[Elecraft] Good time to buy Begali products

[Vic Rosenthal 4X6GP/K2VCO]

If it is like my Begali Pearl, the fingerpieces could be removed and 
turned upside down, swapping the right and left pieces so that the 
countersinking would be on the correct side. Worth a try, anyway.

On 26 Jan 2015 20:31, Gary Smith wrote:
> 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

-- 
73,
Vic, 4X6GP/K2VCO
Rehovot, Israel
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/