1. The Old Fashioned Drink

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Most of us who are interested in antique furniture have, at one time or another, run across what seemed liked an intractable problem at the time — the locks on an antique chest or desk. The usual approach is to either ignore the locks or take the attitude that if the key is around — great, if not, no big deal. But locks don’t have to be such an enigma. In fact most 18th, 19th and early 20th century American and some European locks are quite simple and easy to repair and key.Three main lock designsCabinet and chest locks come in three major designs: full mortise, half mortise and surface mount.

Mortise refers to the cutout portion of wood in which the lock is mounted. A full-mortise lock is fully enclosed by the drawer front or door in which it is mounted.Only the selvage, or top edge, of the lock is visible on the lip of the drawer or door, and nothing shows on either side. Full-mortise locks are usually found on higher-quality 20th century pieces, although they are used in rare cases in 19th century goods.A half-mortise lock is exactly as it sounds — half exposed. The top selvage is visible, but so is the back, or lockplate, of the lock on the inside of the drawer front. Also usually visible on a half-mortise lock are the screws or nails that hold the lock in place. The half-mortise lock is almost universal on 19th-century American and English case goods. The simplest design is the surface-mounted lock that is not inset in the wood at all but is mounted with screws or nails flush to the inside surface of the drawer or door.

These locks are most common on early 20th-century pieces and on inexpensive reproductions and are commonly used as replacement locks by inexperienced restoration “experts.”The purpose of a lock, of course, is to keep someone out of a private place, but since most locks are designed only to keep honest people honest, a determined trespasser can almost always find a way in.Most older and antique furniture locks work on the simple idea of a key moving a bolt through the lock and into the adjoining frame member. The key usually fits over a center pin of a given size and rotates around it. The blade of the key engages a semi-circular cavity in the bolt and moves it forward or back, as the case may be. The bolt, however, may have a built-in resistance to impede the use of an unauthorized key.

The resistance is a notch in the bolt that engages a surface of the lock housing and prohibits the bolt from moving. A spring holds the bolt notch fast to the face of the lock housing. The key must not only be the right size to move the bolt forward and back, it must be the right size to compress the spring and release the bolt so it can move. Most bolts have two notches, one in the locked position and one in the unlocked position.In addition to correct barrel size and blade size, a lock may employ other features to prevent the entry or use of a bogus key.The most common is an inside ring of raised metal, concentric to the pin, that requires a notch in the key. This feature is easy to overcome by inserting a new blank key in the lock and working it back and forth. This will put a mark on the blank where the notch should be and it can be cut out with a hacksaw. Making nice notches is possible with a little practice.A variation is two inside rings of different heights that require two notches of different depths but that’s a detail.

A more serious impediment to the interloper is the accursed English “lever” lock. This lock relies on a series of spring-loaded levers, each of different thickness to deny entry. The levers must be aligned in a perfect line to allow the bolt to pass, but since their thickness is random and hidden, figuring out a cut pattern is very difficult. This lock requires notches to be made on the bottom of the key blade rather than on the face of the blade and is much more difficult to fabricate. Most lever locks are labeled as such. Apparently the 19th century English had more of a need for security that we did.

• Many different, old locks can be picked and reopened using a range of simple techniques and tricks. Anyone can try unlocking old furniture or stiff, old doors, but there is no guarantee of success so it might be necessary, eventually, to contact and pay a professional.
• You can however, buy a set of warded picks on the internet, or grind down the material of one of the spare warded keys until you just have the 'L' shape left, and then open the lock with that. Another method doesn't always work, but you can take a piece of metal like a small screwdriver and stick it into the keyhole and maneuver it around until.

This is one case where if you don’t have the key, don’t worry about it.The second most common problem in the old locks, besides no key, is a broken spring. Symptoms of broken springs include bolts that can be moved without a key, bolts that don’t lock into position or bolts that do not line up with the holes in the selvage.

