French Farmhouse lock

[Andrew Worthington]

This lock landed on my desk on Friday, source is a French Farm House.



It uses a 'wing' on one side of the key bit instead of a collar to control key insertion.



To make the key I had to start with a blank that had quite a large bit in order to thin it to the desired 'L' shape, remove the stock collar, warding, then add a bit of patina to blend the work in.



I can't see any markings on the lock so if anyone can shed any light on it I would be grateful.

[chubbbramah]

Made a good job of the key — how did you achieve that colour?
It's typical of French locks to have a bulleted keyhole and a plain key. These days, the collar is made by cold heading the shank, before the bit and bow are welded on, or in the case of those large warded keys, cast. Back then, after the rough blank was forged, it would be cleaned either in a lathe (the easy way) or filing (the hard way). Using an asymetric bulleted keyhole saved needing a collar.

[Andrew Worthington]

Thanks - the finish is achieved with bladed end of a panel pin hammer over the worked areas of the key to soften the transition from the raw cast area, then buff on a bench mounted wire wheel applying more pressure in the unworked areas, and finally a wipe with some wd40 to stop it oxidizing before handing it over to the customer.

Personally I prefer to try and preserve the cast look and blend the worked area back in, I have finished entire keys in the past and given that some of the cast keys we get can be like a banana you end up removing so much metal to make it 'perfect' but then the end result loses it period charm I feel.

In this case the customer has several traction engines and so a comprehensive work shop, I suggested they try hot dipping it in some old oil (we used to call it bluing when I was a lad, but thats something else now) for a darker finish and some protection, he was going to give it a try and let me know...