Recently I purchased this interesting old British cuff, which is totally unmarked. The overall shape closely resembles a classical Darby cuff, but the locking mechanism is completely different. The restraints has a spring wedge lock. Unfortunately I have no key, but I managed to pick the lock by the help of two screwdrivers.
Does anybody have a similar restraint? I would especially like to know how an original key looks like, because the lock has a really interesting shape. Any information about possible manufacturers or age of the cuff are also welcome. Personally I would date the restraint 18th century or even older.
Regards,
Atame aka Günter
www.atame.info
Howard Hunt 18 Apr 2005
#2Sure likes similar to the locking method used for padlocks my grandfather brought back from Tinsen (don't know the modern name, the port for Peiking (now Beijing) when he was stationed in China in the early 1900's.
Straight bars, fixed together, in the proper shape and size to allow a straight push into the entry hole will open it.
The original key was normally hinged to fold into the inside a large U shape of metal, was hinged at the connection for this, and had another smaller U shape on the outside to enable it to be carried closed, kinda like the U metal on a Boy Scout knife.
Howy
Recently I purchased this interesting old British cuff, which is totally unmarked. The overall shape closely resembles a classical Darby cuff, but the locking mechanism is completely different. The restraints has a spring wedge lock. Unfortunately I have no key, but I managed to pick the lock by the help of two screwdrivers.
Does anybody have a similar restraint? I would especially like to know how an original key looks like, because the lock has a really interesting shape. Any information about possible manufacturers or age of the cuff are also welcome. Personally I would date the restraint 18th century or even older.
Regards,
Atame aka Günter
www.atame.info
I tend to agree, the lock design is asain. I have even seen a pair of handcuffs build like this that is sitting in a musuem in Leonardtown, MD. One of these days I will get back down that way and photograph them. The only difference I see in the ones I saw and these is that there is just a slot and the key goes in at an angle and you rotate into the lock and then slide it all the way down to compress the springs.
-Dorson
Chris Gower 22 Apr 2005
#4
Recently I purchased this interesting old British cuff, which is totally unmarked. The overall shape closely resembles a classical Darby cuff, but the locking mechanism is completely different. The restraints has a spring wedge lock. Unfortunately I have no key, but I managed to pick the lock by the help of two screwdrivers.
Does anybody have a similar restraint? I would especially like to know how an original key looks like, because the lock has a really interesting shape. Any information about possible manufacturers or age of the cuff are also welcome. Personally I would date the restraint 18th century or even older.
Regards,
Atame aka Günter
www.atame.info
You are very lucky to have found this item in such good condition. More will be revealed in my article that I am writing for Joes Annual, but in the mean time the cuff you have is almost certainly British, Hiatt did have one in their collection and I have one in my collection with the original key. Hopefully the scan will give you a good idea of what it looks like. I do agree that this type wedge mechanism has been around for many hundreds of years and certainly the newer copies made of the padlock do have keys that fold. The original keys made did not fold and were hand forged out of one piece of iron. My own views are that this was the predecessor of the standard Darby Pattern Handcuffs, it seems too much of a coincidence that the shapes are similar and it would not take too much experimentation to add the internal spring so they evolve into the Darby Pattern Handcuffs.
Recently I purchased this interesting old British cuff, which is totally unmarked. The overall shape closely resembles a classical Darby cuff, but the locking mechanism is completely different. The restraints has a spring wedge lock. Unfortunately I have no key, but I managed to pick the lock by the help of two screwdrivers.
Does anybody have a similar restraint? I would especially like to know how an original key looks like, because the lock has a really interesting shape. Any information about possible manufacturers or age of the cuff are also welcome. Personally I would date the restraint 18th century or even older.
Regards,
Atame aka Günter
www.atame.info
Hello all,
thank you very much for your replies. And special thanks to Chris for the information and the pictures. Chris' cuff looks almost identical to mine. The main differences are the cylinder top (where the bow is inserted) Chris' looks even more like the one of a classical Darby. And the wedge - Chris' wedge has two springs. It is hard to see on my pictures, but my wedge has three springs, because the second spike on my wedge is turned 90 degrees and has springs on both sides.
Regards,
Guenter aka Atame
