TuBar, by Chicago Lock

[pickmachinist]

Here's a cool one I haven't seen too many of. It's a TuBar by Chicago Lock. It has two parallel rows of 4 pins each. Very similar in construction to a tubular lock, except it has a flat key with 4 cuts on each side.

[n2oah]

TuBars are very interesting locks. You won't find them in the wild often, but I see them occasionally on vending machines and similar depositories. You should get a peek inside the lock, it's actually quite an interesting sidebar mechanism inside there.

[Squelchtone]

I finally got one of these this year. It's a nice addition to the collection.


The 4 cuts on the other side of the key are different and the key is not reversible upon insertion.



very strong springs, inserting the key fully takes considerable effort.


Squelchtone

[pickmachinist]

Yep, it's a nice little lock. I didn't get a key with mine and had never seen one before. I tore it apart and made a key from a piece of flat bar and a dremel long before I got a milling machine. I stamped a dot on one side that corresponds with a dot on the lock.

[raimundo]

WOW, I'm impressed, you made a tubar key with a dremel. Whew,

the lock has two sidebars, if I remember it, and these set into two half moon shapes each of which addresses 4 pins on one side of the key the pins have indents at different depths, and when the half moon sets into all four indents, the sidebar that it pushes out can be pushed back into the plug.

The hole through the key, and the "throat cuts" (look that term up in terminolgy for flat steel keys of the lever type) on either side of the key reduce the area that any pick can operate in.

To create a pick, think of the key as a thin flat piece that has sliders on each side. It would work best if the flat metal base that will turn it when it opens is also calibrated for the standard depths of this lock.

I do not know if a commercial pick exists for this lock.

[Squelchtone]

awesome! a home made key for a tubar.. now I've seen everything.

good job machinist, most impressive.

Squelchtone

[pickmachinist]

thanks!
That TuBar key I made about 9 or so years ago. I was going to make a new one, but kind of like the nostalgia of this one.

[raimundo]

The yellow nail polish is wearing off. check out what the wife or girlfriend is stocking now.

[pickmachinist]

Nail polish is a great idea! It's actually gold paint, but I was using this lock on a toolbox I had and carried the key on my key ring for a few years. I'll see what the mrs. has that I can re-paint it with. Maybe give it a nice french manicure.

[cppdungeon]

beautiful key. i cant believe it was dremelled, the cuts are so precise! Anyone want to take this lock apart for pics? I would like to see the insides...

[pickmachinist]

Thanks cppdungeon. I just disassembled and photographed the guts. My photography sucks, partly due to my ancient camera and partly due to... well, let's just leave it at that. Enjoy!

[cppdungeon]

WOW. Fantastic lock! Ive never seen anything oriented like that. i see much better now how the sidebars work.
Thanks for taking the time to take it apart and take pictures. your photography is pretty good.
--Cpp

[greyman]

Nice exposé and photos. Just to put the record straight - I'd call Tubar a side-bar lock, not an axial pin tumbler (or tubular) lock. Sorry to be pedantic.

To the previous poster - there is a write-up of Tubar in my book (refer to my signature - I need to fix up the link, but you should find it easily enough ).

[pickmachinist]

I wish people would read what is written and not what they thought they read. "similar in construction" does not mean it is a tubular lock. Similar in construction it is indeed.

[greyman]

OK - let's get some context here. This is what was said:

[quote="pickmachinist"[...] It has two parallel rows of 4 pins each. Very similar in construction to a tubular lock, except it has a flat key with 4 cuts on each side.[/quote]

I see nothing in this that tells the reader that is is not an axial pin-tumbler lock. No offense meant, but I think that the correction I supplied will help people to understand things better.