Sunday, July 8, 2012, 11:45 a.m. — As promised in my last entry, I have a rather “different” homebrew key to share with you today.
I haven’t been able to come up with a name for this key other than “Pilvot,” in honor of my Freshman high school math teacher who pronounced “pivot” as “pilvot.” But either way, this key is a dandy!
The base is the longest one of any bug I’ve seen 8 inches long, 3 inches wide. Most bugs are usually about 6 inches long. As you can see from the photos, there’s good reason for the extra length!
As you can see in the photos (particularly if you enlarge them), the key uses Vibroplex adjustment screws and lock nuts. I’m assuming the guy who designed the key decided not to reinvent the wheel; he also used the Vibroplex contact screws, which was a wise move.
The damper is similar in design to the Speed-X one, and it is simple, relatively quiet and effective. The keying lever is what makes this key so unusual. The keying lever sits upon a large post; I have not disassembled the lever to see if a bearing is used or not. The dash lever is hinged at a point further behind the pivot point, and the main spring and weight rod are further back yet. If you put this key next to a standard Vibroplex, you can see how the pivot and keying lever design really required the extra 2 inches in length to accomodate all the parts that needed 
to be there. The key came without weights, but I recently purchased a variety pack of nameless weights that I used on this key.
Pilvot is a very fast key. Even with the 3 weights of varying sizes, she clicked along at 20-plus per minute. One of the surprises I encountered while operating the key were the finger pieces. Even before the key arrived at my QTH, I anticipated replacing the finger pieces. If you note in the photos, the finger pieces are not mounted flush against the keying lever, there are nuts used as spacers that increase the seperation of the two homebrew finger pieces. But you know what? The spacing of the finger pieces feels perfect! When I first grabbed the business end of the key, despite my low expectations, the finger pieces were spaced perfectly. The space is close to the standard finger and thumb piece spacing on a standard vibroplex; all I can say is that the key has a very solid feel. Other bugs I own use dual paddles rather than a paddle and a knob, but this key has achieved an operating “touch” that no other dual-paddle bug has achieved. Again, a nice surprise.
I don’t know the age of the key. It has a solid steel base. From the pin in the base (visible above), the key either had or was designed to have a circuit closer. The Vibroplex contact screws, etc., look chrome plated, indicating they are post World War II. My thinking is that perhaps a previous owner replaced the original ones with Vibroplex hardware.
The pin in the base near the front (as “stop” pin for the circuit closer) is a featuee found on the earliest Vibroplex keys and some other manufacturers, all of which were well before World War II (unless there are others I don’t know about). At any rate, my best guess (emphasis on guess) is 1930s for this key, but could be as late at the 1950s.
The key works quite well, too. I had to clean the contacts and make a few adjustments, but it dialed right in. Due to the way the dash keying lever is hinged, the key requires a little more force to operate than a finely tuned Viborplex. This may be due in part to the lack of lubrication on the pivot shaft and the dash lever pivot. I would consider exploring those, but right now I’m pretty happy with the key’s performance. It’s an unusual key, but the designer did an excellent job.
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