IK0IXI - KF1B's keys.
Homebrew Cheese Cutter Sideswiper.
The white marble base comes from an ordinary "cheese cutter" available for a few Euros from any supermarket. The brass hardware consists of spare parts for windows, which can be found in hardware shops and do-it-yourself stores. Each contact post contains two steel balls. All these parts are easily obtainable from the "Bricofer" hardware shop chain - just select the most appropriate parts. The lever assembly consists of two saw blades clipped together with a sliding aluminum clip, which is used to adjust the amount of flex.
After sketching the design, I drilled all the holes in the marble base using a high speed drill and a good quality drill bit. I then carefully inserted the brass parts into place and fixed them to the base. Finally, I mounted the saw blade and the twin blade assembly. The finger piece is from an old Katsumi paddle I had.
The last picture shows the sideswiper next to my homebrew HF transceiver. Home made rigs are not so common in Ham shacks these days. I take great pride in continuing the great tradition of homebrewing the equipment I use. In my shack, everything, from the key to the antenna and the equipment in between is home made - except the cables of course, HI. You can see some of my homebrew HF transceivers on my website. [IK0IXI = KF1B].
USSR EKM-3B Marine Key.
Really it was a key used in an electronic keyer used by Russian merchant navy in 70es. I found the ship callsign UOLW written on cover. I purchased that keyer years ago on Ebay but electronic circuit was damaged. Today I use it as Side Swiper and it seems to work very fine. [IK0IXI = KF1B].
