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What the... wait... who?! Where?! GUTSHOTS?!!!

I'm w/o internet for just a few days, and this is what you
guys do? Two pages worth of lock-porn without me?! lol

I loooove me some gutshots. Even better when it's stuff I'm
not too familiar with. Lever locks are still mostly greek to me.

Nice thread Ratlock. Thanks. Looking forward to more.

Here is a Tann 7 lever

6 Lever pancake lock

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Well guess that messes up my plans on posting pics for the 4110 lock - took a bunch of picks of one for a thread on Sunday, but then family came over and never had time.

Was wondering how long it would take for Oldfast to catch this thread. Gut shots are like putting out chum for a shark for him... he can't resist.

Gordon

STUV Lock

That Tann 7 lever has an interesting lever shape. Those cutouts on the top, is there nothing that they interact with? Does turning the key in the unlock direction (when already unlocked) put the stump into those gates on the other side?

Hi @ Huxleypig. See what you mean with the cuts on the top of the levers. On this lock they dont seem to have a purpose. Maybee in another Tann lock they would.
Here is Two pictures. One fully locked, and One fully unlocked.

ERA 7 lever.

The Era 7 is the first example of a laminated lever lock I've seen.

Very interesting thread, by the way.

Cheers

Your welcome. First and only laminated one I had seen too.

Chatwood Milner 10 lever.

That's quite the collection you've got there, Ratlock. Very interesting to see all these variations on basically the same design. Which one is your favorite/most respected?

I like the Joseph bates one. I spent ages trying to pick it with no success. I couldnt figure out what " lever 7" was doing, and why my pick was getting trapped.
When we (well We11ington. I watched) got in to the safe, and we could see how it worked. It was quite simple, once you seen how it works. But loads of head scratching, at the end of a pick wondering how to get an open, and trying to feel whats what inside the lock.

I think the older locks in my collection, have had a lot of thought put into their design to avoid picking, which may have been more prevelant, as a means of burglary, back in the day. Perhaps more so than now.

The more "Modern" locks whether, key, or combination. Reflect mass production, for the lowest cost. Whilst the older locks, whilst still being made for low labour costs, back in the day,have a good solid "hand made feel" about them.
So Like most(but not all things) things. The older the better.

Hm, care to explain how it works?
I'd think just from the photos that it locks the levers in place when tensioning it, but that wouldn't explain what you're describing about not being able to feel any tension (would be quite the opposite...). Does the mechanism limit the amount of tension you can apply somehow?

As to importance of picking - I suspect it must have been much higher in the age before modern power tools? Basically the only efficient way to get through even a pretty modest metal barrier would have been explosives or heat.