Brown Brothers Restoration

The following pictures and comments illustrate how I have restored this paddle. Enjoy and hopefully you may gain some info that will help you in such a project. This paddle is most likely over 30 years old (this restoration project done in April 2005) and evidently was not ever cleaned during all this time.

There are some among us that would scream, shout and curse that some one would take an antique like this and restore it. BS. An Iambic Paddle or any other device used in the sending of Morse Code is just that a device and it should be kept in tip top shape and used. It is not for keeping in a cage. The beast is needing to run free and enjoy sending out messages to the ether. Would you take your iPhone or iPad and put it in a display case? I wouldn't think so. Use it or lose it. Bragging rights included.

Click on thumbnail to get a larger image.

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Photo 01 --- Brown Brothers BTL Iambic paddle in original shape as received

Photo 02 --- Brown Brothers BTL Iambic paddle in original shape as received

Photo 03 --- Finger pieces up close. Note grunge on chrome lever arms.

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Photo 04 --- Contact points at end of lever arms. Note years of dirt and grime on the chrome.

Photo 05 --- Brown Bros label in pretty sad shape.

Photo 06 --- Note silver oxide coating on the contacts. They still conduct well, but look ugly.

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Photo 07 --- Pivot adjustment screws.

Photo 08 --- Paddle pressure adjustment screw. Note condition of spring between arms.

Photo 09 --- Plastic finger pieces with minor damage on edges.

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Photo 10 --- Paint peeled from zinc casting of base.

Photo 11 --- Paint peeled and underlying defects shown in base.

Photo 12 --- Terminal strip for cable connections to keyer.

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Photo 13 --- Another view of the base.

Photo 14 --- Plastic finger pieces removed showing crud from years of use.

Photo 15 --- Mounting points on the lever arms for finger pieces.

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Photo 16 --- Tension screw and end that spring is attached to. Do not damage this in removal, cleaning, and reassembly of the paddle.

Photo 17 --- Model airplane prop wrench used for hex nut removal and tightening.

Photo 18 --- Pieces removed thus far in disassembly process.

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Photo 19 --- Spring for pressure adjustment on paddle. Note years of oxidation that has accumulated on the steel spring.

Photo 20 --- Lever arms removed from paddle.

Photo 21 --- Closeup photo of one arm showing severe bent pivot pin. This probably means the paddle was dropped at one time from a pretty good height onto a solid surface.

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Photo 22 --- Oxide coated contact on one of the lever arms.

Photo 23 --- Adjustable contact removed from paddle.

Photo 24 --- Closeup of adjustable contact.

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Photo 25 --- Yoke and base covered with grundge. Looks like bottom of a densily populated forest.

Photo 26 --- Adjustable contact on yoke. Again, a silver contact oxidized over many many years.

Photo 27 --- Contact strip from the bottom showing aging of solder flux residue.

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Photo 28 --- Two aluminum pivot buttons at bottom of yoke.

Photo 29 --- Yoke removed from base.

Photo 30 --- Yoke with center stop post removed.

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Photo 31 --- Bottom of yoke showing bottom of the two aluminum pivot buttons.

Photo 32 --- Bottom of yoke.

Photo 33 --- Yuky base after yoke removed.

At this time I removed the two aluminum pivot pieces in the bottom. I used a drill bit slightly smaller than the holes and using the blunt end of the bit and a RUBBER mallet, I carefully pushed the pieces out of the holes. They are friction fitted and hopefully you will find that they easily come out using this technique. I am not one to use a lot of force on delicate parts.

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Photo 34 --- Casting depression in bottom of base.

Photo 35 --- Bottom of base with everything removed.

Photo 36 --- Top of base with everything removed. Casting depression between mounting holes of yoke.

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Photo 37 --- Closeup of label.

Photo 38 --- Closeup of label.

Photo 39 --- Base after old paint removed and new primer coat added.

OK. Now let me start with some details. Photos 37 and 38 show the label after I took some warm soapy water and some Q-tips and cleaned the label and a small area around it. It does make a difference.

Now comes the most dangerous part of the restoration process. How to remove the label without destroying it. Now this is the way I did it and you do this at your own risk. I have done this several times and had no problem. I take a single edged razor blade (all safety precautions apply here) and very carefully remove the label. The glue used on the label is over 30 years old and it does stick very well, so I aim low and remove the paint with the label. I strongly recommend that you use no solvents in removing the label as the solvent will attack the silk screened paint on the label. Having done several Brown Bros. paddle restorations there are different labels. I'll photograph several and put them together and illustrate this.

The label for this paddle is made up of very thin aluminum and it will curve a little upon removal. I put it between two aluminum plates and put into a vice and held it flat for a few days while I was painting and cleaning the rest of the paddle.

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Photo 40 --- Yoke with primer paint applied.

Photo 41 --- Coat of test paint on a small aluminum plate.

Photo 42 --- Top of base after coat of Krylon black wrinkle.

