The 1922 Vibroplex Original I mentioned a couple of posts ago seems to be hanging around my operating position. I've disassembled the key and cleaned and polished the metal parts, and while worn through to the base metal in spots (brass), they parts look pretty good.
The base of this key is nothing short of a miraculous if I had “before” and “after” photos. I don't know what kind of grime was on this key, a hot soaking in Dawn dish detergent didn't phase it, and direct attacks with 409 cleaner really didn't do much. This grime reminded me of the baked on oily grime that you find on a very old motor.
I used a buffing wheel from my Dremel tool to lightly (and gradually) wear away the crud. Funny, the buffer didn't phase the old black paint, so there was no danger of buffing the paint off the key and burning through the finish.
The base has assorted chips, but the paint buffed out pretty nicely. Nice enough to leave original. The key only has one weight, and with my bug tamer, it operates just fine. I used this key to check into the KSN.
I'm not a pro at traffic handling, but the KSN net manager has asked me to pick up his reports via one of the section traffic nets. Since there's no phone net, that means one of the two CW nets.
I gave the 1922 key a good workout, and it peformed well.
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I've been putting together a list of assorted parts I need for my keys. I think I could buy a bunch, but I'll buy what I need for the group of keys I'm fooling with a present.
I've picked up another key on eBay tonight. This one was just too nice a deal to pass up (boy, have I said that before??).
This auction included the Vibroplex storage case the key was kept in, and the key was simply immaculate. The key was a late 1945 Vibroplex Original, and its condition showed it was well protected during its life. The key wasn't listed under the “keys” listing on eBay, which means that fewer people probably saw it. The quality of this key is such that I would sell the key alone for the purchase price. The case would bring an easy $50, partly because it has the original key for the lock.
Finding a key for the Vibroplex storage cases is a rather rare find these days. I only rarely ever see the key with the case, and this will be the first and only case I've owned with the key.
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I missed out on an excellent vintage key this afternoon. A rather hard to find Mac Key was up for auction, and I was prepared to snipe a winning bid (I wanted it badly!), and I made the fatal mistake of not syncrhonizing my system clock with the eBay clock. DRAT! I was a couple of seconds late with my bid. You just don't find any Mac Key that sells for less than $90 like this one did.
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That's all for this installment, I'll have fresh pics and updates later.