The Old Fashioned Drink

Removing the housing around the pin and bolt will reveal the condition of the spring. Most springs are merely flat pieces of tension steel inserted in a slot in the bolt and wedged against the housing. If the spring is broken, remove it from the slot by punching it out with a small screwdriver. Then replace it with the spring from a salvaged lock or — better yet — with a piece of a modern bobby pin. It works very well.The most common problem with old locks is neglect, especially if the piece has been worked on before and the locks were not removed before stripping and finishing. In this case, the locks should be removed, cleaned thoroughly and submitted to liberal applications of WD-40 before any key is tried at all.Blank keys are available from a lot of places, including Van Dyke Restorers in Woonsocket, S.D.; Paxton Hardware in Upper Falls, Md.; Horton Brasses in Cromwell, Conn.; WSI Distributors in St. Charles, Mo., even your local locksmith and flea markets.Collect as many steel keys as you can to try stubborn locks with before you cut soft brass ones that may break in a reluctant bolt.Good luck.?Send your comments, questions and pictures to Fred Taylor, P.O.

Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423. Visit Fred’s Web site:.His book “How To Be a Furniture Detective” is available for $18.95 plus $3 S&H.

Also available is Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques by Fred Taylor” ($25 + $3 S&H). For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916.

Gather your lock picking supplies. A professional lock picking kit will contain tools like tension wrenches, picks, and raking tools. You'll also need a suitable lock lubricant, like lubricating graphite, which should be available at your local hardware store.

You can use as substitutes for picking tools, like a or a. You may need to go to a specialty store, like a spy store or a locksmith, or an online seller to buy a lock picking set. Although owning a lock picking set is legal in most regions, if caught by police with these tools on you, there may be laws that require you to prove you weren't intending on committing a crime. Identify the uses of the three main tools in lock picking. Knowing the uses and names of basic lock picking tools will make it easier to talk about them.

This is especially important because pop culture has misrepresented some tools. The three main tools include:. A tension wrench. Also called a torque wrench, this tool is a thin piece of metal with flared ends.

It is L-shaped or Z-shaped, where the diagonal line of the Z is straight. It is inserted into the plug (the part of the lock that turns) to apply tension to it. A lock pick. These generally have a handle that narrows to a thin, pointed piece of metal that curves slightly at its end.

The pick manipulates the inner parts (pins) of the lock mechanism. A rake. These are picks with many ridges. Some rakes may have a triangular point on the end or be rounded. These are scraped across the inside of the lock mechanism (pins) to disengage it.

Envision the lock mechanism. When a key is inserted into the keyway of the plug (the turning part of the lock), the wards (ridges/teeth) of the key push up spring-loaded pins. Each individual lock pin is actually made up of a set: a key pin and driver pin. When the break between each set of key and driver pins aligns with the lock turning mechanism, also called the shearline, the lock turns and opens.

You won't be able to see inside the lock when picking it, so having a firm mental image of the mechanism is vital. The number of pins varies from lock to lock. Padlocks often have 3 or 4, while door locks generally have 5 to 8.

Some locks, especially those in Europe, are situated with the pins at the bottom of the keyway instead of the top. Investigate the pins with your pick.

Insert your pick into the keyway. Gently feel the outline of the pins using your pick.

Single out one that is accessible. Apply light but slowly increasing pressure to the pick until you feel the springs of the pin give way. Remove the pick. Try to hold the image of the pins in your mind. Doing so can help you keep track of solved pin positions should you have to reset the lock and begin picking afresh.

By applying increasing pressure to a single pin, you can test the resistance of the pin springs. Some may be stiffer than others and require more pressure. Generally, the inner workings of locks are relatively delicate. Always err on the side of too little force to prevent accidental lock or pick breaking. Identify the binding pin. Apply gentle pressure to the plug again with your tension wrench.

Insert a pick into the keyway. Lightly touch the pins with your pick as you apply tension. Release tension on your wrench. Continue this process until you identify one pin that binds (resists) more than others when light tension is applied.

This is the first binding pin. When you identify the binding pin, maintain steady pressure on your tension wrench. Too much pressure will cause the lock to freeze, too little and the pins will reset. Set pins one at a time with your pick. While maintaining consistent pressure with your tension wrench, lift the first binding pin with your pick little by little.

Eventually, your tension wrench should turn the plug very slightly. The first pin should now be set in place. Use your pick to find the next pin that binds more than the remaining ones and similarly lift and set it. Repeat this until all pins are set. In many common locks, pins will set either front-to-back or back-to-front. However, keep in mind that this is not always the case.

Lifting a pin slowly will allow it to set more easily. With practice this motion can become significantly more rapid, especially when paired with the later described raking technique.

Applying too much torque to your tension wrench at any point could cause the lock to freeze. In this case, you'll likely have to relieve pressure on the wrench to reset the pins and start again.