NEED TO ID AN ANTIQUE YALE LOCK!

[kdogg87]

Hello! I need help identifying an antique yale lock on the side door of my house. (yes, it is STILL the only form of security on that door!)

My realtor told me the house was built in 1955, but due to some recent discoveries, (rusted through lead terrible plumbing, very old brick walls under the plaster, drawstring pulley wooden windows, etc,) I believe my house is older.

Any information on what model/year this lock might be would be really helpful!


(In this close up picture, the smaller knob on the right side moves up and down)


Picture from farther away.

[Evan]

Hello! I need help identifying an antique yale lock on the side door of my house. (yes, it is STILL the only form of security on that door!)

My realtor told me the house was built in 1955, but due to some recent discoveries, (rusted through lead terrible plumbing, very old brick walls under the plaster, drawstring pulley wooden windows, etc,) I believe my house is older.

Any information on what model/year this lock might be would be really helpful!

@kdogg87:

What are you trying to do with that lock ?

It is a basic everyday "night latch"...

Is there something broken/wrong with it ?

~~ Evan

P.S. As far as the "age" of your house being determined by mere assessment of the
building materials and/or techniques used to construct it, that is possibly the worst
way to try and come to a "guess" at the age... Some tradesmen near the end of their
career stick to the "tried and true" methods of their trade rather than learn "fancy new
fangled things"... A good source for determining an approximate age for your house is
your AHJ's building department permit office... If for some reason they don't and you
need supremely accurate information on the age of your house, you can have a
professional lab come out and collect paint samples which can be examined under a
microscope and have the layers radio-carbon dated...

[kdogg87]

Hi Evan! Thank you for the reply! I'm trying to date it. I don't know if it is worth fixing or if I should go ahead and replace it.

[Evan]

Hi Evan! Thank you for the reply! I'm trying to date it. I don't know if it is worth fixing or if I should go ahead and replace it.

@kdogg87:

What about it needs fixing ?

The older rim locks are made of real metal as opposed to the
stamped steel metal parts and pot-metal of the newest cheapest
ones...

~~ Evan

[kdogg87]

It doesn't latch from the inside (which makes my door not quite close all the way), it only latches if you pull it shut from the outside. My door is an old wooden door. I don't know what material it is made out of, my camera flash makes it look bright it's actually a deep dark gray/brown color and textured to the touch. It was probably a good lock at one point in time. I love history and would really like to know more about it before I rip it off and throw it in the garbage.

[Evan]

It doesn't latch from the inside (which makes my door not quite close all the way), it only latches if you pull it shut from the outside. My door is an old wooden door. I don't know what material it is made out of, my camera flash makes it look bright it's actually a deep dark gray/brown color and textured to the touch. It was probably a good lock at one point in time. I love history and would really like to know more about it before I rip it off and throw it in the garbage.

@kdogg87:

Sounds like a carpentry problem with the door sagging or door frame being out of square
than the lock being bad, since it does lock when you can pull it from the outside to
correct the alignment issue...

Have a real carpenter check out the door and see what is wrong with it before you go
throwing locks into the trash because any new locks you install would fall prey to the
same issue...

~~ Evan

[raimundo]

the smaller button that moves up and down can block the bolt in either the locked or unlocked position if all the parts are still functioning. so if your going out and dont want the wind to slam the door and lock you out, you can move this little button until the snaplatch dosent come out of its hole.