Interesting old padlock

[lockr]

My grandfather passed away a couple of years ago. We were cleaning up the house and I found this unusual padlock in the attic. It looks old, but you never know. I did some digging around online which turned up similar looking locks but not this exact one, and so far no real information. Has anyone seen one of these before?

[catsoup]

Can't say anything productive here, never seen one quite like that before, but... It does look like something out of Lord of the Rings.

[MrWizard]

Definitely old very nice key the large shaft going to small head is unusual very cool. Lock looks like it is light weight though does it have any heft to it? If it came from your grandfathers attic your will want to hang on to that one.

Richard

[lockr]

Definitely old very nice key the large shaft going to small head is unusual very cool. Lock looks like it is light weight though does it have any heft to it? If it came from your grandfathers attic your will want to hang on to that one.

Richard

You're correct, it's not very heavy. It seems to be built from folded metal which leads me to believe these things were probably produced in some quantity, but that's just a guess. The action is a bit rough but I know from experience never to monkey with something that could be old. Even if it's not collectable it still has sentimental value. My grandfather collected antiques so I wasn't really surprised when this turned up.

[LockDocWa]

It reminds me of the older style railroad padlock.
You might try Googleing (is that even a word? ) railroad padlocks to see what you come up with.

If nothing else, it is a very cool padlock.

[LockDocWa]

Huh, I looked for railroad padlocks and came up with this:
http://www.antique-padlocks.com/rr.htm

LOTS of antique padlocks.

[lockr]

It reminds me of the older style railroad padlock.
You might try Googleing (is that even a word? ) railroad padlocks to see what you come up with.

If nothing else, it is a very cool padlock.

I don't think it's a raiload padlock; it's not really robust enough. This seems to be a light duty lock. Sadly there's no markings whatsoever on it.

When I was a kid I used to have a really nice old Canada Pacific Railroad lever padlock. I honestly have no idea where it came from but I think my brother sold it to an antique shop eventually. Oh how I wish I still had it

[rphillips52]

There is no indication of scale, but here is a suggestion: German (or just possibly French), 1920-30's, just possibly pre-WW1. Abus and Burg both made such locks, but this was probably made for a wholesaler who sourced supplies from several makers, who were not permitted to put their own name on the lock. And some cheap makers didn't choose to put their name to their products. There were large numbers of such cheap locks kicking around Europe in 50's-70's, but this looks older, with probably no rustproofing under its original paint, if it even had paint on it. Probably had a a hard life outside.
It's stiff because it was cheaply made, with strong spring(s), and is now rusty. A little lubricant would probably help it.
Mechanism is probably ward and 1 tumbler, possibly 2.

[lockr]

There is no indication of scale, but here is a suggestion: German (or just possibly French), 1920-30's, just possibly pre-WW1. Abus and Burg both made such locks, but this was probably made for a wholesaler who sourced supplies from several makers, who were not permitted to put their own name on the lock. And some cheap makers didn't choose to put their name to their products. There were large numbers of such cheap locks kicking around Europe in 50's-70's, but this looks older, with probably no rustproofing under its original paint, if it even had paint on it. Probably had a a hard life outside.
It's stiff because it was cheaply made, with strong spring(s), and is now rusty. A little lubricant would probably help it.
Mechanism is probably ward and 1 tumbler, possibly 2.

Thanks for the info!

Would lubricating this lock risk diminishing it's value (value to collector that is, I don't expect it's really worth much money) at all?

Dimensions are:

body height: 66mm
body width: 59mm
body thickness: 11mm
total height (including closed shackle): 130mm

I can post more pics with a ruler for scale.

[MrWizard]

Lubricate it with black graphite it won't hurt the value at all. You can always blow it out, oil is forever. Best thing to do with old locks or just any lock is to spray the inside out with electronic contact cleaner the type that leaves NO oil residue it evaporates leaving nothing but a clean surface and then use black graphite.

[rphillips52]

Probably not a lock that would greatly interest many collectors, but most of them would be US. Oil can be removed, a degreaser bath will, so will an ultrasonic bath. Probably only archæologists and museum curators would look askance at oiling such a lock.

[MrWizard]

Degreaser or ultrasonic bath could remove rust and or finish in attempt to clean the new oil that could soak into both, graphite requires neither to remove just compressed air. LPS brand contact cleaner is fairly safe it has no oil. Autozone electronic cleaner is the worst to use will remove finish and patina and smells for long time. LSP contact cleaner has little to no lingering smell and never seen it ruin the finish or patina. But agree it is not a collectors item