http://www.ebay.com/itm/Typewriter-Key-Letters-Letter-W-Lot-of-60-authentic-vintage-antique-and-more-/281940379022?hash=item41a4f4c58e:g:cYEAAOSwG-1Wx7tq
60 letter W's. 60 machines. This must be one of the more prolific crappy jewelry makers.
Maybe in the future, when the machines turn on their human masters, they will seek justice against the keychoppers who mutilated their ancestors to make baubles from their remains.
 

Since I wrote this last post, I have seen closer the typewriters that have been "keychopped."  I have NEVER done this to a typewriter--EVER.  It was always plastic keys I've removed and transferred to another typewriter.  I only used a pair of needlenose pliers to remove the keys without damaging the levers, unlike those butchers with the bolt cutters.  As for the chrome or brass-lined glass top keys, there was one machine where I took a key insert tablet and re-did all the keys and made the keyboard look like brand new again--it was a 1949 Royal KMG.  Here is one of my newer fantasies:  Seeing a "keychopped" machine having been thrown away--perfect (or repairable) in every other way--except for the chopped keys.  What I would do for that machine was to remove those levers and replace them with new ones with a spare parts machine with the keytops still on them--glass or plastic.  If I had to use a newer typewriter with otherwise identical key levers, I would still do it.  It would not be original or as valuable, but that one orphan typewriter would have a new lease on life, and I will know that I was the one who saved it.

You get under the key with your needlenose pliers, close down over the lever, and very gently angle up with the handles, but don't use too much force or you'll break the key.  It may also help to have a small rag or towel wrapped around the bottom of the key so you can get a little more of an upward pull, plus it will give you a cushion between the pliers and the key.  But remember, gentle is the word here.  And, yes, I am starting to learn how to check my inbox and some other things.  Think Paddington Bear in London.  I'm still learning to get around--even if I have to stand on my right foot while carrying a dog down an escalator (I love that movie!!  I think I'll watch it again.).