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by ratlock » 6 Mar 2017 14:34
Here is kinda closing a circle for me. its the lock picks that belonged to my Dad, that he found in a safe, of a construction company he bought in the 1970s. That I later found in his toolbox, when I was changing a lock at my mums house, a few years after he passed away. If your going to pick a lock thats almost 200 years old, then what better way to do it, then use 200 year old lock picks. Enjoy a warded lock internals too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hu_C2zAvo8
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ratlock
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by Gantry » 6 Mar 2017 14:53
The post and video made me sad (dad passing away) and joyful (you have something that was your dad's and because of his find find in the old safe, you've found a great hobby & something to remember him by). Thanks for sharing... Gantry
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by ratlock » 6 Mar 2017 15:13
Gantry. You wouldnt believe the theorys that my Dad and his forman, (both dead, and I hope both laughing now) had about how these mystical tools worked, and the many times they were unsuccessfully used to magic open lever locks in the 70s and 80s. When I was a kid, and glimpsed them in unguarded moments when the safe they were kept in was left open, I was somehow captivated, more than any gun, bow, catupult, or any device or contraption a boy could own, by these hand forged bits of metal.
Im a 50 year old man now, and they still hold the memorys, of a wide eyed kid, imagining locks popping open at will.
I think todays opening of a lock, is the first proper use these tools have had, since inside toilets, mains water, and electric light bulbs, came to these parts in north east Scotland.
Thanks for your kind words.
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ratlock
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by Gantry » 6 Mar 2017 19:08
WHAT! Scotland now has " inside toilets, mains water, and electric light bulbs" The next thing you'll be tell me is you've done away with the horse & buggy and have cars!!!
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by ratlock » 7 Mar 2017 1:46
When I was a kid we had one outside toilet shared with 4 other familys. We had an outside wash house also shared where you could do all your laundry on the one day a week allocated as your laundry day. No central heating, just an open fire, and one parrafin (stinky) heater. One old black and white TV that you tuned with a dial like a radio, and only 3 TV stations. No telephone in the house. You had to find a coin box telephone on the street.
Nowadays. My daughter complains because she wants an en suit bathroom, and phones are seldom used to actually talk to people, there are hundreds of TV channels, and still only 3 channels worth watching.
Thats progress
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by femurat » 7 Mar 2017 3:43
Your video put a smile on my face. Well done. It's a strange feeling when you use a tool that was your fathers after he passed away. It's completely different from when he was here. Feels like you're using some sacred thing. And feels like he's watching you doing it. And he's happy about it. By the way, nice fireplace. Cheers 
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by Silverado » 7 Mar 2017 6:52
That was a great video, your father is surely proud of you!
And as Femurat said, that is one nice fireplace!
"If you are not currently on a government watch list. You are doing something wrong" - GWiens2001
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by GWiens2001 » 7 Mar 2017 8:09
Appreciate your sharing that video with us, as well as the story of the history of your tools. Guess you showed us how to 'old school' pick the lock.  Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
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by Squelchtone » 7 Mar 2017 10:36
You still have that excited happy wide eyed kid look about you. It's nice to have that physical connection to your dad and your past.
Thank you for sharing! Squelchtone
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by ratlock » 7 Mar 2017 12:43
Cheers guys glad you liked it
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ratlock
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by peterwn » 9 Mar 2017 4:10
Gantry wrote:WHAT! Scotland now has " inside toilets, mains water, and electric light bulbs" The next thing you'll be tell me is you've done away with the horse & buggy and have cars!!!
They have a railroad bridge which was state of the art when it opened in 1890. Trains have been running over it for 127 years except when it was shut for a week for maintenance a few years ago.
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by ratlock » 9 Mar 2017 14:59
We have built Two other bridges on the same spot since then. But the original is still there and still in use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_BridgeThings were built to last back in the day. You could also fix things, and if you couldnt, you soon learned how to fix them. I kinda chuckle at "survival/ prepper " skills nowadays. In my life time, if you couldnt, grow it, catch it. kill it, fix it, save it, store it, repair it, dig it up, cut it down,or build it up, or trade it. You didnt get by. I was searching a little of my family history lately, and my great, great grandfather and his son were in the local paper (the press and journal) for a court appearence for poaching Salmon on the river Dee in Aberdeen (which they needed to do to get by). My great, great grandad was fined a collosal £6 fine instead of 6 months hard labour. His son (my great grandad) was let off, as he had just enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders, and said he was trying to mend his ways. Shortly after he was killed at the Somme, in France. (i think his widow got 6 shillings compensation). Wish I could trade my Volvo for a horse and buggy.

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ratlock
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by G-lock » 9 Mar 2017 22:43
ratlock wrote:When I was a kid we had one outside toilet shared with 4 other familys. We had an outside wash house also shared where you could do all your laundry on the one day a week allocated as your laundry day. No central heating, just an open fire, and one parrafin (stinky) heater. One old black and white TV that you tuned with a dial like a radio, and only 3 TV stations. No telephone in the house. You had to find a coin box telephone on the street.
Thats progress
This sounds exactly like the county jail in America Seriously though, watching the video & reading your post was bitter & sweet. Some where in the back of my mind i can picture your father seeing you pick that lock with a smile.
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by ratlock » 19 Mar 2017 8:20
Heres a quick follow on just to show in clearer detail, warded locks, and a wee bit showning the defferance between a warded key, and a skeleton key. I still cant pick a 1 lever lock on a sunday morning. Enjoy, locks at their most basic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FDQA-IQ2AM
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ratlock
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by DangerDane » 20 Mar 2017 3:58
I am happy that you shared that video with us, I am going to watch it later when I am not at work  .
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