Well, I can’t speak for absolutely everyone, but I’d keep the wood as it is. Maybe just a light rub over with wax polish - it’s the same then as was handled by it’s first operator a hundred years (or so) ago, which is a nice thought!
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You’ve got that thing looking great! I’d leave the wood alone, too. It looks just
fine. Glad you were able to get it all apart without having to ruin any of the parts.
It’s going to be great. I made the mistake of painting the wood on one of my old
signal relays and wish I hadn’t done it.
K6YK
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Thanks chaps! Bit of elbow grease and lemon juice saved the day!
I am thinking for the under side, you can get some cuttable adhesive rubber mat stuff. I might cut to side and then fill the two empty mount holes with brass Chicago screws?
Does the wood just need a squirt of Pledge or maybe some beeswax?
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…great job Ian, I would leave the wood as is. Well done. 
Geoff vk3sq
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It looks like the original 3 terminals were set up to use both the front and rear contacts, plus the center common. I’m not sure how that was used for telegraph, but for the radio use the rear contact would mute the receiver when it opened, then the front contact keyed the transmitter when it closed. (All before the days of transceivers, of course.)
For the key knob, you can insert a threaded rod into the bottom of the knob, cut it off, then screw it down into the lever arm from the top.
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That’s the plan I have. I think Lidl might have a box of screws I could use. Get the Dremel out. Vice the screw. Lop its head off.
Job’s a good ‘un. 
I think I worked out the last part. The spring should hook on to a thin nail under the board and the top part of the spring hooks on to the thread of the bolt? A thumb wheel should hold the position in place.
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Yes - I think a couple of mm at the end of the bolt would filed down to form a narrow strip, and then a small hole drilled through for the spring to hook through.
Where the bolt fits through the bar, it is filed square (to fit loosely in the square hole). This stops it rotating as you adjust the tension by twiddling the knurled nut.
In the link you posted higher up the thread to an image of a similar key, zooming in, this is all just about visible.
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Ah brilliant thanks Adrian, I wasn’t far off the mark then.
I literally cannot wait to (hopefully) hear this thing make dits and dahs. Who knows when it was last in service?
Makes me wonder as well, if it was a BPO key or here in Ireland maybe used in the GPO for messaging, what kind of messages passed through it over the last 100 or so years?
If Morse keys could talk eh? (Yes I know they can but you know what I mean!) The stories that this key, might be able to tell…
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Not far off now!
I popped in to Lidl for a pint of milk and walked out with a pint of milk, a plasma cutter, an inflatable kayak, a chainsaw and ended up buying these unnecessary add-ons too:
Also found a door knob for €2.99. 40mm so it looks a little out of place. The Navy knob on El Rey fits but you can’t fasten it to the headless screw tight enough due to the ridge under the knob that aligns with the brass bar.
This will do for now though until I find a better suiting knob. 
Also I added two brass ring connectors to the terminals, ready for wiring to a stereo cable. I think the brass just adds a bit more to the aesthetics over a bog standard ring crimp connector.
Just waiting on a box of assorted springs to arrive then I’ll tackle that part. Need to find a brass carriage screw too, or one i can file down. No idea if I can get a drill bit small enough for my Dremel to put a hole through it for the screw. Might need to improvise!
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@EI3LH Not sure we yet have a ‘SOTA Innovator of the Month’ Award (cf. Football Manager of the Month) but you seem to be making the case 
73 Dave
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Haha thanks (I think 
). Feel bad for totally derailing the original thread though. Apologies to all.
Even with the spring and bolt not fitted, I should hopefully be able to test if it makes dits and dahs later when the stereo cables I ordered arrive. I bought 6 of them. The rest I’m going to use for a revision of my push button Morse key I made recently.
Not seen a plasma cutter in Lidl. Yet. However, my wife has come back from Aldi with a cordless electric chainsaw and an inflatable paddle-board in the not too distant past. Not both at the same time, though… 
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A great compliment to a loaf of bread and a bag of Fun Size apples. 
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I bought these two handy items a couple of years ago
I think I ate one of the bananas on a SOTA summit later……just to keep the thread relevant 
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Dear SOTA Reflector Ladies, Gentlemen and SOTA Hunds on Summits.
This afternoon, my little Morse key, that might/might not have been made in 1920, 105 years ago, by A. Frank’s of Deansgate, Manchester, UK, was brought back to life and uttered it’s first words in goodness knows how long.
I ran a quick test by literally laying the stereo cable on to the ring terminals I added and set the Elecraft KX2 to ‘Hand’ mode for keying.
Here are the results (please excuse the dubious heavy breathing, I was holding my breath hoping the key would work!). Oh, and I gave the wood a quick polish with some wax too. Makes it look extra snazzy!
[REMOVED BODGED UP LINK]
Now I know it works, I can button it all up and take it out portable with me!
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“This is a private video. Please sign in to verify that you may see it.”
The clue is weak in this one Obi-Wan.
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That’s odd. Should work. 
EDIT: Looks like Alphabet set it to Private by default. Ah well, fixed now (hopefully).
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Very nice! I like it. I like just about anything to do with CW.
A comment earlier was made about the second contact at the opposite end of the lever.
I never thought of using it for muting the receiver. That’s an interesting idea. But in telegraph service, there were many “polar” circuits which work much better than “neutral” circuits. In that case, the telegraph line would connect to the pivot point, positive voltage to one of the contacts and negative voltage to the other one. There is always current on the line, negative for “mark” and positive for “space”. There is no time when the line is open. When using a polar relay at the receiving end of the line the current can be quite low and still work very well.
That has nothing to do with ham radio! But that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it…
K6YK
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Now, someone needs to teach him how to press down on the knob. Thumb along one side, pointing finger on top, middle finger along the other side.
Elliott, K6EL
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