lost my switch key in the move. You can't start the ryobi portable planer without it.

I'm trying to change a chicken coop twelve feet by 2o feet into a workshop.  I have a bunch of wood they has come from a deck.  It is pressure treated so not safe to build raised beds for food use.  The coop is  old and not well maintained so the wall that gets all the weather is completely rotten.  I'm carefully replacing the laminated support struts.  Next is replacing the outer wall's ship lapping.  I can't afford the ship lapping so I plan to over engineer the wall with reclaimed 8 by 2 inch support boards.  I have 1 by 4s to cover all the joints.  They are very weathered.  I thought about sanding them and then thought my Ryobi 13 inch portable planer would be much faster and I would control the thickness of all the boards and keep them consistant.  I moved across Canada and I'm still finding my tools and stuff to made my new house and garden functional for me.
Along with some off my larger tools parts are missing.  The other tools I've found a go around to make work until I can get the missing pieces.  I'm missing the switch key to the planer.  It's the little plastic thing that allows you tool to start.  It is a safety feature to make it so children can't start it.  Does anyone know a work around so I can get the job done?The planer was discontinued and  this part is unavailable.  Help!
Thank you for any suggestions.  Johanna

A quick search suggests they might be available on amazon

Hi Johanna,
I'm not sure about the newer ones, but I have an old table saw and a drill press that have similar styles of start keys. I have used a thin nail to get it started when I lost the key.

Hello thank you for the amazon info.  I have ordered a new key.

have tried the nail suggestion and no joy.  I tried other shaped items with no luck.  But thank you for the suggestion.

I used a section of zip tie. Short section, 2" or so, cut square on the ends. Shove one end on top slot, one end in slot below.
Gets it going until replacement keys come in from Ebay

Don't know anything about the Ryobi, but the old craftsman power tools used a very similar key.  What has worked for me in the past is to buy a cheap toggle switch and unwire the old switch and wire in the new toggle.  It won't be as 'child proof' as with the key, but I never liked a plastic piece as an interlock anyway.  They tend to get bumped and fall out mid cut or get lost, wasting time on a project while a new one is sourced.  It is maddening to waste a day or a week because a 5 cent piece of plastic is keeping me from using my tool.  That inconvenience is to keep Ryobi's lawyers happy at night.  Does nothing for me.

I also don't have young curious hands running around my shop either.    Choose wisely.

Jack Edmondson wrote:the old craftsman power tools used a very similar key

Yep. I'm so afraid of losing or breaking the key on my (vintage) craftsman table saw I never remove it. Which defeats the purpose, of course.

I'd genuinely like to have such safety feature. I just unplug the machine when not in use.

To be fair... that's not the most dangerous 'feature' of my table saw LOL