One of my much-anticipated Vibroplex telegraph keys arrived in today's mail — in fact, I had to get dressed to meet the mailman at the door.
I was excited to see it come, though I have 4 others enroute here, so I wasn't sure which one this was.
As I opened the box, I knew this one was an older one — ah, the one with the great base!
Prior to 1939 or so, Vibroplex's standard base for the Original telegraph key was “black japanned” finish — a finish that appeared to be like a high quality black japanese lacquer finish. Black japanned finishes are actually made not from lacquer but from a mixture of solvents and asphaltum, a mineral mined here in the U.S.
Anyway, as I opened the box, I suddenly was very concerned. The seller has wrapped the bug in bubblewrap, then padded it with wads of newspaper. ARRGH! How piss poor can you get with packing?
And as I suspected, the box took at least one hard hit, bending the keying lever and shattering the finger knob. It didn't break the thumb lever, just the knob. I recovered all the pieces and immediately took photos of the damage. I then e-mailed the seller, requesting an adjustment on my purchase due to the damage. A new knob is only $5, and I will probably go ahead and order one anyway.
The feet on this bug were wide appeared to be melted and deteriorating. On closer inspection, I realized they were simply suction cup feet that had deteriorated and had no more suction power.They were fairly rotten too. The bug had set on the screws for the legs, and worn the slots down on the heads, making it hard to back the screws out. I wound up ripping off the old rubber and then removing the screws.
The bug looked good, really. I has 85 percent of the original gold pinstriping, making it the best condition bug base in my collection. I went ahead tonight and disassembled the key and cleaned and polished it.
It looks very good now. It's back together, and looks mighty good. The frame has some plating loss, showing the copper underneath. The damper is perfect. The weight is a non-stock item, slightly larger than a standard single Vibroplex weight.
The only thing I wish I could do is to polish the base more. I used some Flitz to polish it and it worked well, but did remove slight amounts of the gold pinstriping.
The metal ID tag looked excellent without polishing. The original plate has some sort of clear coat on it, and it wasn't intended to be a bright finish, so I purposely didn't shine it. I didn't want to take the red paint off the bug logo, either.
I have 2 or 3 more bugs to come, including a 1951 Presentation model; a 1945 Vibroplex WW2 Lightning Bug Deluxe; and a 1930 Lightning Bug with black japanned base.
I've got to check some of my other bugs for needed parts, and then I'll add them to my order next week. I want to also check on availability of the 100th anniversary Vibroplex Original which is supposed to be like a “weathered” black japanned base.
Gotta run for now. G'nite and 73.