[Elecraft] Good time to buy Begali products

[Gary Smith]

Alas, the holes are countersunk which on this key aesthetically looks 
ideal. I'd need two right side keys for the one inverted, on the 
left, to play nice with my thumb. Again, this isn't a slight against 
anything with the key whatsoever, it's the way I touch the paddles 
that is unusual. But if I make sculpted paddles for my Sculpture, 
that sounds right. ;)

With this key and the K3, CW / RTTY really can't get much more fun to 
send.

Gary

> 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/
> 




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