As the great homebrewing advocate Frank Harris, KOIYE, once put it in his remarkable free book: "Be The Complete Ham," no one can rightly call themselves a "real" ham until they’ve attempted to build some piece of their own equipment. The very act of homebrewing some station accessory or piece of radio gear divides the sheep from the goats - or the Amateur from the appliance user.  Sure, not all hams are so technically inclined, but this is a teaching hobby and if the hams of the early part of last century could be compelled to understand the inner workings of their radios and craft just to be granted a class A or B license then the hams of today can certainly endeavor to go that one extra step.

        The "Cootie" or side-swiper key, as mentioned in my associated article was one of first easy-to-build "alternative" key solutions for the telegraph operator of the late 19th century and later for the experimenting ham of the radio age.  The side-to-side motion was easier on the wrist and an operator could actually send faster with less work.  The literal backbone of this simple key relies on a springy piece of steel to act as the actuator arm, pivot bearings and retracting springs all in one.  All one had to do was affix the other end of the arm and provide some adjustable contacts that would be  available  on  both  the

INSTRUCTIONS:

1)     Prepare the hacksaw blade.  My goal for this project was to eliminate as much of any associated metal-working hazards as possible.  I do not recommend drilling or cutting into the hardened spring steel that the blade is made from unless you have access to a drill-press or metal-cutting tools.  We have an advantage!  There often happens to be a hole near each end of the hacksaw blade from which it's affixed to the hacksaw handle.  The hole happens to fit a #8 screw (typically,) if not, a little drilling with a metal bit to bore a larger hole may be needed - if you are careful and lock down the blade with a good metal clamp.

          Now we actually need to cut off a length of the existing blade to use for our key.  For this you should use a good pair of tin snips (metal cutting shears) to cut a piece of the blade which will include the hole on the opposite end from the cut.  3-1/2" to 4-1/2" will be plenty - or suit to your own design.  Important: Be sure to wear safety goggles and gloves when cutting the blade as the hardened steel is brittle and may produce flying shards.  As you know, there's some facet of physics that dictate a high probability of flight vector for metal shards towards the human eye!  If you don't have a pair of tin snips, then you could try holding the blade in a bench vice, and with a pair of vice-pliers, bend the blade near the cut line until the metal work-hardens and snaps apart.  Here, you should file down the sharp corners and teeth if you wish.  Also file or sand off any paint where the end with the hole is and also where the contacts will land to promote a clean electrical connection.

2)     Prepare the arm pivot assembly.  Sandwich the blade and the backs of two corner braces together, aligning the holes of the braces with that of the blade-end.  Attach fasteners as shown in the diagram.  The blade adds a small amount of clearance between the braces so build this part first before affixing to the base.  The blade should be perpendicular to the sides of the braces and eventually parallel to the surface of the base.  Once  you  tighten  the  fasteners

3)     Prepare the base.  There are no critical measurements to give you, but start off by dividing the center of your wooden base with a pencil line.  Place the pivot assembly near the back and align the blade to center along the pencil line.  Pencil in the inside of the brace's screw holes to mark where to pilot-drill for the wood screws that are often provided with corner braces.  The distance from the pivot to the contacts is not critical, so gauge where you would like the contact posts to sit, and for placement, sit the remaining corner braces in their positions with the backs (upward side) facing towards the center, space them out each from about 1/2" to 3/4" of distance from the center line.  Mark the pilot-holes on the base through the screw holes in the braces.  Don’t assemble the contact hardware just yet until the pivot/arm assembly is in place.

4)     Using the wood screws that are often supplied with a package of angle brackets,  attach the pivot assembly to its position, and then attach the braces for the contacts.

5)     Assemble the contact hardware.  The goal here is to have adjustable contact spacing that is also precise.  The stainless steel screws are perfect for good conductivity, but use your imagination on the arrangement.  In my example, I used a wing nut to serve as a hand-tightening lock nut to allow for easier adjustments on-the-fly.  However, it  is  not  perfect. [Just take a look at the many builder-sumitted examples found on this page for inspiration.]