While restoring older bugs, I
have knurling tool, but trying to find
rope knurling dies is next to impossible. I was even looking
into
making such dies myself. I was about to try making the dies
when
the VA kept me in the U.S. for healthcare treatments, I never
got
back to that as I do not have that ability up here. I rarely
find the
rope knurling dies, used, and very expensive. (read-cost
prohibitive)
The screw nuts are the most
commonly lost parts, like at FD into
the grass never to be found again. 8^) Then replaced,
temporarily,
with a standard nut, then another knurled finger nut, rarely
with a
rope knurl. I have made those finger nuts with knurling dies I
had,
then nickel plated them, but wished I could have used a rope
knurl
die. I often looked for the nuts sold/available, but,
unfortunately,
never with rope knurling. B^(
When I cleaned old gear
including keys, I used warm water and
detergent, rinsed well with clear water, followed with alcohol
and
finished with drying in a small oven for that purpose and for
baking
new Japanning of a base, which takes several hours with an
original
Japanning recipe, a type of enamel like used on the old
automobiles.
The ones I did the japanning to
had badly damaged Japanning, bare
metal exposed. Not a sign of heavy use, but being poorly
stored and/or
abused.
73, Joe, K8JP/K5
I really enjoy using my old Vibroplex's OTA (usually 40M) and have several oldies dating back to 1914. It's a lot of fun to speculate on their history and I always like to think the original owners would be happy they're still making Morse.
I believe in carefully cleaning them so they don't stick to me and are functional , but not much beyond that. I'm working on a 1920 VIbroplex that was apparently owned by a heavy smoker. I'm removing the slimy sticky mess with warm water, cloths and mild soap. It'll be cleaner but always look like a 101 yr old instrument, which suits me. This slow cleaning gives me an opportunity to inspect the parts carefully.
One thing I've noticed is that there's often a variety of knurling on the various hardware. While I know that rope knurls were usually used, several of my older keys have a variety of rope, diamond and straight cut knurls on the hardware. I'm guessing that this mixture comes from owners making "field replacements" of missing pieces rather than Vibroplex mixing their hardware manufacture process (I'm also guessing they built, not bought their components) .
Does anyone know ? I suppose the supply of NIB century-old Vibroplexes is pretty low to check for sure, but it's fun to speculate.
dit dit
John K5MO
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-- Regards, Joe, K8JP/V31JP, Ronnie, Martin & Sidney Pontek 175 Diamond Loch Rd., Apt. 5 Gilmer, TX 75644-9374 U.S.A. 903-204-2318 (My TX cellular) Member FOC-1743 Feb 2001, QCWA-LM21894, OOTC-4607, A1OP, CFO 1055, SKCC-3171T, NAQCC-5798, Flying Pig-2819, FISTS-7625CC951, A1C-2299, SOC 1075, 10-10 22977, PG1915841, CW Rag chewers #21, Facebook: Joe Pontek