We picked these up at an antique store. The lady said it belong to a retired sheriff and that he got them from an auction.
Anyone have any idea approx age or brand or any info on them?
Only marking I see is the number 80 on key and cuff. No other visible marking of letters that I could make out.
Not only are they a modern reproduction, they are a particularly nasty one.
First of all, look at the workmanship. The things are covered with file marks and grinding wheel marks. There are gaps and sloppiness all around. They look like they were fashioned by a blindman!
The shackle, that forms the hinge for the bow is fashioned from sheet metal folded over and driven onto the lock case. On genuine models, they would have been forged integrally with the lock case, or at least have been forged from one piece. Folding of sheet matal is easier if you can buy cheap sheet metal in bulk, Forging it whole is easier if sheet metal is expensive. It looks like the shackle is brazed to the lock case.
The plug in the end of the lock case is secured by center punch marks. On vintage cuffs, they are usually staked with a ring of "crows feet."
The chain links are brazed shut, and the braze metal is untarnished. Most cheap copies use electricly welded links. Vintage links would have been forge welded.
The swivel is particularly nasty. Looka at the elegant swivel on the vintage cuffs.
The keys on the copies are an odd fabrication. Usually, they appear to be a spring, sized to the screw threads on the lock bolt, brazed inside a cylinder. This is a bizarre construction. Apparently modern taps and dies, chaep as they are, are too expensive. The screw threads may be cut by hand. I've not cut up a pair to be sure, but I'd bet lunch that is so, and why the keys must be custom made. The threads on vintage Darbies are machined.
These "Pirate, Nautical, Slave, (Name a Famous)Prison" cuffs are all over eBay. They are a neat novelty item, but nothing more.
