by raimundo » 3 Jan 2005 13:19
These are warded padlocks in a laminated body. In the old days a T or doublecrossed t would do, the spacing between the two crosses was .140" which should correspond to two laminations width, as seen from the outside of the lock. In the past I have even seen models of this where the laminations that contain springtumblers were visibly wider than the rest of the laminations. Latley, however, the width between the two cross pieces of the t has been seen to be wider in some cases, requireing a double T with the space of three laminations between the cross pieces. There are a small number of zigzag varients that allow for different keyway warding, but a key can be hammered flat, and filed to size,(hammering it will widen it while thinning it,) you absolutely do not need the tip of the key, it can be flat across the top T crosspiece. The crosspieces should not be wider than a lamination, but look closely at the laminations of your lock, a wide lamination or two will clearly give away the position of the springtumblers. Not all have the wider laminations but make sure your crosspieces are filed to the width of a lamination and the space between the laminations is corresponding to the dimensions of the lamination stack. with two or three laminations space between the top cross and the lower cross.
Wake up and smell the Kafka!!!
