August 13, 201312 yr I started this padlock years ago, namely the body and shackle, then set it aside and never finished it. Today I made the dials and completed it. The body is a solid piece of steel. The dials were upset from 1/4" stock. For future locks I'll make a special header for the dials, and made sure the holes are squared up better. The body is also bigger than it needs to be, it was made from an odd piece I had in the scrap pile. Very simple design, and locks very well, even with one dial turned.
August 13, 201312 yr I would love to see progress pictures and interior pictures on this. Great job. X2.very cool!
August 13, 201312 yr Greetings, Very slick Nick.. Is the combination your birthday ? Great design.. I love a lock that you can't pick.. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim
August 13, 201312 yr Cool lock Nick. What's the origin of the mechanism? I've seen the same idea used on cabin doors, using bolts with washers that engage in the door jam, they have flat areas that release the jam indicated by the grade marks on the bolt heads. While the washers CAN be felt and "picked," if they're placed at wide intervals around the door it takes two people to pick. Not perfect but pretty darned effective. Frosty The Lucky.
August 14, 201312 yr Author I will take progress pictures for the next one. These don't take long to make compared to some other locks. Frosty, the lock is based on an 18th century Persian original, illustrated in Locks From Iran: http://www.oldlocks.com/book_reviews/Iran/locks.htm
August 14, 201312 yr Well, that makes perfect sense......only one question. I can see that the dials would be held in by the body of the lock while locked. What holds them in when it's unlocked? Do you insert them by cutting only half circles into the front in the opposite direction of the half circles in the shackle? No.....thinking about it, that wouldn't work because you wouldn't be able to turn it.
August 14, 201312 yr Easy to pick with a 6# hammer---just hard to put back in working order afterwards
August 14, 201312 yr Author The dial holes are drilled straight through, and the ends of the shafts are lightly riveted over on the back, just enough to hold them in place. After all the holes are drilled the dials are put in and then the shackle holes are drilled again to make the indents.
August 14, 201312 yr Well, now I know and can stea.....I mean try it out for myself. Thanks! Neat post.
August 15, 201312 yr I like it. That certainly looks like something to put on my list of things to try at some point.
August 15, 201312 yr Thanks for the link Nick, those are some pretty interesting mechanisms. Frosty The Lucky.
August 16, 201312 yr Author No problem, Frosty. Here's another website with lots of historic lock diagrams: http://www.historicallocks.com/en/site/hl/HistoricalLocks/Pictures/Illustration/
August 17, 201312 yr Nick, thanks for the project idea and the book tip! Gotta see if i can get ahold of a copy :) Great job on the padlock, when can we expect the next example? ;)
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