I am not a collector of keys however I have acquired a few, in the picture below
there are 4 - 8amp mk2 keys from the 1940's. There were about 100 different manufactures of these keys therefore they are readily available and cheap to buy
on e bay etc.

My next acquisitions were more modern, a Kent pump key and a Kent twin paddle --- the latter I have since converted to magnetic action.

Now my Home Brew keys, I became interested in the Cootie Key or Sideswiper as it is known. The simplicity appealed to my sense of minimalism and I use two. One is made from a Hacksaw Blade and the other a Touch Cootie with no moving parts----intrigued???

First, a little bit of history, the first cootie was manufactured by J.H.Bunnell & Co., ---
The Bunnell double speed key was patented in 1888 (16 years before the emergence of semi-automatic keys) and sold until the 1920's. Bunnell's sideswiper was operated using a horizontal motion of the hand and arm. It has two fixed contacts-- one left and one right. The circuit is closed by moving the lever to the right or left. A repeated rocking motion of the wrist and hand was used to send the dot and dash elements of The code.

For a further description of my keys please click on the link below:-

www.sideswipernet.org

I suppose the progression to a Bug was inevitable. Horace G Martin first produced these keys in 1905 and are still in production today, the model I purchased (from ebay) is the Vibroplex Lightening first introduced in 1927 and discontinued in 1979, my one dates from 1973.

My latest ebay success is a Les Logan Speedx Bug 515 model.
Les produced these keys between 1937 and 1947.

To celebrate my retirement I decided to buy a new twin paddle key and after much internet research I decide to purchase a Begali Magnatic Classic (with aluminium paddles).It is a magnificent key, look at the picture, I am sure you will agree!

Latest additions--

The Admiralty NATO key, Army Larkspur key and (below) Junkers.