Steel Lever Morse Telegraph Key

The American Steel Lever Morse telegraph key was a particularly popular form of key in the USA.

The design was introduced by American Morse key manufacturer J H Bunnell in 1881. As the name suggests it uses a steel lever and this is held between two bearings. Using a steel lever rather than a brass one, it overcame issues wear that were experienced with brass levers.

In terms of its construction, the steel lever Morse telegraph key consists of an oval metallic base ring which has two bearings on each of the flatter sides of the oval. The steel lever is held between the two bearings. and these have adjustments to take up any wear. There are also adjustments at end of the lever away from the operator to give the required gap. And there's another adjustment for the spring tension.

The particular Morse key used in this video probably dates from around the 1920s and it is mounted on a small board to give it stability, otherwise it would need to be fixed to the telegraph operating table.

This particular telegraph key has the words Telegraph Key and AT&T Co in the top end of the main oval base ring for the key. Some other examples of this type of key are known to have the words Western Electric on some piece parts and therefore were probably made by that company for AT & T. It's quite possible this one could also have been made by them.

It's construction means that the key is relatively light and this was ideal for American telegraph operators as they were often itinerant and took their own telegraph keys with them

More information about Morse telegraph keys and their development: https://www.electronics-notes.com/art...

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