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 :)

[Adrian Weber]

I am also adding the patents now.

Someone please change the topic to "Master No.19 Padlock", thanks!

[Retro00064]

Congratulations!

That was a great gift. These can go for some pretty big prices on eBay, especially in nice N.O.S. condition like this, despite the fact that this model isn't very rare. You could very well have to fork over a few Andrew Jacksons or more to get another example like that.

[Retro00064]

Added: I wasn't aware that these locks had a drainage system and don't see any drain holes. I'd be interested in more details on this.

And pictures of that Magnum padlock that you took apart would be cool to see.

[Adrian Weber]

Thanks for the compliment Retro! I believe that the Master No.19 is probably quite rare here in Europe :)
I have added the patent for the drainage system and will do a video on this padlock today explaining the drainage system more in detail! There is an open space in both patents that I believe is not there on the Master No.19 but I will explain that in the video. I am also going to add the pictures of the Master Lock Magnum later.

[Adrian Weber]

The video is done and will be uploaded within the next week probably.

I attached the pictures of the Magnum. The Actuator is made out of zinc die cast and also is the middle outer sleeve. The ball bearings are steel and so is everything else. The top and bottom cover of the outer sleeve is stainless steel. The only advantage it has is the ball bearing or "roller" bearing locking mechanism and the inner rivet technology body which is a bit tougher.

[Riyame]

Glad you finally got it. It took one hell of a trip to get to you.

[BBE]

Glad you finally got it. It took one hell of a trip to get to you.

The number 19 padlock was discontinued around 2000-2001. At that time Master had an unwritten policy that if they couldn't sell 10,000 of a particular model a year that it had to go away. For two years straight that product only sold around 9,500.

The 19 had a plug diameter of .518", bigger than any door lock cylinder on the market. It used 8 depths numbered from 0 to 7 with a .025" increment. Many can still be found in the back room of old time hardware stores even today.
BBE.

[Adrian Weber]

Gsus really? They sold so many of them? I didn't know that !
Do you have any idea how much it did cost back in 2000? Would be interesting to know!

Thank you very much for the info on the key and the plug
I would love to have a second one this way I could take one apart. I would never take this one apart though it is very special to me!

Mine looks more like being from the 80s. Is there any way on how to tell whether how old it could be? Most of the No.19 padlocks I have seen so far had a blue bumper and looked newer than the one that I have.

Thanks again!

[Alaphablue]

happy they let you keep it this time . I was getting tired of sending it