The Spruce Forge Manual of Locksmithing: A Blacksmith's Guide to Lock Mechanisms Book

The best place to start the study of locks is with the simple hand forged locks produced by smiths prior to the turn of the century. Unlike the finely finished locks produced in specialized shops, locks made by blacksmiths had simple mechanisms that did not need finely tuned parts. They were designed by smiths and reflected their dislike or reluctance to do benchwork. The variety of lock designs show us that some of the smiths had a working knowledge of more sophisticated lock mechanisms while others created locks that could only have been invented in a blacksmith shop.The Spruce Forge Manual of Locksmithing provides patterns and instructions to build five blacksmith-made locks. Each lock design is based on antique original and provides a sampling of the range of lock mechanisms that would have been produced in a common blacksmith shop. This is not a book on the history of locksmithing but rather a description of the authors' approach to the problem of reproducing the sample locks chosen for this book. Using the original locks as a starting point, the authors developed patterns and instructions using techniques that can easily be performed by the average smith.Spiral bound, 118 pages, illustrated.Read More