Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011 — Before I turn to something else this afternoon, I wanted to share a few pics of my latest bug, a Les Logan Speed-X Model 500. This is the key pictured in the previous entry but with a keying lever from a “donor” bug with an intact pivot pin.
The keying lever pictured in the previous entry had the bottom half of the pivot pin sheared off; the lever is just about mint in every other way. I decided to pull a “spare” for now to get the key up and working rather than pressing out the broken pin and fixing the original lever.
The completed key looks pretty darn good. One thing the flash really brought out are the four circular patterns on the top of the base of the key. I’m not exactly shy why they are there, but I can tell you that the pattern of the four circular “donuts” aren’t wear — they are the compression of the wrinkle finish. 
My theory is that the key bases were — a t some point prior to assembly — stacked on top of one another, perhaps complete to the point of having top parts on. The four circular patterns correspond perfectly to the four rubber feet on the bottom of the key, though they patterns are slightly shifted off center. It looks like another Speed-X bug base sat on top of this one when the paint wasn’t quite cured; the weight of the other key base (or bases) flattened slightly the texture of the wrinkle finish.
I haven’t cleaned the contacts on the lever or posts, but the thing keys pretty well as is. I have two other recent identical keys, but I think this one is the best of them all. I’m going to have to find room for some of my bugs; I only have cabinet space for 50 of them, and I have about that many more (actually more!) to find a home for.
I’m considering the bookshelves behind me as a new home for wayward keys. I can subdivide the shelves into 2 or 3 shelves that can store the keys. I would like to get them off the desktop (all but one) as well as the other table tops and shelves in the shack. In fact, I think I’ll measure one of the shelves now and then see how many I can divide that into.
I have stored my collection of ARRL handbooks and some of the earlier QST volumes on this bookcase, and I think its time to box up the handbooks and probably the QSTs. I don’t want to part with either, but I would rather have space for my keys; perhaps that way I can decide which to keep and which to part with.
EF JOHNSON SPEED-X AD. The last image shows a 1950s QST ad for the Speed-X 501 key as marketed by E.F. Johnson. I’ll have to look some more to see if I can find many Les Logan ads for Speed-X bugs, but my memory — if accurate — is that most images of Speed-X keys were in ads for distributors rather than the Les Logan company. I’ll have to say that of all the bugs built in the “image” of Vibroplex, the Speed-X 500/501 is one of my favorites. I love using the McElroy keys, but the Speed-X keys have a lighter touch and sleeker lines (wht the exception of the Super Stream Key, which is the sexiest bug of them all).
Enjoy!