[Elecraft] Good time to buy Begali products

[Gary Smith]

I have the Begali Sculpture which I recently bought. The prices on 
their web page are I think, a set price and are not changed as the 
Euro fluctuates. The exchange price the day you buy it is what you 
pay. I waited till the price hit a low and then bought.

I love the key itself but have a personal issue with it that will 
require I go back to my old jewelry making skills; it's the paddle's 
shape and how I hold my fingers when I key. The Sculpture paddles are 
designed to be used by those who touch the key with a fairly  
horizontal finger contact to the table. 

I'm a strings player for 50+ years and am used to holding a "guitar" 
pick not opposed, but with thumb forward and index curled behind so 
as to give equal pressure on the up-stroke & down-stroke while 
holding the pick equally with both digits. This affects how I contact 
the paddles themselves as my muscle memory is comfortable with that 
position and keying with my right hand, I contact the lower part of 
the Sculpture paddle perfectly well with my right index but the 
center of my thumb presses into the top of the left paddle as the 
paddles are beautifully made but asymmetrical with the top section 
being shorter than the bottom. After a while my thumb gets sore as 
it's the dead center of the thumb print that takes the pressure.

Not a problem with the paddle or design of the paddles, it's just 
what I've learned to do doesn't fit this particular paddle. One 
possibility would be for me to use two right sided paddles and turn 
one upside down for the thumb side but that would not look balanced. 
So what I'm thinking of doing is  making a set of paddles out of clay 
that reflect how my fingers actually contact the paddles and that 
will be a perfect contact for both the thumb and index finger. I'll 
then make a copy of this out of silver which is easy to cast and not 
all that expensive and use those instead. Another option would be to 
sculpt them out of wood but I think I'd get greater accuracy by 
making a mold of the exact contact and replicate that in metal. Not 
sure how to do that molding in plastic with what I have available.

for the vast majority, the way these paddles are shaped is truly 
perfect. The key itself is absolute perfection and a joy to use.

Gary
KA1J

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