horizontial lock figure 8's

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

These are very interesting cuffs. The one that just sold is the fourth one I know about. I have the one pictured below.




Like the one that just sold, mine is marked Hiatt. I believe the other two I know about are not marked. The one on eBay had what looks like a conventional Darby key.
My came with a screw that functions as a key. You turn in the screw and it lifts up the bolt. The screw has a hollow shaft with the threads inside. It is essentiall just a short key.

The age of these cuffs is a mystery. I think they are early 19th century and represent a short lived experiment to combine features of the plug 8 and the Darby. I would really like to know more about them.

In any case they represent a very interesting addition to any collection of British cuffs. I would appreciate hearing from anyone else who has one.

Joe

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Is that these were designed to prevent attempts at rapping the cuff open.

The position of the locking tube makes this method of tampering and escape highly unlikely.

And, no doubt rapping was known to Police officials of the time as a bona fide method of beating darbies.

Steve Santini

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Hello Friends,

Does the key screw in like a regular darby and pull the bolt against the spring, or does it employ some other type of lock?

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

my thoughts were the designer had in mind an easyer way to remove them .if the new owner is listening please let us know more!

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

I have one that is unmarked. I think mine is one of the four that Joe knows
of. The key works the same as a darby cuff. Pics are from my CD.
Stan
www.handcuffsandbadges.com

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

You say there are four known right now. A possible fifth is in the Ben Bergor restraint collection, which is now owned by the Wisconsin state historical society.

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Hi there,

I have not posted here before, but thought I would drop a line to say that I recently purchased the ones on E-bay & they have just cleared U.K. Customs, so I should have them either tomorrow or Saturday. I will be able to tell you more then.
Anyone lucky enough to be going to Antwerp will be able to have a closer look, as I will be bringing them along.

Dan

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Dan

Welcome to the forum. It is always nice to have new collectors join us.

Paul
The action of the mechanism is similar to a regular Darby. You turn the screw to lift the bolt. But mine is not spring loaded. You have to turn the screw in all the way to open it. Turning it part way and then pulling does not work.

Joe

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

That given the position of the lock tube and the size/shape of the head of the key this may be more awkward to unlock when on the wrists than a regular form Darby would be.

Combine this with the odd shape that would not sit well in a pouch and you may have some reasons why these did not catch on and more were not made.

Steve Santini

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Hi:
from what i remember the ones I have seen are the hiatts
and the others were parker holborn
an old manufacturer of firearms

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

HI,
I have a photo of the pair in the Berger collection, which
also includes the extremely rare Houston Cuff. Ben had
3-4 handcuff boards, and to the best of my knowledge they
are not in the Madison County Historical Society, which owns
lots of Ben's magic props. The HIstorical Society does not have the handcuff boards. I have letters from Ben's widow and photos of a few of the boards.

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Thats possible, I was told about the boards about three years ago when I purchased some Berger material from a magic collectables dealer. Had no reason to doubt him, but he could have misunderstood where they wound up.
Weird, got some more Berger material in todays mail.

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

The cuffs arrived!!! Will post some pictures when I find how to.
Stan, my set are just like yours except that I notice from looking at your photo, that yours open from the top, whereas mine open from the bottom. Are yours a left hand thread (do you have to turn the key counter clockwise to open them)?

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Mine are right hand (clockwise) thread, like a normal darby.
Stan

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Sorry, on my last post I forgot to put my name & it posted as Anonymous.

Thats interesting that Stan's cuffs are right handed as they are the opposite of mine. Although we know of four/five of these cuffs, it seems they are all slightly different. Joe's having the screw locking, Stan's opening on the right with a right-hand thread & mine opening on the left with a left-hand thread. Also I notice that mine have a lip on the base of the lock barrel whereas Stan's do not.
I wonder what the others are like!

Tried to post photo's, but cant seem to get them to paste. Can anyone help?

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Weas, try to host them on Photobucket or send them to my e-mail and I will post them here tomorrow.

Cheers, Mike

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Here are the photos that Weasel asked me to post here:

Wesael's Cuff Photo #1

Weasel's Cuff Photo #2


Stan's Cuff Photo #1

Stan's Cuff Photo #2


Cheers, Mike

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

Cheers Mike

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

No problem Weas!!! You are going to be the talk of the Antwerp Convention with these and that BEAUTIFUL RCS Plug 8!!!

Cheers, Mike

sold---Item number: 180210690999 ,has anyone ever seen other's of these,& is the winner a poster here?

That's if the R.C.S ever arrive Mike!