[Elecraft] OT: HexKey Enclosure Now Available

[Dave Van Wallaghen]

Hello all,

As Ken (K0PP) and Fred (K6DGW) have mentioned, I finally settled on a 
design for the HexKey enclosure and I am now accepting orders. I've 
updated my website and you can find info on all of my enclosures here: 
http://w8fgu.home.comcast.net/~w8fgu/enclosures.html

I opted to use acrylic as opposed to polycarbonate for this enclosure 
because of it's clear glass like appearance. My thought was that this 
would be more of a display case than something that would be used in the 
field. Although it is not as strong as polycarbonate, it is still five 
times stronger than glass. It really showcases the HexKey nicely and 
protects it from dust in the shack.

The pieces are all cut on my table saw and welded together by hand. I 
then use a propane torch to glaze over the cut edges to give all edges 
and corners a polished look and feel. I'm selling the cover and bottom 
separately as I have found some of my testers wanted just a cover 
without the bottom. The bottom does have six small plastic feet that 
hold it to the bench very well and only elevates the key about 3/16". If 
you prefer not to have a bottom, I can place small strips of the same 
type of plastic used for the feet on the bottom of the cover to prevent 
it from sliding around on the bench.

Currently, the cover is made of clear acrylic and the bottom is made 
from a smoke colored acrylic. The smoke colored acrylic is somewhat 
translucent, so if you desired an all smoke colored enclosure, I can 
make one for a few dollars more (the smoke colored acrylic is more 
expensive).

I am also taking custom key enclosure orders as well. I've built 
enclosures for the Bencher BY series of keys for a number of hams. I 
also made a custom round enclosure for the Bencher Mercury Key. I made 
it from a 5" diameter cast acrylic tube with a circular acrylic disk 
top. It also fits the HexKey as well if a round enclosure is preferred.

As Ken stated, he and his wife Rose will be at the Visalia show this 
week with demos of my enclosure line and Eric and Wayne have allowed me 
once again to display a few at the Dayton show in May. I will be working 
the booth all three days again this year and hope to meet many of you.

Please feel free to contact me through this email address for quotes on 
custom key enclosures or any questions about my products.

Thanks for the bandwidth.

73,
Dave W8FGU