Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018 — After my trip down Memory Lane in last entry, I thought I would post an update with my latest addition to my key collection.
If you follow eBay, you undoubtedly have seen a number of keys listed for auction from the estate of Tom French. I usually make it a point to follow these, simply because they were Tom’s. To that end, I was fortunate enough to have the winning bid on a 1938B left-handed McElroy Mac Key Deluxe.
As you can see in the photos, the left-handed key uses the same base as the right-handed key. The mounting bosses for the contact bar — located on the left side of the key — were apparently ground off prior to the application of the deluxe marbelite finish. However, the base has several extra holes in it. In the pictures, you may see that one of the original nameplate mounting holes (left side) is visible. One of the original holes for the terminal screw is also open and unused since the terminals were moved to the left side of the key.
As noted in Tom’s book about Ted McElroy and his keys, the left-handed conversions used contact posts for the dit and dah contacts. The originally cast mounting boss for the damper was left intact, and the damper was mounted with screws drilled on the other side of the rear of the base. Not the slickest conversion, but functional. Tom’s tag on the key notes the left-handed keys were “rare,” which is probably the case for all lefty keys.
I didn’t need another 1938B Mac Key Deluxe in my collection, but this is my first left handed key of any make in my collection, so yeah, I’m pleased its one of the rarer keys from Tom French’s collection.
Well, enough for this installment.
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