Old Yale & Towne lock

by **The Wanderer** » 29 Jan 2005 1:18

Hey y'all. A friend handed me this old Yale and Towne lock the other day. It has no key. The deal is, if I can pick it, I can have it. I've been working on it for a while now with virtually no success at all. I haven't even set a single pin. I'd really like to have this lock. I've been picking all kinds of 5 pin tumblers, but this one has me stumped. I Googled for info on it. I think it's called a push pin style lock. How about a leg up here?

A picture is worth a 1000 words....

by **skold** » 29 Jan 2005 1:31

I don't have a clue, but you said push?? do you mean a pump lock, where the pins are at the back of the cylinder??

by **fugi** » 29 Jan 2005 2:01

huh... weird. something seems kinda off about this. Wait a minute, canadians don't say "y'all"

sorry, nothing constructive from me.

by **D_Shane** » 29 Jan 2005 2:53

Here's the key from one of my old Yale's.

You can see where the pins would be located in the lock from the pic. Hence the push pin.
One of mine the key doesn't turn, just push the key in. The other you have to push
the pins in, then the cylinder rotates freely. Use a long needle, or straight pick without a
head on it to pick it.

by **skold** » 29 Jan 2005 2:55

ahh its a nice old pump key

by **Luke** » 29 Jan 2005 4:14

Something about the word pump gets me thinking...

by **jason** » 29 Jan 2005 4:48

I'm starting to worry about Luke - I think he's been spending a little too much time on some of the "other" websites :lol:

by **Luke** » 29 Jan 2005 6:47

Don't worry about me Jason, worry about the poor helpless people starving in ethiopia and the such. No one ever should worry about me when there is missionary work to be done in Africa. Aids and the such ... gets ya thinking. Wonder if Africans "pump" HAHA.

by **oldlock** » 29 Jan 2005 15:52

The Wanderer wrote:Hey y'all. A friend handed me this old Yale and Towne lock the other day. It has no key. The deal is, if I can pick it, I can have it. I've been working on it for a while now with virtually no success at all. I haven't even set a single pin. I'd really like to have this lock. I've been picking all kinds of 5 pin tumblers, but this one has me stumped. I Googled for info on it. I think it's called a push pin style lock. How about a leg up here?

A picture is worth a 1000 words....

It is not a push pin lock, it's convention pin tumbler - but the plug turns the shackle directly - so you may need lots of turning pressure - also it's old so lube the lock really well too.

Paul

by **skold** » 30 Jan 2005 1:29

Hail Pauls great skills with Antique Locks :wink:

by **Luke** » 30 Jan 2005 3:35

*Hails Paul* Is this some kind of cult, if so wheres my cup of coolaid?

by **raimundo** » 30 Jan 2005 11:29

I am not familiar with the type, but i have seen photos of it before on oldlocks.com or some such site, they don't give technical information but if the plug actually turns the shackle like someone said, you could use the shackle as the tensor. putting a finger on the open end touching both the shackle and the lock body should give you good feedback.

by **The Wanderer** » 31 Jan 2005 0:10

This plug wasn't turning at all, but by pulling on the shackle a bit, I manage to at least get a couple of pins to set.
It's a strange set up. The plug doesn't appear to turn at all, although I could be wrong. I still think it's a push pin lock but instead of the pins being where D_Shane posted the push pin key image, they are where they would be in a modern pin tumbler. You put in the key and pull on the shackle to open it. It's just a guess, but that's how it seems to work.
You need to pull on the shackle to create tension as Raimondo described, and try to pick it at the same time. Talk about awkward. It's very difficult to set the tension this way.
This is going to be really satisfying when this little beauty finally opens.

Thank you gentlemen. I will persevere.

by **Chucklz** » 31 Jan 2005 0:17

Try this
Take a length of string and pass it throught the shackle.. Tie it in a loop, and put it under your shoe. You can just pull on the lock to provide some tension. I bet feedback from your tension woudl be essentially non existant, but you may have enough pick feedback to get the job done.

by **The Wanderer** » 31 Jan 2005 10:52

I was actually doing just that last night

. I doubled up a piece of clothes line. I tied the two working ends into a figure eight, and pulled the loop through the shackle using the ever popular Larks' Head hitch. (Don't mind the knot terminology....Tying knots is one of my other hobbies).
The lock needs to be "lubed" I think. Not to many of you seems to think too highly of WD 40. I use it all the time, and I've never had a problem with it. I hope they have graphite at the Home Depot. It isn't technically my lock yet and I don't want to gum it all up if I have to give it back. I hate the smell of WD 40! :evil:

I can feel four pins. I've managed to set two (I think). This is going to take a while. Good bloody thing it's fun!

.

Old Yale & Towne lock

Old Yale & Towne lock

Re: Old Yale & Towne lock

very old

Give the man a Cupie doll !

The Rope a Dope.....

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