Odhner 32
Quite an interesting machine, for two reasons. The first is that it is a very large machine, with 10 x 20 x 11 capacity, and that it has quick clearing of the registers by means of a thumb push-button. The second is that in this particular machine, the clearing lever for the revolution counter stopped working, probably because some of the gears that translate the movement of the lever to a full rotation of the clearing shaft got stripped.So someone calculator-savvy enough to do something about it, took all of the gearbox out of the left end of the carriage, and installed a normal lever directly on the shaft. This also necessitated making a new end cover for the left end of the carriage, and in the process, he repainted the covers on the back of the carriage as well. All in all, a very interesting and absolutely functional repair.
I will not attempt to find a parts machine to bring this machine back to its original condition, becausr the repair is functional, well made, and contributes to the history of this particular machine.
The machine appeared on a french second-hand site two days before I had to be in Paris for work, and the seller lived in a Paris suburbs. I told him I'd pay more if he could drop off the machine at my hotel. He duly agreed. I sent him the address by email. He called me to say that he'd let me know when he'd drop by. Of course he called to say "I'll be there in 20 minutes" exactly at the moment when we were sitting down for dinner at a restaurant 10 minutes from the hotel. I told the waiter to bring the food in half an hour, and went back to the hotel. Then he called again to say that now he was in the 11th arrondissement, and where exactly was it ? My hotel was in the 9th arrondissement, so not very close - I walked there from the Gare du Nord though. He knew how to get to the Gare du Nord, and told me "10 minutes". Another call - he was now at the Gare du Nord, where was I? I told him the address again. He misunderstood, told me it wasn't close at all to where he was. I spelled out the street name for him. He said he'd ask a taxi driver where it was. As I wrote, I walked from the Gare du Nord to the hotel in a little over 5 minutes - it was maybe 5 or 600 meters away. He finally showed up 20 minutes later, by car.
I had been wondering how he'd get rid of the car, because there was no parking space anywhere, it was a single lane one way street, and you couldn't even park on the sidewalk because there were poles with chains between them everywhere - probably to stop people exactly from parking on the sidewalk - duh. The solution was very simple. He just stopped and got out of the car, blocking all the traffic while he got the machine out of the trunk and I paid him - to the sound of irate french cursing and much honking of horns. Easy as pie. Obviously, when I finally got back to the restaurant, my food was cold, but at least I got a good story and an interesting machine out of it ...
Right end of the carriage, as it should be
Left end of the carriage, all the missing guts, and the strange lever:
Complete carriage:
And finally a portrait of the machine:
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