Video of how Abus U-lock is made

[somenewguy]

Hi all, I thought you might be interested in the series "How it's made" has a segment on Abus' U-lock (bike lock). Here is that segment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1QaOaxkml8

The full episode is available on Netflix; see Season 13 Episode 6, it's the first part of the show.

The rest of the show covers manufacturing of Teepees, croissants, and rolling luggage

There is some interesting info on manufacturing, views of the heat treating (which they apparently outsource), and there's a cutaway view of how the lock works, but they don't get into the cylinder function at all.

[somenewguy]

I also found a segment on Abus lever padlocks; NetFlix has Season 13, Episode 13 (other topics are violin gut strings, silver belt buckles, and absinthe). I did not find the segment on Youtube though.

A stamped sheet metal 6-lever padlock is shown being made. They discuss the 240 possible combinations and show the keys being cut in one pass.

[VancouverSpecial71]

Heya,

Thank-you kindly for the info - I'm just about to load up my Netflix.

Have a great night,
Sean

[somenewguy]

You are very welcome! I must have been watching a lot of TV that day because I also stumbled across an episode of "In the heat of the night" where part of the story revolved around some German military handcuffs... I considered posting that here too but I couldn't find a link to a clip online.