Master No.19

[Adrian Weber]

I recently got one of the nicest gifts that someone ever gave to me. Gifted collection items are always a bit more special to me than the bought ones I have no idea why but it makes me happy. This Master No.19 was bought by a friend called mac in the US, then shipped to a good friend of mine in Canada and after that sold or traded to another collector in Canada. This collector and lock picker (he always tries to get met practising my picking skills more than I do) then offered to send it my way. I was flattered by that offer and agreed. At first the package did not arrive and was send back to Canada. He had to resend the package and 2 months later it finally arrived. When being at the German Zoll office I told the friendly woman that I do not have a bill nor mails on the value of the locks in the package. I convinced her of my good intentions and that I would never lie to her on the value of the package. I promised to bring some sort of price information next time and was able to obtain the package.

I am very thankful and happy that I could finally add this padlock to my collection. The Master No.19 is probably the heaviest and biggest laminated padlock that has ever been produced. It weighs 1.2kg and the shackle has a diameter of 13.5mm. You can not shim it nor bypass it. The core is a key in knob cylinder but the one with the larger diameter and not the small one, it is featuring 6 pins. It is key retaining, double locked and you can not shim it. This Master Lock was still Made in USA and has a nice patina. The key number on the bottom is still there and not erased, which also makes it vintage. It also features and intelligent drainage system and there is a drainage hole on both sides of the shackle. One of the keys has a little crack and I am only using the other key as it is fully intact. I also added the patents in this topic and one of the patents is either wrong or about the plating process. I did not read it in full yet.

This padlock is of much better quality than nowadays Master Locks. The quality is even better than Masters Flagship the Magnum. The only advantage of the Magnum would be its inner rivet system which is like the solid body technology of Commando Lock. If people here are interested in pictures of a Magnum that I took apart I can post them. Since we are an antique locks forum I decided not to post them for now but I could add them anytime.

Be careful when handling cadmium plated locks. I always wash my hands after refurbishing or playing with cadmium plated locks.

I hope you enjoy the pictures :)