And now the last page the final strip down and clean up, here below you can see the Mahogany base, I buy these as blanks, one of my small concessions to DIY as I am NOT very good at woodworking so the following is basic in the extreme, all the metal work has been removed and I am sanding the block before staining it, Mahogany is an excellent wood, close grained and can be treated almost like metal!

And below you can see the stain being applied to bring out the grain in the wood, top done sides to go

Now dried and ready for the Varnish

And below you can see the wooden base hanging up to dry, I use old fashioned Yacht Varnish yes it is a bit gloopy and has other disadvantages but I like the tough high gloss finish

And whilst the varnish is drying on the base I have started the marathon polishing job, below you can see the major parts cleaned and polished and at this stage I have lacquered them with good old fashioned Rustins brass lacquer, up until recently I have not been to keen on lacquered brass but hey the vintage key makers did so here goes.

And below the remaining box of bits so now it is time to assemble it all and you can see Lola in her posh frock

So now the Key 141 project is over, It has taken 10 days at about three or four hours a day on average, and the material costs about £12 or $20  it has been fun and quite difficult remembering to take the pictures at the same time as the construction and trying to describe the procedures, If  I seemed to be talking down then apologies, pitching a project level is not easy. I could have polished it a bit more but I do find finishing a key a real challenge, having completed it to the point of testing it out I tend to lose interest, I hope you enjoyed reading it as I have enjoyed making it and if I have persuaded anyone to pick up some tools and have a go then it has been well worth the effort Ron Ayling G3YUH 15.10.08