Again this key is
along the lines of 99 and 104 which is a design I'm still playing with, here
you can see it completed, the base is actually three legs two of which
double as the bearing holders the centre leg is not touching the surface
being just a joining piece, and the front peg is holding an isolated single
pillar contact gap adjuster the main arm is running parallel to the support
arm the knob being directly over the rear leg, so it is always rock steady, it has a superb action owing
mainly to its 80 series dimensions and weight, there is over one and a half
pounds of brass in this key, also the cushioned feet give it that relaxed
effortless feel the sort of key you can send all day on, I have long thought that the basic Morse key
design in many of the classic keys is flawed, and probably only arrived at
by cost and sentiment, certainly not by performance, though I can quite
understand that no company would make a key like this one as the cost of the
brass would make it uneconomic for starters!!!!
One problem I have noticed is taking a photograph of a key with lots of
verticals in it, the lens distortion makes them look out of alignment here
it looks as if the front pillar is out of alignment with the main body but
it isn't (thought I'd mention that :) Postscript, later this key was
again up for sale on Ebay and I bought it, and again resold it after some
minor adjustments, on reflection this was one of the finest keys I've made,
it has an excellent action, and transformed the ugly 80 series looks into a
pleasing innovative modern design |