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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    147
    Country: United States

    Default Yale time lock

    Yale & Towne time locks are often mounted with rubber washers to help isolate any shock from closing the safe door from affecting the time escapements. The rubber washers are always flattened, hard, and dried out. If one is replacing a missing time lock they are often missing when a replacement is found.

    I searched long and hard for a suitable replacement but they always seemed to be the wrong size or thickness. I finally stumbled upon a vibration isolating product for the sound industry that was exactly what I was looking for. The ISOLATE-IT! brand product is a Sorbothane material that seems to be somewhere between rubber and silicone and comes in different densities (Duro) depending on need. I chose the 1” OD x .450 ID x 70 Duro which are .190 thick. While a slightly smaller outside diameter, once the time lock bolts are tightened they squeeze out to near the original size. The thickness ends up very close also, my time locks lined up perfectly.

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    Both my Mosler safes were missing time locks and each used the Yale & Towne Triple L model. There are a number of different designs of the Triple L and both Moslers used the style that has the snubber bar that connects to the safe door linkage that comes out the left side near the rear of the case. There are two styles of this time lock that have the keyhole for the door cover in different locations. The earlier style has the keyhole at the top right of the door. My 1891 Mosler Screw Door double door used this style.

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    The later style has the keyhole on the lower right side of the door. My 1915 Mosler Screw door has this style.

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    I am not sure when Yale made this change in design but I have found the same to be true in other safes that were similar in age to mine. When I found my time locks I had 2 with the keyhole on the lower right and only one with the keyhole at the top, opposite of what I needed so the double door had a mismatched set.
    Recently, an earlier Yale with the keyhole at the top turned up on Ebay. In nice condition, with the original time escapements in numerical order, in running condition, and with the original door key and winding key. A nice find.

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    Another thing to keep in mind is that Yale time locks use an odd bolt for mounting. It has 16 threads per inch (TPI) but has an odd diameter. A standard 3/8 bolt uses 16 TPI but the Yale bolt is just under 7/16 in size. It is best to find a time lock that has the bolts included or some would have to be made. Here is a standard 3/8 bolt on the left with the Yale bolt on the right.

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    Today I changed out the incorrect time lock on the double door so that gave me a chance to take some pictures of the rubber washers. Hopefully it will help out someone else wondering what to use.

    The 1891 Mosler Screw Door double door now has it's final piece in place.


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    Last edited by 00247; 13-02-18 at 03:27 AM.

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