40+ year old steamer trunk lock

[Shyaporn]

Hi all,

Hello all,

I'm sure mine is a common story - my mother passed away unexpectedly at the end of December, and I have had to come to Thailand from New York, U.S.A. to put her affairs in order. Spent $333 U.S. to have the safe opened, only to find that it was empty.

I've located most of her important documents, but am still casting about for others, and one of the last places to look is an old, locked steamer chest she's had since I was born (nearly 40 years ago).

So my various bits of googling brought me to this site multiple times. I've tried a number of the simpler tricks mentioned in various threads here, as well as some YouTube ones, but to no avail. I have to return to the States this coming week, so time grows short to find the remainder of her paperwork - my family and I had unfortunately put many of our eggs in the safe basket, otherwise I'd spend more time going through the various tutorials, and I have very little time between clearing out her property, funeral rituals, etc...

I am a COMPLETE beginner to the art and science of lock-picking, other than using a flashlight trick to get into her luggage. My only tools are paperclips, bobby pins, fruit knives and whatever else might be found laying about the house. I did do a search on other steamer trunk threads here, but all the other locks I saw seemed to be straight vertical slots and none of the various tricks (i.e. scissors) seem to work. I realize it's probably impossible to give me a semester's worth of tutorial in 15 minutes, but I was more hoping someone might have a familiarity with this type of lock and be able to suggest a quick way of opening it without destroying the chest; as I said, it's something she's had since I was born and holds a rather fond place in my memory. My cartoonish fumblings with the above mentioned items have proved ineffective.

Here are some pictures of the lock and a very faded brand label for the trunk. Hopefully I'll stumble across the key this weekend and this whole discussion will be moot.





Thank you all in advance for any help or advice you might provide.

Shyaporn

[fgarci03]

Hello and I'm sorry to hear about your mother.

I don't know about that specific lock. Maybe the best would be to call a locksmith and have him open the lock without damaging it.
It looks like the usual steamer truck lock but with a diferent keyway. We call that a warded lock. Try to bend a bobby pin in an L shape and use it as a key at several dephts in the keyway.

Without looking at the actual lock it's difficult. Maybe one of the other guys has some info on it.
But, as I said, a local locksmith can open it without damaging the lock. And won't get expensive.

Hope it all turns in your favour!

[minifhncc]

And remember to go for a locksmith with an actual shop front, not the first one you find in the phone directory. That way you'll avoid being scammed.

[GWiens2001]

If it is not too heavy, I would put the trunk into your car and drive it to the locksmith's shop. Then you know it is a store, and not as likely to be shady. The locksmith can pop it open there, and you save money off the cost of a house call.

Gordon

[keysman]

That looks like a nice old trunk .. it actually may have some value as an antique. The lower picture shows a key broken in the lock .. perhaps that is the correct key?
As stated above, take the trunk to a locksmith SHOP …. not just some flyby night locksmith with a yellow page ad. They should be able to get you open and on your way for a reasonable cost.

You can look at this page to get an idea of what the key should look like .. should you come across it in you search.
It says long lock # 1932 on the hasp .. that is probably a code of some sort

luggage keys
or here: http://www.islandtrunkshop.com/antique_ ... _keys.html

[Shyaporn]

Thank you all so much for all your advice!

The trunk is, unfortunately, prohibitively heavy. However, being as this is Thailand, the cost of house-calls is not as expensive as it might be in the U.S. Will look into finding someone local tomorrow morning to give it a shot.

Interesting that you say the key appears to be broken off in the lock. I thought that was just part of the tumbler mechanism. The angle might be deceptive, it's not blocking the key hole at all, I'm able to insert pins and clips all the way into the keyhole.

If it's any other help, the keyhole spins about almost too freely when I put something in to turn it about.

I've been trying the bent-into-an-L-shape pin trick and it hasn't really caught anything.

What's really funny is I seem to recall picking this lock when I was 9-years old... guess I peaked as a lock-picker 30 years ago

[cledry]

Yes, it isn't a broken key. These usually use pre-cut keys with occasionally a few variations. However a locksmith in Thailand probably won't have the pre-cut key. They are however simple and a set of picks for warded padlocks will usually open these as well.

[Shyaporn]

Thanks everyone for your insight and advice. I actually managed to find the key in the back of a closet - about 3/4" long and snub-nosed, with the same number stamped into it as on the lock. Sadly, while the contents of the trunk held a tremendous amount of sentimental value for me, none of the documentation or jewelry we suspected might be in there was to be found.

Oh well... back to the drawing board.

Thanks again!

[Squelchtone]

Thanks everyone for your insight and advice. I actually managed to find the key in the back of a closet - about 3/4" long and snub-nosed, with the same number stamped into it as on the lock. Sadly, while the contents of the trunk held a tremendous amount of sentimental value for me, none of the documentation or jewelry we suspected might be in there was to be found.

Oh well... back to the drawing board.

Thanks again!

Could you reward our community members' efforts by posting a photo of the key please?

Thank you, and glad you got it open!

Squelchtone

[Shyaporn]

I am now on the other side of the world from the key, but upon my return I will snap a picture of it for the group!