Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011 — Technically its Monday already, but to me its still Sunday night, so we won’t bicker about the date, ok? I have a couple of eBay beauties to prattle about! Be warned! XD
1936A T.R. McELROY MAC KEY STANDARD. This bug allegedly comes from a Maine estate sale, and as you can see in the photo, it has some sort of ungawdly weight attached to it. It is also missing the original damper assembly, which bolted to the raised post at the rear of the key. The damper assembly will be fairly easy to create and replace, though it won’t look look original. I’m concerned with the pendulum and the weight rod; the massive block of weight seems to have bent or pulled the spring steel downward.
None of the photos show that detail very clearly — while I don’t know that it was an obvious omission, it would almost seem to be. I’m sure I could have written him and requested better detailed photos if I had taken time to do so. The simple truth is that it didn’t matter — if the key was priced right I wanted it!
I was surprised how little attention it attracted.
It’s an 1936A, a later one at that. It has the aluminum nameplate (the 1934 through early 1936A’s were brass) and the old style cast brass levers and double hinge arrangement for the keying lever. As you see from the photo, the base is in decent shape; the key — with the exception of the missing damper — looks like it will clean up very well.
The serial number remains unknown; the key is not yet on Tom French’s Mac Key serial number list, but will be when I receive it. I have another 1936A Mac Key and I will pattern a replacement damper after the one on that key. I can probably find off-the-shelf brass or steel parts to do the job. I may need to replace or repair the mainspring too. I have brass enough for new weights, so that won’t be an issue.
I hate to see this key go from someone’s basement or attic and to a junk heap or get scrapped or parted out. With a little work, she can be put back on the air — a testimony to the longevity of Mac’s keys as they turn 75 years old!
K8FF PROOF-OF-CONCEPT KEY. This key may look familiar if you’ve poked around this website a while … I purchased one identical to this one back in March 2011.
The keys were proof-of-concept prototypes created by Wayne Smith, K8FF of Aurora, Ohio. Wayne is the designer of the key that is today known as the Vibroplex Code Warrior Jr., a QRP iambic paddle design that was first sold as a kit by the NorCal QRP association. After their run of paddles was sold, Vibroplex bought the rights to the key.
According to Wayne’s eBay listing at the time, he built three of these keys and finished them all alike. He kept one and put the other two on eBay. I immediately snagged one of the keys and someone else bought the other one by the next day.
My key is still in the box and hasn’t been used — partly due to the fact I’ve just never taken time to mess with the key. I consider it quite a collectible.
The fellow who owned the other one later placed it for sale on eBay. It was listed a couple different times, and I’m not sure, but I do not believe it sold … or it may have changed hands once. The key showed up for sale again on eBay a couple of weeks ago; I put a bid in on it, and the seller canceled that auction and relisted it with a higher minimum bid. I bid again this time and wound up winning the key! So now I’m the proud owner of both of the those prototype keys …. one day perhaps they’ll be collectible? Who knows! They are certainly an interesting bit of CW key history.
I don’t know that they keys will ever be supercollectible; but they’re certainly a nice custom-built representation of the keys built by Wayne; wonder if we’ll see more keys from Wayne??
VIBROPLEX IDEA. Here’s a suggestion that would build some “buzz” for Vibroplex and maybe build some excitement among customers and historians: Build a new vertical bug.
Actually, all you need to do is to buy the rights to the VizKey vertical bug. The key works pretty well, and all Vibroplex needs to do is to buy it and market it … add some chrome plating, and you can bring back the coveted “Wire Chief’s Key.” Just sayin’ …
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