Progress, at last …

My bargain basement Speed-X Model 500 bug took some additional cleaning, a little adjustment, and some Tarn-X on the silver dot and dash contacts, but it was all worth the effort. Not only does the key look nice, it plays very well too.

And interestingly, it seems to be nearly identical in its action with my other Speed-X T-bar bugs, models 500 and 501. I've not seen the wide range of out-of-the-box speeds that I've found with my Vibroplex bugs. I suspect this is because the Speed-X bugs were produced over a much shorter time frame, and the main spring (the section of thin spring steel that connects the keying lever with the weight adjustment rod) is longer than that found on Vibroplex keys. Just a theory, of course.

After being unable to unearth one of my rubber sanding blocks from my body shop days, I broke down and spent the $3 necessary to buy a new one. I'll probably trip over two of them tomorrow afternoon since I've bought another one.

Using 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper I block sanded — wet sanded — the base of the other Speed-X key I've been trying to get primered. The purpose of the primer is to promote adhesion and to also build up the surface coating high enough so I can level it with the sandpaper. The wet sanding process creates a very smooth, flat surface. The primer filled in all the minor chips and imperfections (actually I used a product called spot putty for the larger chips). The base looks super. If the weather holds out (no big changes in humidity) I'll spray the wrinkle finish.

I don't really know how well this wrinkle finish is going to work, so all my work on this thing may be for naught if I can't get it painted nicely. Drumroll please …

One thing all key manufacturers have in common is that none of them use a primer when they paint their keys. I'm not sure why, other than perhaps they didn't believe it necessary. The paint on all the keys I own seems to adhere pretty well, so maybe they were on to something.

Early Vibroplex bugs (the ones with the black bases) were painted with black lacquer and trimed in gold pinstriping (referred to back then as carriage striping). The japanned finish was more of a faux finish, as it was not technically finished in a japanning process, which involved a finish of many layers of varnish, each layer dried in an oven.

The early japanned finish on Vibroplex bugs is fairly thick. Because lacquer drys in such thin coats (which is why lacquer finishes require so many coats) I don't believe Vibroplex keys were japanned with lacquer. They probably used its 19th century industrial replacement, asphaltum paint, a durable, black finish used on cast iron tools, etc. There are home recipes of making this kind of paint, but there are firms that actually make the stuff for this purpose.

I don't expect to use it whever I repaint the base on a japanned bug. We'll see. I'm interested in making the keys look nice again, not a perfect period restoration. I don't have to cross that bridge yet, first I need to finish the Speed-X bug.

73 es CUL … de KY4Z SK … dit dit ….

1 Comment

  1. Regards for all your efforts that you have put in this. Very interesting information. “Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.” by Clementine Paddleford.

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