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29th August 2012, 12:50 AM #1
My first attempt at a working wooden padlock
This is a padlock from Tim Dettweiler's book, 'Making Working Wooden Locks', a copy of a railroad switch lock from the 1850's.
It will be made entirely of wood, with no metal parts. I'm using Calantis Cedar for the 3 body laminations and Camphor Laurel for the shackle, it's pivot pin and the keyhole cover if I decide to include it. I sort of like the look of a keyhole without cover, so we'll see what happens.
All being well, it's shape will look something like this: -
Attachment 221407
The prepared timber for the body laminations and shackle: -
Attachment 221408 Attachment 221409
So, the first order of business is to drill 3 x 6mm holes in the 10mm rear lamination, for the key pivot, the lever pivot and the spring stop. They're all blind holes, stopping 3mm before breaking through: -
Attachment 221410
Next on the agenda, in the front lamination, is the 1/2" / 1/4" keyhole and 10mm shackle pivot pin hole.
The keyhole cover pivot hole would normally be drilled now too, if a cover was being included.
Attachment 221411
Checking keyhole alignment with the rear lamination: -
Attachment 221412... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012 12:50 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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29th August 2012, 12:55 AM #2
Time to start on the centre lamination. First it needs to be accurately marked out. After marking, I cut over the lines with a thin blade, for easier trimming right to the line. When sanding, the last bit peels away, indicating the centre of the line.: -
Attachment 221413
And the centre lamination again, cut out and cleaned up a bit. Great fun trying to cut this with the 1/2" bandsaw blade, but I was too slack to mess around putting the 1/4" on, so had to do lots of shaping with a chisel. The spindle sander was useful for cleanup. I left the spring slot slightly thin for now, at about 1.3mm. I can widen it later to fit the spring. : -
Attachment 221414
A temporary 1.4mm Camphor Laurel spring in place for testing.: -
Attachment 221415
It's time to glue dowels in the three 6mm holes that I drilled earlier in the rear lamination.
Top hole is the spring stop, the middle one is the lever pivot and the bottom one is the key pivot.
The top of the key pivot is rounded a bit to make key insertion easier.: -
Attachment 221416
It seems like a good point to check that everything aligns OK, before going further: -
Attachment 221417 Attachment 221418... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012, 12:58 AM #3
So far so good. Now onto the latch bolt.
It will be made from a piece of Jarrah, nice and hard for low friction, 75mm x 17.5mm x 8mm.
Attachment 221419
Latch bolt partly shaped. It needs to be free enough to slide smoothly and easily.
At this stage, it's a good idea to check the fit before continuing.
I had to file the top edge of the spring stop flat for the latch bolt to slide freely.
I also lightly filed the right-hand-side of the spring stop, where the spring will rest: -
Attachment 221420
The business end of the latch bolt: -
Attachment 221421
And now with the notch cut for the end of the spring. (It's supposed to be half-dovetail shaped.): -
Attachment 221422
A quick trial: -
Attachment 221423
The next thing on the agenda, tomorrow, is the actuating lever.
The key rotates the lever, which in turn presses on the spring, drawing back the latch bolt to release the end of the shackle.... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012, 01:08 AM #4
I forgot to say, I haven't decided on the final timber for the spring yet. I'll be testing some Yew, Tallowood, Pecan, Ash, Bamboo, the Camphor Laurel that's already in place and some thin aircraft ply possibly.
There's a thread on the subject here: What Oz timbers are similar to Hickory? - Woodwork Forums... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012, 02:28 AM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Thanks, Hermit. Very interesting build. I suppose the keyhole cover might have been useful to keep dirt and such out of the mechanism. Maybe indoors, it wouldn't have mattered.
Also I see how you can swap out the spring for experimenting with various woods. Those will be interesting experiments.
Do you suppose you can stiffen the spring my keeping the middle thicker and tapering/thinning the ends to fit? At the same time, I can now imagine how the strength of the key material has to work against the spring.
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29th August 2012, 02:39 AM #6
So I'm not the only one still awake. (Just realised, Robson, you're not in Oz. It's daytime where you are.)
You're right about the cover for dirt and stuff, but as you also say, indoors it doesn't matter. (I like the shape of a keyhole.)
The spring could work well if tapered toward the tip, (making it progressive), but not at the end that's anchored, or it might break at the point where it's attached to the main body.
It's a matter of getting just the right amount of spring tension, by carefully choosing timber type and thickness, to keep wear/stress to a minimum while making sure the lock still works well. (Having said that, it's surprising how good it feels already, with the Camphor Laurel for a spring.)
Edit: The other desired property of the spring is a good shape memory, for lack of a better term, so that it continues to fully return the latch bolt to the locked position over time.... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012, 05:16 AM #7
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29th August 2012, 11:15 AM #8
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29th August 2012, 12:18 PM #9
Wow Steve,
That didn't take long. I guess the book was inspiring to you. Looking forward to how this comes out.
Bret
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29th August 2012, 12:38 PM #10
Hi Steve
I have built about 30-35 locks ,some from the book and some of my own design,as no doubt you will also.I mainly used old hammer handles for the spring.
I had one test lock that screwed together(not glued) I used this for test purposes.
A few things bust the spring.
1.very fast key turning,kids seem to turn it very fast.The spring may snap like a carrot.
2 Don't glue the spring in the bottom and round the slot it fits in on the edges.It reduces a bad stress point on the spring.
3.Thickness is critical and no flaws in the cutting,sand smooth as you can.spring rate alters dramatically with just a few rubsof sandpaper.
Round the lond sides over so it does'nt start to bind on the case after awhile
You dont need preload on thespring to hold the tongue in place.Back To Car Building & All The Sawdust.
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29th August 2012, 02:06 PM #11GOLD MEMBER
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Ah yes, Hermit, we are so out of synch = days, seasons, even the sun in your northern sky, south for me. I have an ICOM world clock here, N polar projection, where I see Sydney time at the moment is near noon (8P here).
I find it hard to imagine a blacksmith bashing these locks out of red+ hot iron.
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29th August 2012, 03:05 PM #12
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29th August 2012, 04:54 PM #13
I just completed a long-winded post with replies to everyone, then got a message that my PM Inbox was overflowing, clicked on it and it replaced the page with all of my work.
I'll try again later when I have more time.... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012, 09:07 PM #14
My pieces of Ash and Yew arrived this morning, for the spring testing. Thanks, Woodwould for that.
Also, the Hickory and Tallowood pieces arrived today from Wizened of Oz, so it's all systems go. Thank you Brian.
Edit: Today's progress is following, 2 posts down.... Steve
-- Monkey see, monkey do --
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29th August 2012, 09:14 PM #15Senior Member
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