I was wondering this morning how cheaply you could make a Morse Key after all its only making a contact. So I wondered what I had home that might be easily adapted to make a key. I thought about lollypop sticks at first and then gazing through the window I spotted my station commanders pegs on the washing line and thought “hey they look a bit like a key”. So I pinched one, drilled a few holes, attached two wires, and five minutes later I had a wonky peg key. But would it work? Well yes it does, the spring is a bit hard but hey it proved you can make a straight key in only a few minutes and for only a few pennies.
To make one Pull the peg apart and Screw one half to a piece of wood, one screw through the fat end in the gap and another on the thin end with a wire attached under the peg, this is one of the contacts. Then simply put a nut and bolt thorough the fat end to form one adjuster and another through the thin end to make the gap adjuster, attach a wire to this bolt. Reassemble the peg with the spring, attach a plug to connect to the radio and adjust the gap. Simple, cheap and it works to a fashion.