Haven't had a thread on the Junker, and it is a very well-respected key. Also it is not too expensive, a safe buy given the high build quality, and fairly readily available. Prices are often lower on ebay.de but by the time you've shipped it from Germany there may not be much in it.
It's a short low-mass lever design, contacts at the front, quite conventional. The only striking things are the high build quality and the hard rubber strips which give a tiny bit of give in the handling. The base plate is heavy and it doesn't move.
WW2 versions have the DRP patent mark and engraved numbers on the adjusting dial. I am told they were used on wartime U-boats. Maybe a lot of them went to the bottom of the sea in Operation Deadlight.
The post war versions have no numbers on the dial and the DBGM patent mark. I currently have the silver version but there is also an olive drab model, which are presumably ex-German army. I know they have been used in maritime service and I guess there are a fair few in use in amateur shacks.
I believe it was still in production until fairly recently but I don't know if they are still being made.
I still prefer long lever type keys but the Junker is a nice key to use, and like a Leica camera or Feinwerkbau rifle it has that 'German engineering' cachet. For a reasonably priced but still high quality key, the Junker is a pretty good choice. The other contender in the price range is the Kent which is a very different design (heavy lever and ball bearings) and has a different feel.
It's a short low-mass lever design, contacts at the front, quite conventional. The only striking things are the high build quality and the hard rubber strips which give a tiny bit of give in the handling. The base plate is heavy and it doesn't move.
WW2 versions have the DRP patent mark and engraved numbers on the adjusting dial. I am told they were used on wartime U-boats. Maybe a lot of them went to the bottom of the sea in Operation Deadlight.
The post war versions have no numbers on the dial and the DBGM patent mark. I currently have the silver version but there is also an olive drab model, which are presumably ex-German army. I know they have been used in maritime service and I guess there are a fair few in use in amateur shacks.
I believe it was still in production until fairly recently but I don't know if they are still being made.
I still prefer long lever type keys but the Junker is a nice key to use, and like a Leica camera or Feinwerkbau rifle it has that 'German engineering' cachet. For a reasonably priced but still high quality key, the Junker is a pretty good choice. The other contender in the price range is the Kent which is a very different design (heavy lever and ball bearings) and has a different feel.
