Incredibly Rare 1878 Padlock

[Mason Jarr]

I had time to do some electrolysis on the padlock I found at one of the western Indian Wars fort sites I have permission for. It cleaned up really well. I think if I can find someone to make a key it might even open.

I was able to do some research on it while it was in my electrolysis tank. The lock is a Model No. 1875, called the "John Chinaman". It was patented on Oct 11, 1878 by a John Gerard for the Trenton Lock & Hardware Company.

It's what is called a story lock. In this one John has stolen a bottle of whiskey through the window of a shop. You can see the bottle in his pocket. The shop owner's dog has latched onto John's leg alerting the shop owner whose hand is reaching to retrieve the whiskey.

I can't find info on how many were produced, but they are highly valuable. Some, with a key, have sold for over $6000. Without keys they sell in the $600-2000 range.

Here are some pictures after I cleaned it and put some Renaissance Wax on it. The last photo is one I found online with a key. I'm pretty excited to add it to my collection.

 

[UnderMiner]

***UPDATE***
In my original post I said I'd update if I thought I'd be able to make this lock functional. It's turned out to be a little more involved than I'd anticipated, but I think it will serve its purpose once again.

After the initial electrolysis bath I got almost all the rust and crud off the outside, but I couldn't get the shackle to even wiggle. I decided I'd need to pop the cover and it became evident why it wasn't working. Anything inside made of iron was basically a ball of rust and dirt. The spring was shot, the moving arm that locks the shackle was broken and the tang on the bottom of the shackle was also broken.

Not one to quit easily I took the broken shackle to a welder in town and he was able to brass braze it back together (I still need to do a bit of fit filing on the repair). I found some springs on Amazon with the dimensions of the rusty one and ordered a small bag. The biggest chore was making a new arm to replace the broken one. Luckily almost all of the original arm was still inside the lock. I started with a piece of 1/4" flat stock and an angle grinder. When I had it pretty close I switched to hand files. Finally after fit testing it several times it worked. The last thing I needed was a key. The local locksmith had some old blanks that would work. I could see where the pins were inside the lock so I just needed to file slots in the right places. It worked, too!

Today I picked up the repaired shackle. I'll carefully file the repair until it fits again. Then I can put it all back together. It won't be all original, but the outside will be. And it'll work again!

I'll do one more update after I get it all back together.

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Excellent work! Can't wait to see in all finished!

 

[robertk]

It's turned out to be a little more involved than I'd anticipated, but I think it will serve its purpose once again.

Wow! Talk about going above and beyond! That is outstanding!

 

[AU Seeker]

***UPDATE***
In my original post I said I'd update if I thought I'd be able to make this lock functional. It's turned out to be a little more involved than I'd anticipated, but I think it will serve its purpose once again.

After the initial electrolysis bath I got almost all the rust and crud off the outside, but I couldn't get the shackle to even wiggle. I decided I'd need to pop the cover and it became evident why it wasn't working. Anything inside made of iron was basically a ball of rust and dirt. The spring was shot, the moving arm that locks the shackle was broken and the tang on the bottom of the shackle was also broken.

Not one to quit easily I took the broken shackle to a welder in town and he was able to brass braze it back together (I still need to do a bit of fit filing on the repair). I found some springs on Amazon with the dimensions of the rusty one and ordered a small bag. The biggest chore was making a new arm to replace the broken one. Luckily almost all of the original arm was still inside the lock. I started with a piece of 1/4" flat stock and an angle grinder. When I had it pretty close I switched to hand files. Finally after fit testing it several times it worked. The last thing I needed was a key. The local locksmith had some old blanks that would work. I could see where the pins were inside the lock so I just needed to file slots in the right places. It worked, too!

Today I picked up the repaired shackle. I'll carefully file the repair until it fits again. Then I can put it all back together. It won't be all original, but the outside will be. And it'll work again!

I'll do one more update after I get it all back together.

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Great work!
Now you have a new source of income....restoring old padlocks!!

 

[Gare]

Great job of cleaning it up

 

[Mason Jarr]

Great job of cleaning it up

Thanks. I finally got all the parts to put it back together. I'm thinking about making a short video showing the insides before I do. I'm about 98% positive it's gonna work again.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Just looking at the lock again The head part figure looks like he is in a lot of pain! Looking at the obverse, that great dog is just doing his job! It gave me a good laugh! Splendid in all ways! Great restoration job too, Mason Jarr!

 

[Mason Jarr]

Just looking at the lock again The head part figure looks like he is in a lot of pain! Looking at the obverse, that great dog is just doing his job! It gave me a good laugh! Splendid in all ways! Great restoration job too, Mason Jarr!

Thanks!

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

What a cool looking Padlock !