If you are retentive, you can search high and low for a special primer coating paint for zinc metal. Check the auto parts places in their paint section or check with a body shop and ask if there is something special they recommend. I chose to use Krylon primer as I have not had any problems with it. After using paint stripper to remove the old black wrinkle you can use sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease to remove the casting defects if you want. I did get some filler material called Bondo from the auto supply store to fill in the large casting holes.

I use a electrical toaster oven in the garage to cure paint. After putting on a coat of primer (I do one side, cure it and then do the other side) I put the painted piece in the toaster oven at 150 degrees and cure it in 30 min intervals (the limit of the timer on my oven from Wally-World) over a period of several hours just to be safe. Do not use more that 150 degrees as the higher heat will cause most paints to discolor significantly. By using the toaster in the garage I do not subject a number of people to paint fumes in the house. Open windows in the garage to ventilate the fumes. I choose not to remain in the garage while baking the paint.

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Photo 43 --- Bottom side of base with black wrinkle paint. Note that you can still see the casting impressions, but the original was the same way.

Photo 44 --- Yoke mounted on base. Be sure you reinstall the center post before putting the yoke back on the base.

Photo 45 --- Another view.

The paint used is Krylon black wrinkle and the only place that I have been able to find it is at an auto supply house. Although Wally-World and Home Depot carry Krylon paint they usually do not have black wrinkle. I suggest you experiment a couple of times on a small piece of metal to find the texture that you want for your paddle. If you just do a thin layer of paint you can get some really fine textures like you see on old Heathkit green paint coatings and I think the old Hallicrafter black paint was also wrinkle finish also. I have not tried to overcoat the black with another color.

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Photo 46 --- Aluminum support points in bottom of yoke for the pivot pins in the levers of the paddle.

Photo 47 --- Left silver contact cleaned with Tarn-X and a q-tip.

Photo 48 --- Upper arm in photo cleaned with soapy water and q-tips.

The aluminum support buttons (as I call them) were cleaned using only a paper towel held flat on a desk top and the buttons vigorously rubbed on the towel surface. Did an excellent job. IMHO.

I cleaned all the silver contacts using Tarn-X (got it from True Value hardware, but you may find it in the cleaning section of most grocery stores) and q-tips using some elbow grease. I am sorry for the out of focus image on the contact and will redo it when I restore the next paddle.

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This is why I do this. Compare Photo 54 with Figure 06!!!! Note the silver contacts and the difference a day makes. And you are a complete and total idiot if you use a file or sandpaper on the contacts. Sorry, but this is a touchy point with me. Use only Tarn-X and a q-tip and you will never go wrong. Good as new, guaranteed.

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Photo 58 --- Spring after cleaning. Take the cap off the bottle and fill it 1/2 full of Tarn-X and let spring soak for about 2 mins and no longer. Then I took a very fine wire brush and brushed the crud off and this was the result. Gentle touch all the way. Look at Photo 56 above to see spring in position.

Photo 59 --- Red plastic finger pieces cleaned with warm soapy water then rinsed with warm water and dryed immediately. Looks a lot better than above. I could have used #400 sandpaper to remove some scratches on the edge and then rubbing compound to polish, but did not for this project.

Photo 60 --- Terminal strip cleaned with Tarn-X and a q-tip. Be sure to wash off any residuals with water and dry immediately.

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Photo 67 --- Label attached to base. This is how I reattached the label. I found at an Arts and Crafts store a can of Spray Adhesive. Mine has Tack 1000 Spray Adhesive on the label and I got it at Ben Franklin Crafts (now belly up in Prescott AZ) some time ago for $5. It goes a long way. You can spray one or both surfaces to be glued together. I chose to do just the back of the label for obvious reasons AND with only one surface with the sticky stuff they say you can easily remove the label later. This may be a plus for 10 or more years down the road.

If you watch the cable TV channels and probably PBS you'll see a traveling antique show. They say that if you refinish an antique piece of furniture you decrease its value. I can't say whether the same thing applies to ham radio equipment. I know that I personally have not sold any used equipment for more than I paid for it. I have personal feelings about just why one would do such a thing. This is a hobby and not a place to get rich by doing such things. I believe that to refinish a paddle is to increase its value, since it has been cosmetically improved and it is or should be in better working order and the function of a paddle is to be used, not sit in a glass case. That's why they were made. The only thing new on the paddle is the two wires from the terminal strip to the adjustable contact screws. I was lucky on this paddle that both the red finger pieces were not broken in some 30+ years of use.

If you do a restoration project like this, I hope this series of photos will give you some pointers and some ideas. There is more than one way to do this. Just use common sense and follow instructions on the can and bottles of fluids and pastes. Try a test area just in case. I redid this paddle and will do 3 more for people who were kind enough to let me restore them. I did this more than 7 years ago in Dallas but the digital camera technology was not as good as it is now and I wanted to document this in detail. Hopefully I have accomplished that goal. dit dit