Help identify these shackles

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

The welding is by electric arc, so that pretty much places them as post WW-II. It can be exceedingly difficult to date steel artifacts, except by metallurgical analysis, stylistic analysys, patination, and provenance.

They have no provenance. They look rusted rather than patinated.

They look like low-end stuff that is currently available commercially for the BDSM trade, although there is and always has been a fair amount of home mede product of that style. All you need to make them would be an ability to weld, the commonest of shop tools, and a welder.

The wider cuffs are probably cut from iron pipe, with hardware store hinges, the locking tabs, and the chains welded on. The more elaborite ones look like pipe hangers or perhaps handrail brackets. They may have had internal screw threads at the end of the stem, or perhaps a stud or a padeye that has been cut off. I'm wondering if they were oarlocks.

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

The leg irons are certainly made from pipe and the wrist irons are very likely pipe clamps.

To my mind, these are either BDSM play toys or perhaps prop restraints made for film or television use.

They are certainly not very secure at all.

I do not think they are very old. 50 years at best perhaps.

Steve Santini

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

Hi Nils,

I agree with both Dennis & Steve. I would put money on the cuffs being pipe clamps. They are threaded for the screw & if they were genuine cuffs, they wouldn't be screwed shut. The legirons look remarkably similar to some I got from a guy (called Lawrie Richardson) down that part of the country. Even down to the modern chain.

I hope you didn't pay too much for them.

Dan

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

I'm glad I didn't pay more than I did ...

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

I basically agree with the comments above... The chain is modern as it is electro welded, the leg iron section is certianly piping of some sort with welded on hinges bought at local hardware store. The hnadcuff portion is some type of clamp for a pipe, and what came to mind is hand railing of some sort, maybe for commerial or maritime use. All the welds were done with a stick welder and someone who was new to welding. So either a prop for some drama dept., etc. or BDSM related.

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

Hi Nils,

The "cuffs" strike me as "conduit hangers" used to support thin-walled wire-carrying pipe from the rafters of commercial buildings.

I must laugh at the way the LI hinges were made by chopping a standard '5' knuckle hinge directly through the center knuckle.


To Joe L: You should make a new section of the website where prizes are won for the correct guesses as to what "off the shelf" components were used to make a homemade restraint. / Kinda fun heh?

Take care,
--Vince

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

I got several sets that I use for lectures of why you should buy the stuff that is really made for this purpose as some of the stuff is so crude and harmful.

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

Hey

Santini will be in Europe soon, and he can tie you up and fuck you in the ass while you wear those

That should make them collectible.

Get his DNA

Hello everybody,

I recently acquired these shackles from the UK. To me they do not seem especially valuable or rare, but rather self-made. But I find them interesting nevertheless.

The welding and unique appearance give them away as not being a factory job. The handcuff design is more elaborate than the leg irons and locks with a simple screw. If I understand welding correctly, it has been around since the 1880s (in the form we know today).

This is what the seller told me about them:

"... they are from the devon area of uk i know nothing of there history ..it is a bay area so maybe from ship as brixham devon was a busy port at sometime and the nearest prison to this area is dartmoor prison but this prison is further than the port ..sorry
can be of no more help."

So these are my working theories:

1. They are custom made irons by a smith onboard a ship or for a police / prison service. (Hiatt would have been around, but for whatever reason not available).

2. They were made for private enterprise / dungeon / entertainment purposes. (handcuffs a little too well made for that maybe)

3. I'd date them around 1915-1950.


I'd appreciate further ideas or theories.

Kind regards

Nils

Click to expand...

Since when did we let children with ill manners on this board?