Hi fellow CW buffs, I’m back with an update.
Remember the key I purchased some time ago that I noted “closely resembled” a Kent twin paddle iambic key? The contact arms on this particularly key were not at a 90-degree angle with the keying lever like on the modern Kent dual lever key; they were swept back toward the rear of the base.
The keying levers are also constructed differently on my key than the Kent keys; on the key I have, the contact arms (the arms that make contact with the contact posts) are attached to the keying lever with two screws; the screws sandwich the plastic paddle between each keying lever and the contact arms.
After wiring this apparent knock-off key and trying it, I found it as effective and easy to use as my Kent versions. And finally, a light bulb went off in my noggin.
Is it possible that this key isn’t a knock-off of the Kent iambic at all?! I have done some more searching and found proof the key is NOT a knock-off or a cheap repro, but an early version of the Kent TP-1 iambic key.
I’m not sure when of the year this key debuted, or the timeline of its evolution, but the photos prove that its heritage as an actual Kent product.
For what its worth, I think the modern Kent is a better setup than the early version, but the truth is that I can’t tell a nickel’s worth of difference between my early one and one of my later ones — they’re both excellent keys.
If you do some Google searches for Kent keys, you’ll find some of the same photos I did of the early version of the key.
At any rate, consider this mystery solved!
73