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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Tavistock, Devon UK
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    562
    Country: Great Britain

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    Quote Originally Posted by dicey View Post
    Could this sort of spring mechanism wear of or loose tension after years of usage?
    There were a lot of Milners Safes still in high usage commercial institutions such as Banks and Jewellers in the 70's and broken springs were a rarity. Most problems with these locks involved taking the lock off cleaning it up and putting it back.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
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    1,433
    Country: United States

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    Can you be more specific about these possible causes? And do you know the exact brass alloy for the levers used by Milner. I know that phosphor bronze is a favored spring material, but that isn't used here. Some sort of leaded yellow brass? It always surprises me when a mechanism has a long history of reliability, even when it is not lubricated on a regular basis. The materials used as well as fit and finish, were established over time through a great deal of experimentation. I fear that much of this information is already lost, as manufacturers have been going cheap for decades now. The wear factor in these key locks was of great importance when you consider how tight some of them where. And how long they last. Anybody have some input on this? Doug

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Frankfurt Main
    Posts
    705
    Country: Germany

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    After rereading Ians and Brians posts again I have to ask some more questions.

    Ian wrote:
    The Lock also has a spring loaded boltstump in the bolthead which acts as a anti picking device.
    How does that work? When taking a look at the stump it seems always to be in the upper position. No wait... if it gets caught in of the false gates it will move along with the levers right? Very interesting feature! At least if my assumption is correct this would highly distract the manipulator while attempting to open it.

    Brian wrote:
    This design with the pivoted bolt stump was one of a several alternative ‘anti-pressure’ locks and is generally attributed to the Boyces’.
    Talking about the bolt stump again. What if that spring beneath it fails after several years of usage? This spring had to keep the bolt stump up all the time and I believe it will probably loose or at least could loose tension after years of usage. This would render the lock being useless and malfunction (not open any longer). Again, only if my assumptions are right.

    Sorry that my questions come this late but I had to reread your posts and also take a closer look at the pictures. At first I did not see this spring but was finally able to discover it at picture number seven.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Tavistock, Devon UK
    Posts
    562
    Country: Great Britain

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    If the spring broke then the bolt stump would drop to its activated position and the the lock would be locked out. Its would be a simple drilling job to hold the bolt stump in position while you turned the key, but I am not so sure it would be easy to replace the spring.

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