Grandpas old padlock

[lock-ed]

I received this lock some time ago. It was locked. The owner would like a key for it, and I said "sure, will make it right away". I might add that I am not a locksmith, only a lock hobbyist with not enough spare time for my beloved locks.
It is branded "ALSALL LOCKS & ARTGEAR LTD 1913"
Does anybody have such a lock or key, or maybe point me in the direction of what an original key looks like? I hope to make a key for it, that resembles the original:


My first post/pic, hope this works out.

Rgds,
Ed

[lock-ed]

Well, that went better than hoped

Now, my first attempt would be to make an aluminum key-blank


Tried to alu-solder the blade: Didn´t get it right. Failure #1
Tried to superglue the blade: Looked just fine, broke off on 2nd entry to impression. Failure #2

Ok, Ok, over to plan B: Pick it

Ed

[lock-ed]

Made a simple 2-1 from brass tubing and 1.5mm brass. Superglued two knurled alu handles:


Bingo

The lock opened after a few attempts. It had probably not been opened during my lifetime, and was full of... something.

Anyway, it disclosed false notches and probably five levers(not quite sure, one might be inactive).

An interesting feature is that it "locks" in the open position as well, meaning that I have to pick it both ways.

Ed

[lock-ed]

My plan was to pick it, and the leave it half-picked, in order to measure the levers and make a key for it.

Problem #1 was that I could not remove the pick while the lock was in it 1/2-position.

Had to go on to make a wire tension to replace part of the 2-1.
Anyway, here´s another picture of the 2-1 entering the lock.

(I love when people post plenty of pictures, makes it a joy to read. Agree?)

Ed

[lock-ed]

Well,
with the lock in open/halflock-position, I was hoping that fitting a key should go allright, and went back to the impressioning idea. Implementing all my skills, I went ahead and put a lot of effort(1 evening, 2 beers) in to making this key:


It fitted nicely, and sure, a 100-year old lock should not be that hard to impression?

Ed

[lock-ed]

Starting the impressioning:


First few marks(I thought) showed up very nice
Ed

[lock-ed]

And they kept coming. The key starting to take shape:


Ed

[lock-ed]

Failure, yet again Now i stopped counting them.

The key managed to open the lock, but not very precisely, as I had to use a slight amount of force and jiggling. Not happy with the result.

Over to another plan(stopped counting those as well)
1.Pick the lock to it´s 1/2-position
2. Remove the blade on the first key, replace it with a blade that only covers the levers(not the driving bit. can anybody please help me with a name for that?)
3. Make the key fit the levers in the open-position

On my way ...


Ed

[Shaun1987]

! thats a piece of work!

A very old lock too! Nice work!!

[MacGyver101]

Thanks for taking the time to photograph/post your progress: that's certainly amongst the best set of "first posts" I've seen!

Welcome!

[lock-ed]

Thank you very much for the kind replies

Have been busy with other locks lately, will post more on those later(hopefully).

Anyway, a slight progress has been made. I hope now, that this setup will open the lock successfully. The upper key being the first attempt, and the lower is made with the lock in its 1/2 position.



Now, next stop is making another blank, and transferring the cuts.

If anybody has a simpler way of doing this, tips are more than welcome

Brgds,
Ed

[pin_pusher]

i know i was commenting on the last post (your 2-in-1 pick)...but i wanted to say it looks better in action. and far superior impressioning than i.

[SnowyBoy]

Top quality work right there. I bet the satisfaction was immense!

[criminalhate]

Love the post and all the pretty pictures.


Easy way to transfer the cuts.

Use thin gauge steel or aluminum wrap it around the bit (the part that engages the levers) in a U ish shape. Smoke the key and file the shape of the key into the steel/aluminum with out removing the smoke (marker works good here too). Get your new blank (or make one) slide your steel/aluminum "form" over it. Smoke the form then remove material from the bit until you get to the same shape as the form. Again don't remove the smoke from the form other wise you cut too deep. Good luck

[glamour]

lovely work mate... i wish i had your skills