MBTA railroad padlock

[femurat]

Some time ago I got this nice and big padlock. It's very easy to pick: you only need a bent wire... it has one lever and some warding.





I was willing to make a key for it and finally got some brass to work with. I made a key blank by soldering a 6 mm tube and a flat piece as a flag. Then I filed it so it fits the keyway. Then I used a 5 cents coin as a temporary bow. I'm looking for some nice brass washers to make a proper key, but for now I use what I have. Then I'll clean the coin and put it back in my pocket.
I'll impression the key in the next days...

Cheers

[fgarci03]

Nice femurat!
That 5 cent coin is a nice piece haha!

So a flat key opens it! I thought it was unusual but it ain't afterall!

[femurat]

No, a flat key enters the keyway and turns until it reaches the warding (90 degrees, like in the second picture). This is a blank I made, I'll impression it in the next days and show you the (hopefully) working key.

Cheers

[fgarci03]

Ha!

I wanna see it

[femurat]

I was trying to get the first mark, and the blank broke I had to play with a wire for a few minutes to get the broken flag out of the lock. I must improve my soldering skills. The flux was still in the gap and the stain was just around the corners... I'll try to repair it and start again.

Cheers

[ARF-GEF]

Maybe you should try the good old method of putting a not too thick layer of soft way on the flag of the key.
That way you need much much less force that with normal impressioning.
I found that works really nice with simpler locking mechanisms, like warding or old 1-2 levered locks in furnitures.

[femurat]

Thanks for the suggestion, but what's "soft way"? Do you mean wax?

I blackened the flag with a bic lighter to see the marks and I wasn't turning hard. The solder was not made properly.

Cheers

[ARF-GEF]

sorry, I meat soft wax.

I think it's even more sensitive than blackening.
It depends on the hardness of wax of course, but when I used blackening I found that I needed much more wiggling than with wax.
In fact if you use the good soft kind of wax, I found it's best to minimize wiggling, and just concentrate on 1 decisive push. Otherwise the marks get murky
Good luck with it femurat

[femurat]

I cleaned and soldered the blank again. I started by putting some solder in the flag groove, then secured it in place with some metal wire and heated a lot. When the solder melted I added more solder on the sides and then let it cool. It took me 3 or 4 tries before getting it properly attached, but in the end I was happy with the result.



Finally I was able to start impressioning the blank, as you can see from the pictures above:
1 the blank before impressioning;
2 the blank smoked with a bic lighter;
3 after inserting and turning the blank I got the first mark, in the center of the flag;
4 after some impressions and filing the key opened the lock but was still a bit rough. You can see the big drag mark on the left and a little mark at the center;
5 the key works but it doesn't retract the right part of the locking mechanism, just the left one;
6 the key operates both left and right locking bolts.

I still need to clean the key and sand it smooth, post a picture of the finished key, will do after I switch that 5 cents coin with a brass washer.



Here you can see it in the lock. The key pushes up a lever on the back, this lever releases a spring loaded bolt on the left side of the shackle.
There's another bolt on the right side of the shackle that enters the same rectangular hole on the shackle, this is pushed right by the center part of the key. The shackle opens before this is all way to the right, that's why the key worked before I thought it was finished and went on filing. Hope this makes sense.
The key stops at 180 degrees, dunno if I still need to file or if it's how it works. If I remove the key the two bolts go back in the locked position. To close the shackle I need to insert the key and turn it 180 degrees, then close the shackle and keep it pushed down, then I can rotate the key back and extract it.

This is a simple but interesting padlock.

Cheers

[ARF-GEF]

Good job Femurat!
I really like the new key's head

[fgarci03]

Great job man!

I like the homemade key
Aren't there blanks for that lock available?

The welding looks pretty good!


I must say I love these inventions

Congrats!

[phrygianradar]

Nice work! You overcame a broken flag and got a working key, not to mention all the practice soldering! Cool thread.

[GWiens2001]

Good work, femurat. It kind of says something when it is cheaper to use money to make a key than to buy a washer, doesn't it?

Gordon