[CW] Alberto Frattini professional bug

[John Barnwell]

To all you fine CW operators, thank you for your responses to my question. I wanted to apologize if I may have come across as a "KEY SNOB", when I said that I strive to place the finest in "my stable". I learned the code using a J-38 just as many of you did, and it worked just fine. At that time though, I gave no consideration as to what something better would be, and the J-38 was a tool to accomplish my task. Sometime later a fellow operator loaned me his Vibroplex bug, and I clumsily learned how to adjust and use it proficiently. I thought the Vibroplex was really something at that time, and had no concept regarding just what kind of history surrounded that old Vibroplex. A few years later I was exposed to a Brown Bros. CTL paddle, CW just rolled off this little baby! Then I retired and for the most part gave up the idea of ever sending CW again. Time marches
 one though, and eventually I got the notion to get my amateur license.....for the sake of code of course. This is when I began to discover all the marvelous keys being made by enthusiast the world over. Most of the guys who build these, look at it as a "labor of love", that is they really put so many hours into building each one, that any thought of making a living at it or making a sizable profit is an afterthought. Consider the machinery and tools needed to manufacturer a key like Alberto Frattini's professional bug. A CNC machine can easily run into the thousands of dollars, not to mention all of the hand tools, sourcing out all the materials, etc, etc. I don't know how many bugs or keys Mr. Frattini has made over time, but I seriously doubt he is rolling in dough for his efforts. If building a key of this caliber was easy, everyone would be doing it, but it's not easy. Conceiving the idea and carrying it through to a beautiful working product.....It
 is a labor of love. I have pondered the idea of building my own key, but the reality of what it would really take to pull it off in such a professional manner stops me dead in my tracks. Here is one last thing to ponder. Is a CW key a tool or is it really more in line with a musical instrument? Look at the Mercury paddle, that key has virtually immortalized the man who designed and built it. This is why I covet these little masterpieces and see them as very worthwhile investments. Warm regards, John