Souvenirs from Malta Island

[femurat]

I've been in Malta Island for a short vacation with my GF and took many lock pictures. Still need to clean and organize them, then I'll post them here. In the meantime enjoy these souvenirs I bought at a small hardware store. They don't make locks but have many imported ones, mainly from Italy and England, but hawe also Abloy and other uncommon ones.

The first one I bought from the shop owner, that was very surprised by my lock collecting hobby, was the Abus diskus. I've read a lot about it and was expecting something much more difficult to pick. A nice one but nothing special.
Then I tried to pick the abus titalium... after 5 minutes I had to put it down and heat my hands with the other two padlocks.
FF means Fratelli Facchinetti. I've never heard of it but it's an Italian company http://www.facchinetti.it that makes many different locks. This padlock has two security pins, is key retaining and a ball bearing locks the shackle. It was the perfect lock to warm my fingers that were missing picking a lot.
The EGRET is a crappy chinese lock. I bought it because it's a very common brand I found on low security doors and panels around the island. I picked it quickly and without much satisfaction.
Then I went back to the titalium and picked it. It gives a strange feedback. I still don't understand it completely. Maybe the small keyway gives me little room to move my picks, but the pin sliding in a titanium chamber feels strange. I guess it's just a matter of time till we'll find this sensation common. Nice little and lightweight lock.

Cheers

[elbowmacaroni]

Nice score there! On the blue handle half diamond. What did you reuse to make that handle?

Also, on the Titalium, is it actually a Ti cylinder, or is it some Ti + Al alloy?

-Elbow

[GWiens2001]

He uses disposable shaving razor handles.

Nice haul of locks, Femurat. Did not realize you did not have an Abus Discus. They are uncommon in Italy?

Gordon

[jharveee]

On Vacation, with a Girlfriend on an Island in the middle on the Mediterranean Sea.
And you're picking locks?!

Boy you got it real bad.

Pinch me, I must be Dreaming.

[Neilau]

The first one I bought from the shop owner, that was very surprised by my lock collecting hobby, was the Abus diskus. I've read a lot about it and was expecting something much more difficult to pick. A nice one but nothing special.

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one to be Disappointed with this lock.

I bought one and it was so easy that I thought that it was a cheap knockoff.

I even posted a pic of it to check that it was the real thing -- it was.

Made in Germany too !?!?

[mercurial]

The Abus website describes Titalium as "a special
aluminium alloy that uniquely combines a high level of torsion with lightness..." & compares it with aluminium
alloys used in the aircraft industry. It was designed for "maximum strength and low weight".

http://www.abus.com/eng/Security-at-Hom ... s/TITALIUM

It's a shame that they're quite expensive here, as I'd really like to see how it holds up to destructive entry. I can't really afford one just to destroy it & the only ones I've seen here in Australia are quite large locks, with a price tag to match.

I have to agree with the others who have posted above regarding the Abus Diskus - I was expecting it to put up some pick resistance, but I was very disappointed - mine fell open so easily I gave it away. I have a *tiny* 3 pin(!) TriCircle that puts up a better fight!

Maybe the Diskus was once made to finer tolerances?

...Mark

[femurat]

Hey Elbow, as Gordon stated, I use gillette blue 2 razors. 1 cut out the head and drill a hole in it; 2 put some heat shrink around a bristle and shove it in. They have the perfect groove to accommodate it. You may add a drop of superglue.

Hey Gordon, we have many Abus Discus in Italy but I wanted the old model, with the black packaging, and not the new one with the blue and red one that I can find nowadays.

Hey jharveee, I never carry picks out of my house. I just bought the padlocks and brought them home. Then I picked them.
You're right about the funny context If I had picks, I'd have picked them there...

Hey Neilau, now that you mention it, I remember your post. I was expecting a bit more challenge while picking it. Yep even mine it's made in Germany .

Hey Mark, thank for the link. This padlock was only 7 euro, but I'm not going to "test" it for you

Cheers

[Deadlock]

Yeah, I think ABUS have been a bit naughty there really. When Titalium padlocks first appeared a couple of years ago, they certainly caught my interest. Titalium! What's that?! Some kind of space age superalloy? I read and re-read all I could find on them. I thought I must've missed something. Where's the titanium? Well, there isn't any. There is no titanium at all in a Titalium lock. It's just a coincidence (ha!) that ''Titalium'' is only one letter different from titanium. As you know, the symbol for titanium is Ti. If you click on the link that mercurial posted, and download the Titalium brochure, you'll see a photo of a padlock with 54/TI/50 stamped on the body. Upper case I. ABUS certainly can't be accused of false advertising, it's just a bit... y'know. They're made in China, as I expect the Diskus is now, too.



Anyway, good work on picking those spools. An ABUS N-65/40 is my 'unpickable' lock. ABUS appear to have some kind of Tardis-in-reverse thing going on in their keyways.

[femurat]

You raise a good point about the Titalium, Deadlock. Good luck with your ABUS N-65/40. I suggest you TOK and an half diamond...

Back on my lock pictures in Malta, since those are many, I split them in three posts. Here are the padlocks

































To be continued...

[femurat]

Here are the door locks

















To be continued...

[femurat]

And here are lock related things that I liked

A "bike" designed to secure your bike to it



These removable poled where everywhere around the island





Elaborate door knockers are widely used. It may be a tradition inherited from UK









Cheers

[GWiens2001]

Femurat,

Nice collections on that lock safari. Never seen an Ingersoll padlock in the wild and a BiLock in the door! It also looks like somebody tried to use bolt cutters on that Abloy (Pl362?), but it held up to the challenge with just a little v notch on the inside edge at the shackle.

Thanks for sharing!

Gordon

[Oldfast]

INDEED! Some VERY interesting ones. Thanks so much
for putting all those together & sharing them with us!

[mercurial]

Fantastic photos of a great variety of locks, thankyou Femurat!

Gordon - at first glance, I thought that lock with the U shaped keyway was a Bilock, but upon closer examination, I decided it isn't. The keyway looks out of proportion - the vertical sections seem too high, and the horizontal section seems too thick in its vertical dimension. Also, I'm pretty sure that Bilock never used a logo like the one that can be seen above the plug.

I remember seeing a thread here where an older design of lock, with a Bilock shaped keyway was discussed, but I can't find it.

If it isn't a Bilock, does anybody know what lock this could be? It is the first lock pictured in the 'door locks' post.

...Mark

[femurat]

Hey Gordon, I noticed that v-notch too. It's a point where the padlock rusts a little so it may have a bad long term effect. I doubt it will rust enough to fall apart



Mark, here is a better view of that lock. I only took one picture but cut and edited this one differently. I read a J and a S. Hopefully somebody knows more about it.

Cheers