Any info on Valmet lock?

[zeepia]

Got these keys today, they are produced in Finland at around 1946-1960.



Valmet name means (Finland)State metal factory which was established after WW2 to produce war reparations to CCCP. I didn´t know before they also made separate locks.

Cool thing in these keys is that the logo is Finnish police logo, maybe these are from furniture made for police.



If anyone have any info about Valmet locks I would be grateful, can´t find any on google except tractor parts.
And I doubt these being from post WW2 police tractor

[GWiens2001]

Here is the lock for your key, Zeepia.



I couldn't resist!

Gordon

[Squelchtone]

Check this out:

In Finnish:
http://haittalevy.blogspot.com/2007/08/ ... eihin.html

In Google Translator Engrish:
http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=fi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhaittalevy.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fmekes-oy-neuloista-vetureihin.html

From reading the blog, which I'm very happy to find, it looks like Mekes is a generic clone of the Valmet after the 1960 patent expired.

Hope this helps,
Squelchtone

PS. all the way at the end, read the comments left by a visitor, they mention your exact lion logo and text.

[MBI]

What a cool little piece of lock history.
I love it when someone digs up some obscure piece of information like this.
I'm sure I sound like a big nerd for saying it, but it almost feels like a piece of Christmas to find a little gem like this which I'd previously never had any idea existed,
and be able to take the time to read through it.
In English, no less.
With my memory these days I'll forget 90% of it by tomorrow, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Quite a long time ago I owned a couple of Valmet rifles,
which are basically precision engineered variants of an AK-47.
They were some of my favorites, until I needed to sell them for a down payment on a truck.
If it hadn't been for an almost total lack of availablility of spare parts and magazines, I might have tried to figure out a way to keep those.
As scarce as they are, they'd be worth an awful lot more today than the amount I got out of them.
I had no idea Valmet also made locks at one time too.

[Squelchtone]

I was looking at the Valmet AK-47's in google search results, it's cool that you actually owned some. If Abloy is a way to compare, I'm sure they were very high quality like everything else crafted in Finland.

A few years ago I lived in Chicopee Massachusetts, which was a mill town and as any good New England mill town, had a big brick factory right on the river. The factory was called Ames Sword Company, and made swords for the US military back in the 1860's to early 1900's. Later on I would find out that they also made lever padlocks in the same building that would in 2009 be my loft apartment building! They still have them on ebay once in a while, it would be cool to own a padlock that said Ames Sword Co. Chicopee Mass on the shackle. There's one on ebay now, but has no key. I bet Lauren could easily make one =)

History is definitely a big part when it comes to locks, lock collecting, or locksmithing.

Thanks for sharing your info about the AK-47's, very cool indeed.

Squelchtone

[MBI]

The Valmets were definitely the highest quality AK variant I've ever laid my hands on.
Very precise metalwork.
They even left Galil rifles in the dust.

It makes me curious to check out some of the Valmet locks.
The warding on the keys appears to be stamped instead of milled, which is surprising.
I wonder if the locks themselves are well made or if they cut some corners.
Either way, Valmet locks and/or keys have now been added to my wishlist!

[Wizer]

Very nice find Zeepia, again.
You come up with most interesting posts, and pictures are great too.
I had no idea about those locks.
And the google-fu of Squelchtone is just amazing. I´ve read Jaakkos blog before but obviously not enough.
About the assault rifle, its our beloved 7.62RK62. For decades it was the personal weapon of everyone in our army (defence forces is the correct term). When I was in army (every man has to go), the gun that I got was made the same year I was born. It was still very accurate.

[GWiens2001]

In my experience, most of the time, the weapon is far more accurate than the shooter.

About 20 years ago, saw a person at a shooting range unable to hit a 18" (45cm) target at 50 meters with his brand new, out of the box rifle. "This rifle has to be mis-manufactured, it is total c##p!" , he said. "$1700 for a s##t rifle! I'm going to take it back and give that store an earful about how badly these rifles are made!"

He was flinching badly in anticipation of each shot, and closed his eyes most of the time! But that couldn't be why he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he was inside the barn. His horrible shooting habits were not to blame. No, it must be that the brand new H&K G3 rifle was not made right. (Even if his shooting partner at the range shot just fine with the same rifle.)

So yes, some rifles are inherently much more accurate than others. But comments about accuracy can be telling about the skill of the shooter. Glad to know you shoot well, Wizer.

[GWiens2001]

Sorry for pulling the thread off topic.

Gordon

[Squelchtone]

I´ve read Jaakkos blog before but obviously not enough.

Hah! I did not even realize it was Jaakko's blog! I will have to spend some time reading it.

Thanks for mentioning that,
Squelchtone

[zeepia]

@Gordon: lmao I really didn´t think there might be police tractors around... at least we don´t have them here.

Kudos to Squelch for your amazing google skills, I find it most entertaining that you provided me information in finnish

I have also red that Jaakko´s blog a lot, there are several good Abloy related articles. But obviously I must too get some time to read it more thoroughly.

Those key cuts are little bent because both keys were bent and I straightened them carefully. The metal is indeed the most yellow brass that I have seen in keys, soft too. There are minimal marks of cutting the keys, don´t know if they were stamped or cut. Surprises me too if they are stamped.

Now I see that the logo is Valmet´s own brand, which is then adopted to police force and military as well. Logical, it was kinda governments company anyway.

7,62RK62 is maybe the most accurate of them all considering AK´s. It´s frame is milled while all the other versions are made from bended metal sheets. That´s something you notice as weight when you pick it up. It also has dioptre sights instead of normal hindsight.