New aquisitions, bit of disapointment and joy
Here are the latest additions to my collection.
An old Liberty 6 lever.
An old American 700
And a new Abus (made in Germany) Disc with “high precision 4-pin Cylinder”
I got the Abus because I had read how well made and difficult to pick they are, plus it has low, high, low biting.
What a disappointment!!! I inserted a small diamond to feel the pins and the bugger just popped open!!!
This can’t be right….. even Masters put up more of a fight then this….. tried it several more times and same thing. I wouldn’t even call this thing a lock!!!! I have popped many, many pin tumbler locks and a few are surprisingly easy (even some expensive ones) - “Show off” locks – but this Abus is a total joke !!! I would hope that this one is an aberration, a dud that slipped through.
Perhaps they should get their locks made in China. I have five Lockwood disk locks (made in China) and have NOT been able to open them (yet) and have been trying for a LONG time.
At least the American will provide some entertainment and a bit of a challenge.
The Liberty, well, I always wanted a push key lever lock (with key) and got this one for a good price.
REQUEST. Can anyone make or get me a spare key for the American? I’ll pay.
It looks like the biting is stamped on the key (not all that familiar with these locks and there is no one around here that has blanks).
The numbers are 48854
Cheers.
More – I finally popped the American !!!! Yeah !!!!
It took a while to get to know the lock. Reading Oldfast’s post on them and finally using a TOK wrench made especially for this lock (because of the two number 2 cuts BOK wrenches get in the way). Thanks Oldfast for the great article on the old Americans.
I’m actually quite chuffed at popping it - sort of a milestone. Like shooting a 500+ in Sports Pistol.
The pick that conquered it was one that I made from a bike spoke and an old cigarette holder that was broken. My wife has a small collection of antique cigarette holders and this one fell off the stand and broke the ivory end. When throwing it out I thought “ what can I use this for?”. The hole in the end fitted a bike spoke perfectly so I made a small hook and epoxyed it into the holder.
Works, comfortable and a little crazy. BTW bike spokes are extremely strong and are great for making hooks (bend and grind down the sides) but are difficult to put a good handle on.
Anyway, back to the Lockwoods……..
For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert.