I came across this passage from the Time Life book, Home Security, published in 1979: "A five-pin lock is difficult to pick, but lockmakers have devised even more intricate puzzles to stump the expert criminal. One manufacturer bevels the pins and the key notches so that the key not only raises the pins, but rotates them; unless each pin is oriented correctly, the plug cannot move. Another [manufacturer] puts three rows of pins in each cylinder and three rows of notches on the key."
I'm curious about which two manufacturers this refers to. It's hard to visualize what they're describing. If anyone has any links to this forum or elsewhere that illustrates these features, I'd appreciate the help.
The Duo has three sets of cuts, but has wafers, not pins. Now that I think of it, three rows of pins and three rows of notches in the keys... sounds like an early Keso.
When did Sargent start with their Keso line?
Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
In favor of Keso, I am not sure when The Complete Guide to Locks and Locksmithing started covering high security locks, but Medeco and Keso were in the high security lock section and the Time-Life researches probably consulted that book as it was the locksmithing book in libraries.
That Time-Life book was in my hometown library, and I checked it out a few times back in the 1980's. The sad thing is that it went over how to strengthen door jams in a lot of detail, one thing that would help a lot that building contractors still ignore. Not sure what to think about the chapter on how to rent gas bottles so as to weld together bars for one's windows.
Bricago wrote:I came across this passage from the Time Life book, Home Security, published in 1979: "A five-pin lock is difficult to pick, but lockmakers have devised even more intricate puzzles to stump the expert criminal. One manufacturer bevels the pins and the key notches so that the key not only raises the pins, but rotates them; unless each pin is oriented correctly, the plug cannot move. Another [manufacturer] puts three rows of pins in each cylinder and three rows of notches on the key."
I'm curious about which two manufacturers this refers to. It's hard to visualize what they're describing. If anyone has any links to this forum or elsewhere that illustrates these features, I'd appreciate the help.
Thank you.
There was a Popular Mechanics article in the early 1980's about high security cylinders. Emhart with angled cuts was featured but not Medeco (from memory). One cylinder had three rows of pin, one conventional row and two other radial rows offset 45 degrees or so from the main row. These rows engaged in milled cuts on the sides of the key. This compared with two rows of pins in Adam detention cylinders with an auxiliary row parallel to the main row with some means to prevent the auxiliary pins from rotating. Another type was 'huck pin' which had highly serrated and spooled upper and lower pins. The three types mentioned in the article all seem defunct. Interesting that Abloy, Medeco and BiLock have survived as high security mechanisms rather than the ones in that article.
Bricago wrote:I came across this passage from the Time Life book, Home Security, published in 1979: "A five-pin lock is difficult to pick, but lockmakers have devised even more intricate puzzles to stump the expert criminal. One manufacturer bevels the pins and the key notches so that the key not only raises the pins, but rotates them; unless each pin is oriented correctly, the plug cannot move. Another [manufacturer] puts three rows of pins in each cylinder and three rows of notches on the key."
I'm curious about which two manufacturers this refers to. It's hard to visualize what they're describing. If anyone has any links to this forum or elsewhere that illustrates these features, I'd appreciate the help.
Thank you.
There was a Popular Mechanics article in the early 1980's about high security cylinders. Emhart with angled cuts was featured but not Medeco (from memory). One cylinder had three rows of pin, one conventional row and two other radial rows offset 45 degrees or so from the main row. These rows engaged in milled cuts on the sides of the key. This compared with two rows of pins in Adam detention cylinders with an auxiliary row parallel to the main row with some means to prevent the auxiliary pins from rotating. Another type was 'huck pin' which had highly serrated and spooled upper and lower pins. The three types mentioned in the article all seem defunct. Interesting that Abloy, Medeco and BiLock have survived as high security mechanisms rather than the ones in that article.
Have a copy of that Popular Mechanics! It was a gift from Raimundo.
There was a Locksmith Ledger issue on high security locks that was given to me by a friend who is a locksmith. I found it funny that of all the high security locks listed, I had all of them in my collection. Guess that means I am kinda stuck on this hobby.
Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
Thank you for the excellent replies. I'll look up the brands mentioned in this thread. This business of pins rotating while being raised is interesting, but hard to visualize. Anyone have any resources that illustrate this movement?
Jacob Morgan wrote: Not sure what to think about the chapter on how to rent gas bottles so as to weld together bars for one's windows.
Yes! That chapter is for the extremely ambitious DIY'er. It includes instructions for bending, welding, and connecting iron to create custom shapes for your window grills. It's no wonder they omitted that chapter from the 1996 updated edition.
Thank you, Gordon. That Sargent Keso definitely fits the description of the lock and key with three rows of pins and notches. Looks like that entire issue of PM can be viewed on Google Books. The ads alone are worth checking out. I will update this thread if I can get a firm ID on the lock with the rotating pins.
Jacob Morgan, it looks like the first edition of The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing was published in 1976, so that fits perfectly with your theory that the Time Life authors used it as a resource. I'll try to locate a copy and see if it's in there.
This video and the photo below it should give you a better understanding by what is meant about the pins moving up and down and rotating. Imagine if the key pin of the Medeco lock was a Coke can sitting on the table in front of you and you wanted to see the other side of the can but didnt want to pick it up, you would just rotate the can left or right until you saw the logo or ingredients printed on the other side. This is the kind of rotation each key pin in a Medeco lock does and the motion occurs because the key underneath the pin has a certain topography and the pin is pressing against that key due to the spring up above the pin, so the pin goes up and down and rotates left and right like a Jeep's suspension and wheels following the contours of ruts in an off road trail. There are limit stops built into each pin so they dont just free spin 360 degrees. They may only rotate -20 to +20 degrees.
The grooves in each pin have been colorized *in this cutaway demonstration lock* to show they are all rotated so their grooves all point right and the fingers of the sidebar have somewhere to fall into, thus allowing the plug to rotate freely when the key pins are also lifted so a shear line is created between the key and driver pins above them.
