This $10 Silver-Reed Electric 8700 Typewriter Almost Drove Me Crazy!

I found this Silver-Reed Electric 8700, from 1978, at a local thrift store and thought I'd give it a try. I bought it before my Selectric (which you can see here:    • IBM Selectric: My Son and I Fix Up His Fav...  ) and I hadn't had an electric typewriter before. I knew it basically worked so I thought it would be easy, but tracking down the right belt was harder than you'd think, leading me to try some strange ideas. Parts: West Coast Belts: https://westcoastbelts.com/ I'd recommend talking to them before ordering a belt for your typewriter, check dimensions first. They were very helpful once I reached out to them when the original belt I ordered was clearly too small for the load. My IBM Selectric:    • IBM Selectric: My Son and I Fix Up His Fav...   Just My Typewriter:    / @justmytypewriter