Typewriter disagrees with this theory. It is unlikely that Futuras would leave the factory without springs given the extensive testing they’d undergo before they left the factory.

I agree with Duane. I think the little springs just fall out on their own very easily—especially when changing ribbons. Check out this post in the Facebook Antique Typewriter Maintenance group:

Anyhoo, I’m working on a 1960 Royal Futura 800, serial number 2A4315002. The owner of this Futura is a local typewriter enthusiast named Suzanne. She picked it up off of Facebook Marketplace. It is in mint minty mint-mint condition, as if it had never been used.

When I lift the plastic cover off, I am hit with New Typewriter Smell, a close cousin to New Car Smell.

This typewriter is so perfect and fresh off the assembly line, so it’s kind of a head scratcher that the case handle is missing:

I guess the original plastic handles were extremely delicate because so many Futura cases are missing their handles. Suzanne sent me a collection of screenshots that she grabbed from Typewriter Database and eBay of Futura cases with missing handles:

At the Antique Typewriter Maintenance group on Facebook, someone posted a very nice replacement:

Sadly, it looks like that handle at Brettuns Village is currently out of stock.

Back to that missing spring in the ribbon vibrator. There are a couple things you can do to keep the ribbon from falling out of the ribbon vibrator. Here is a video of Duane Jensen using a bending technique to keep the ribbon in the vibrator.

In addition, Duane Jensen has another fix in which he inserts a small coiled spring between the ears in back of the ribbon vibrator:

And here’s the video where Duane replaces the missing spring with a little coiled one. One thing I like about this video is how he accurately documents typewriter repair. Even simple repairs can take a while when you have to assemble, test, disassemble, reassemble, test, disassemble, etc:

Suzanne wanted to try inserting an original spring so she contacted Trevor from TB Writers Plus (https://www.tbwritersplus.com/) a typewriter sales, repair, and parts operation in Dayton, Ohio, and he sent her a replacement spring.

I got the spring and the Futura from Suzanne, but it was unclear to me how the spring fit into the ribbon vibrator. I decided to do some research on my 1966 Royal Safari parts machine. I dismantled the ribbon vibrator assembly to see how it all goes together.

FYI: taking off this type-guide piece is really hard—it’s really wedged in there. You have to pry it out with hooks and screwdrivers and try not to bend the ribbon vibrator while getting it out.

The ribbon vibrator mechanism on the 1966 Safari is very slightly different with one huge improvement: there are holes that the spring wire can go through instead of the spring just resting against open arms. It is unlikely that the spring wire could fall out of the 1966 Safari.

I decided that the Safari’s spring attachment was vastly superior to the Futura’s, so I inserted the Safari’s ribbon vibrator and spring assembly into the Futura. Using clamping hemostats and a drop of lubricant makes getting the cotter pin through the ribbon vibrator and vibrator arm a little easier:

I had to do a tiny bit of forming so that the Safari’s ribbon vibrator slid freely up and down the Futura’s type bar guide, but it’s typing really well now.

I am thinking that if I encounter this floppy ribbon vibrator issue again in a late 1950s or early 60s Royal, I would probably just scavenge a ribbon vibrator and spring assembly from a later Safari since the springs in those seem more permanently attached.

I got this 1966 Safari a long time ago from Fred D. It has been a generous parts machine. It has given

• its escapement plate to a 1948 Royal Arrow,
• its platen to a 1938 Royal De Luxe,
• a platen knob to a 1965 Royal Caravan
• its ribbon vibrator to this Royal Futura 800

The 1966 Royal Safari is full of good parts, and I am very grateful to the engineers at Royal Typewriter Company for sticking with a good design over the years. It’s rock solid except for the 1950s-early 60s spring-enabled ribbon vibrator—which they figured out eventually.