On a side note, while studying the 1962 Schramm Line Book today, I noticed that part of the technical listings for each model of typewriter included the exact width and diameter of the platens offered for the machine. I will be attempting to incorporate this valuable info into the TW-DB wherever I can, as one of the main problems with recovering old platens is getting the ground platen diameter exactly right. The current method involves measuring the old shrunken platen and guesstimating the original diameter from this measurement, which has led to some incorrect sizings from what I’ve heard on the grapevine. It’s so much better to know that the original platen diameter on your Hermes 3000 is supposed to be 31.5mm than to hazard a guess and find that 30mm is far too small, and 32mm is rather too snug.
That’s interesting information, as always. Maybe we’re on the way to making new ones for replacement in addition to refurbs.