Sunday, July 7, 2013 – Pardon my theft of Chuckles the Clown’s famous quote (from the Mary Tyler Moore Show), but I once read that “Plagiarism is the highest form of flattery” … or something like that.
I’ve been cleaning up a Speed-X 501 key that I unearthed in my shack last week. It features the chrome base, and is a Les Logan Speed-X. It has one unusual feature that I’ve not seen before (or realized what it was) — the dot and dash contact adjustment screws have removable contact points. The contact points are mounted don a collar that threads onto the end of the adjustment screw. It’s a pretty neat way to do it. None of the other Les Logan Speed-X keys have this; the screws are not drilled to accept a pressed-in contact point, so I’m left wondering if this was a factory feature or aftermarket?
The key isn’t quite as clean as I had hoped it might be. There’s some minor rust on the base, and the pivot frame plating was either very thin when it was new, or just wasn’t done very well. Overall however, the key is complete and has all its parts. It also has something other Speed-X 501s do not have.
It is very well done, but this key has a wire braid that attaches from the pivot frame to the keying lever. While Vibroplex did this on the keys with jeweled movements, it isn’t necessary for keys with plain steel pivot points. The original owner either had continuity issues or wanted to be certain none would arise.
I disassembled the key, removed the pivot frame, and cleaned the parts; I didn’t go nuts with the cleaning, as it isn’t going to be mint no matter how much cleaning I do! I just wanted it to look nice and play well.
My test with my rig indicates I need to clean the dot contacts up better. Still scratchy. The dash post on this key is rusty and worn; apparently the owner held the key there with his left hand, and that wore the plating away there. I have a couple of parts keys in a box, I might find a better looking post for that one. The rest of the key cleaned up pretty well.
The cleanup won’t be complete until I get it playing to my satisfaction. I’ll work on it later tonight. The screw-on dot and dash contacts may be something to more closely examine.
73 es CUL de KY4Z … dit dit