Quote Originally Posted by Doug MacQueen View Post
I definitely agree with you on that point. And if Dean is correct in his dating of the padlock that style must have been in voque during that era. What do you think about the square pin version mentioned, if true? Should that lock be filed under "what were they thinking?". Doug
The Sargent Square Pin Cylinder was invented by Henry R. Stadtmuller of Whitneyville, CT and assigned to Sargent & Co. in 1897. This cylinder was invented to eliminate the use of "split pin masterkeying" in a masterkeyed cylinder thereby making it more pick resistant. This was accomplished by having two steps in each pin with a R.H. blade change key and an L.H. blade master key. See US Patent 588,026; Aug. 10, 1897. There are several in the collection of Lock Museum of America in Terryville, CT*. BBE (Billy B. Edwards, Jr.) has suggested that they are found only on Roman Catholic Churches. I've never actually seen one.

*adapted from Historical Research Series #13, June, 1984 by Thomas F. Hennessy, Curator, Lock Museum of America

Pete Schifferli