Shimming a writer

[Cammi Bowen]

I took my Stentura 8000 to the shop to be shimmed today. It had been shimmed before, but it felt like it had lost the shimming because the stroke depth felt deep to me. The repair guy says that it's already short, but he'll make it shorter for me. My question: Does shimming go away after a period of time?

[Phil Stillerman]

Cammi
I really don't know the answer to your question, but I've had my Flash stgenowriter re-shimmed once a year when I send it in for servicing because I too felt that the keystrokes were going deeper and deeper.

I've also read that shimming causes stacking

BTW I'm new here, and see your note was posted 12-28 sorry about the delay

[Cammi Bowen]

Hi, Phil!

Welcome to CSR Nation.

As you saw, I did get the machine shimmed back in December. We're getting to the end of February now and it still seems to be holding up.

I'm sure you're right about shimming causing stacking. I have occasions when I stack. It's mostly when I'm trying to get every word and the speed is too fast for me. I get kind of lazy about picking up my fingers then.

Cammi

[Phil Stillerman]

"It's mostly when I'm trying to get every word and the speed is too fast for me. I get kind of lazy about picking up my fingers then."

Now, that sounds like most of us. And thanks for the welcome.

[Cammi Bowen]

Hi, Trina,

I'm not sure of the exact way that they do it, but shimming is a way of shortening the strokes on the keys even further than on an unaltered writer. You don't have to press the keys as deeply to get the stroke to show up on paper or when writing realtime.

[Greta Duckett, CCR, RPR, CRR]

To shim a writer, the technician puts a peice of plastic/rubbery stuff on a little ledge on your writer. Open up the top of your writer and look inside, kind of under where the buttons on the writer are. There are two little arms that rest on that ledge, and they come from the front part of the writer. The shim is placed between the ledge and the arms, and that is what shortens the strokes.

Clear as mud?

[Gretchen]

I've had my writer "shimmed" with a piece of paper shoved into it since I was in school. One of my fellow students did it for me. To my knowledge, it's never had to be re-shimmed. The piece of folded up paper is still happily wedged in there.

[Dale]

Hi Cammi:
No,it shouldn't lose that shimmed dimension. A couple of thousandths of an inch "shim" reduces your stroke depth. We usually use a very thin brass or tin material, which is a bit softer than steel, but adequate for 10 years of constant use.
I fix machines, and turn them into hotrod, so to speak Much FUN!,,,,lol
Hope this helps you!
Dale

[Cammi Bowen]

Hi, Dale!

Nice to meet you!

While we're on the subject of writers, especially shimmed writers, I'm finding that my number bar is rather hard to depress for certain numbers. My pinkie and ring fingers are the weakest. Is this just the way it is with shimmed writers or should I attempt to tweak the numbers using the allen wrench so that it doesn't take as much effort to get a number to show up on paper or register when writing realtime?

Cammi

[Dale]

Hi Cammi:
Like your grandfather's watch, a cleaning and oiling is essential from time to t ime. If its only one or two numbers, I would suggest an inspection under magnification to see whats going on with the mechanical action. Anything, I mean ANYTHING can be changed on the machine,, thankfully, most of the action on our Stentura machines is mechanical, NOT electronic, which means that guys like me can make them faster, leaner, and smoother.
Hope this helps you, let me know if you need my assistance.
have a great weekend
Dale

[Kathy]

Great topic, guys! All new info. to me, and I've had my Stentura 8000 since -- well, since 8000 was the model they were producing, and I've never heard of shimming a machine. Where's my honey-do list?

And, Cammi, my number 8 has been adjusted until I just about can't adjust it any more, whichever way that adjustment goes, and it still only shows up about half the time. As is often the case, I never even considered it could be the fault of anything or anyone but me.

Thanks for sharing and enlightening some of us who, I guess, live in the dark!

Kathy

[Mary Ann Payonk]

I switch between writing on two machines, a double-shimmed Stentura 6000 LX and a double-shimmed Stylus. between the two, the Stylus has the better touch, but I have issues with the company. I do believe shimming increases stacking, and double-shimming doubly so ... but if you're a calm writer with a light touch, NOT a pounder, shimming may be for you, even double-shimming. FWIW, "pounders" may break their keyboard if they pound on a shimmed machine, so that's why I encourage only reporters with a light touch to consider shimming a machine. Just me, but I'd never attempt to do anything to my writer except adjust the touch and tension. My machines have been shimmed free of charge along with tune-ups. It's not a huge adjustment, but still something I feel best left to the pros.

M.A.