Tuesday, May 22, 2012 — I have photos of one of my new homebrew bugs I picked up recently from eBay, and I spent time the last couple of days working with the key here in the shack.
I’m not sure what to call this key, but Black Beauty comes to mind (for obvious reasons, lol). This key looks like a homebrewed version of the Vibroplex Champion, and for all intents and purposes, that’s true. But let’s take a closer look, shall we?
PIVOT FRAME. The pivot frame uses a triangular top piece similar to the Champion/Zephyr/Lightning Bug keys. However Black Beauty lacks the lower triangular piece as found on the Vibroplex version. On this key, the designer eliminated the need for the lower plate by setting the lower pivot so it threads into the base from below.
The posts that support the pivot frame on Beauty are square brass rather than the chrome tubes found on the Vibroplex keys. Note too in the photo there is only one adjustment on the left side of the key; on this key, there’s no tension adjustment. In fact, unlike the Vibroplex key that uses the a spring to “push” 
the keying lever back to rest, Black Beauty uses a spring to “pull” the lever back to its home position. I’m not sure how effective this is, since it really doesn’t give the user much of a way to adjust the key. You’re pretty much stuck with the tension the spring provides.
Interestingly, the top triangular plate is NOT metal! It is a very dense plastic material, the same as that found in the top part of the base (the top layer of the base is this same plastic material; there are three brass screws that secure the top later of the base to its bottom level — which is solid LEAD! This is one dense base! It has green felt on the lead base to pad it for use at the operating position.
The lead is soft, and has a couple of dings; the left front corner appears to have a chip in the lead base (see photo at right), as well as a some scratches elsewhere on the sides of the base. To remove or tighten the key’s top parts, you first must remove the top of the base from its lower part. It’s kind of a pain when you’re trying to tighten up a lose contact post.
To be technically correct, this key is closer to the Zephyr than the Champion, given the circuit closer found on this one. The circuit closer on this key is a knock-off of the circuit closer of the Vibroplex Original.
DAMPER. The designer didn’t directly copy the Vibroplex damper design for this key; it probably is more closely related to the design found on Speed-X bugs It seems to work just fine, though without the return spring, I really haven’t put this key through its bases.
The wheel shown in the photo of the damper is made of the same material as the base and the triangular “top” of the pivot frame.
I need to locate a small spring in order to truly put this key to work, though I’m considering what might happen if I try to put a tension spring on it using the method used on Speed-X keys. At least this would give some adjustment for the user if I tried that method. Might be worth a try, eh?
DOT CONTACT SPRING. One of the challenges facing someone who is homebrewing a bug is how to create the Vibroplex-style dot contact spring.
For proper operation, the dot contact spring must have some “give” in its operation; it cannot simple be a solidly mounted contact due to the vibratory movement of the keying lever. I don’t have a photo of the one created for Black Beauty, but it varies significantly from the Vibroplex design. The “u” shape of the spring is less than 3/8 of an inch long; the “u” is also pivoting pretty freely from the collar that mounts it to the vibrating rod. To operate this key, I expect to either repair the original or try to use a manufactured replacement.
All in all, this key appears to be a keeper … but then, which of them aren’t??
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