1890s Mortise Cylinder - Help, I need information and a key blank!

My next door neighbor has a home built in 1895 (so far as can be told) and i thought nothing of pulling the original lock cylinder to have a new key made. Unfortunately for me, the key is an obsolete key, being of a U shape. The patent on the cylinder I believe says, "Pat. OCT.27-95" Although the "95, could be an 8/9 and a 5/6) One locksmith suggested that the cylinder may be a Schroeder, another says that he may be an Eagle. I guess it has a double pin mechanism that each leg of the key activates. I am curious to the manufacturer, the actual patent date, and I'd like to find a key blank for it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Attachment 11422
Wesley

Here's the patent:

US 570032 A

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Originally Posted by Ryan Krakowsky

Here's the patent:

US 570032 A

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Review of Patent No. 570,032 reveals it was issued Oct. 27, 1896. Inventor was John Luebbers of Cincinnati, Ohio and it was assigned to J.B. Schroeder & Co. also of Cincinnati, OH. They were an old time lock manufacturer from that era but I have little information on them. I did find some reference to old Schroder sectional key blanks from Ilco and Graham but nothing like the cylinder image or patent. See thumbnail attached.

Pete Schifferli

Well that is kinda like a BiLock. Different than it once you get into the lock and how it works.Blanks will have to be made by hand as I don't think that was ever in the after market. If that lock is up for sale let me know. I would love to have more pictures at least.

A more recent analog is the Bi Lock from Australia, US patent numbers 4,478,061 and 4,498,327. See http://toool.nl/images/f/f9/Cutaway1.pdf page 15. It's unlikely the blanks would be close but I thought it would be interesting to point out the similarity. See also http://www.bilock.com/ and http://www.bilock.net/. At least the concept is still alive.

Thanks for the information, and for the patent! It's really quite an interesting setup, for a lock that doesn't even activate a deadbolt for security. Where does one begin to make blanks? Or are there those out there who do? Is the bottom of the "u" crucial to the key function?

Not sure about it as looking up patent number 31278, from L.Yale JR. The reason for is as you look at the key blank it just about close to it.

I would take two flat blanks and braze them together with a bridge at the bottom. Then merge the key at the "head" of the key and use one of the key heads from the ones I used for the blades. Once done if done correctly would look good. It will take someone that knows metal work.

That's a very interesting lock and an interesting key profile as well- especially considering the age of it- it's definitely got a Victorian Bi lock look about it.

On the subject of making blanks- Dean's right in that it's definitely going to involve knowledge of the lock and working with metal.

My first choice would definitely be to profile the section from solid brass rectangular bar- once it's filed or milled to size (might even be lucky and find some already the right size). Milling down the centre will then create the 'U' shape you need. The photo seems a bit unclear to me though- it looks like the bottom of the 'U' might have a shaped profile on it? If so it's presumably to stop a basic 'U' shape blank from fitting. This profile can again be milled or carefully filed by hand depending on how adventurous/skilled you are. An advantage of this method is that the other end of the bar can then be milled down, the end turned to form a round spigot, and any key bow you have or want to make, can then be nicely brazed on the end. Or, the bow end can be left slightly wider or 'flared' where it projects from the plug, and before you turn the spigot. This will act as a collar or 'stop' for the key sliding in the plug.

Obviously all the profile and shaping has to be done step-at-a time and very accurately to fit the profile and the plug though, as any wobble or slop will render the blank useless as a working key- And, on an old lock cylinder of that age it's anyone's guess as to how worn the internal profile could be. You simply won't know until to do it!

Dean's method is another good one using a 'built-up' process to create the shape, and yet another I'd consider would be to fold the 'U' section up from brass or nickel silver strip of the correct thickness. Easy enough to do quite tight cold bends in brass, but it's easily annealed to soften it to make things easier and get the corners even tighter. With both these methods you will have a bit of faffing around to fit the bow on though, as Dean said.

Also don't forget that after all that's done it's still a big unknown as to the condition of the lock inside- unless you've already had it apart of course. That would make things a lot easier for making the blanks and sizing them to the plug.

It's the sort of interesting and relaxing job that most of us would probably keep on the bench for ages and just pick it up every now and then and do a bit more. these sort of 'unknown' jobs are fine when you can do it all yourself but could be problematic and expensive if someone else has to be paid to do it- there's also the potential for a lot of fiddly little worn out parts and springs inside, in addition to hand making the blanks and making the keys, so fingers crossed that none of it is worn and that all the parts inside are ok. Give it a go and let us know how you get on :(y):

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Originally Posted by Pschiffe

Review of Patent No. 570,032 reveals it was issued Oct. 27, 1896. Inventor was John Luebbers of Cincinnati, Ohio and it was assigned to J.B. Schroeder & Co. also of Cincinnati, OH. They were an old time lock manufacturer from that era but I have little information on them. I did find some reference to old Schroder sectional key blanks from Ilco and Graham but nothing like the cylinder image or patent. See thumbnail attached.

Pete Schifferli

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I have a couple of cylinders clearly marked Schroder that are the conventional pin tumbler type. Keys are 6 pin nickel silver, D keyway, (2632GD for the Graham sectional blank) with what I assume is the key code in letters stamped into one side, much like an Eagle key code. The funny thing is the cylinder itself has an entirely different key code stamped on the back of the cylinder in numbers. Searching on the Internet turns up no info about these. Apparently the only pictures are of a few that have shown up on eBay, nothing else. I’m going to assume they were not produced for very long just based on their apparent scarcity and the absence of info about them.