Yale & Towne Padlock

[Silverado]

I picked this up at an antique store! I feel like I got a pretty good deal on it but I was curious to know if anyone could approximate the date/age of it.





It's very peculiar as pin stack 1 seems to be missing the key pin and there's a tiny ball bearing floating around in that area. I am going to bet it's not normal and is probably going to make this thing a royal pain to pick!



Best picture I could get of it...Any info is helpful!

[billdeserthills]

I have a few of these in various sizes, all I can tell you is if you drive out the 2 pins, one above & to the left of the Y
and the other, to the right on and below the E, your lock will come apart. The one pin looks loose in the picture
These locks were constructed back when folks still paid the locksmith to rekey/service their padlocks

[Silverado]

Thanks! I think I will disassemble it, maybe set it up so the one Yale key I have will work in it. Apparently the ball bearing was used as a substitute for a key pin. I did get it picked but didn't have to lift too much on the ball bearing...the hardest part was getting it lined up with the chamber to push the driver pin.

[RedE]

That is pretty interesting to find a ball bearing in the pin stack. Does anybody know if Yale used them like Corbin did at once upon a time?

[jeffmoss26]

The lock has to be open (picked) and then what Bill said will work - I've taken them apart a few times.
Yours is at least 60 years old, I would guess.

[Jacob Morgan]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BP8Y4I/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1484778412&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=padlock+book&dpPl=1&dpID=51ycLQqNisL&ref=plSrch

Looks like Bill and Jeff imparted how to take it apart.

The subject of old padlocks reminded me of something. The link above is to a copy of the Locksmith Ledger's 1970 booklet on padlocks. The cover lists the makes and models it covers. $12 + shipping. Might be of interest to collectors of old padlocks. Not my listing, just something I recalled running across recently.