Towers Double Lock Leg Irons

Hello, fellow collectors,
I recently purchased a set of towers double lock leg irons, and am having trouble unlocking them. Is there a trick?
They seem to be rust free, in working condition, and were supplied with two keys. The keys are, however, each different. 
I'm not sure if they are worn; they were said to not be original keys, but to work.
The keys just spin freely in the locks. There is some resistance while turning, and I did manage to engage the double lock at one point, but they do not unlock.
I am aware that Towers are very tight tolerance mechanisms, and that these may be faulty or damaged. I purchased from an ebay seller, who does accept returns, so if I must, I will return them.
However, these being the finicky cuffs they are known to be, does anyone have any advice or information regarding unlocking these irons?

Hello everyone,
I am happy to say I have opened BOTH of the cuffs on the Towers Double Lock leg irons. I emailed the seller, who reported that one opened easily, while one was tricky and required some finesse, essentially. I was a little disappointed, and considering returning them, although these are what I was looking for in a set of Towers irons, mostly because the price was good and they are not plated, which I prefer over nickel plating. (However, the nickel finish does appear to be really nice on the Towers!)


     I still had no luck whatsoever opening with the two dissimilar keys provided. I could feel something engaging and turning, but nothing more.
     I purchased a set of Towers handcuffs, (with single long connecting link, I believe this indicated Union Hardware manufacture?) The key to these, (top most key) was able to open one of the leg irons easily, and the other with only minor fussing, I think more due to my unfamiliarity with this mechanism than to anything internal.

     So the key that WORKS is a little longer than the ones provided, which seemed to play a part, and is not filed down at all. I expect the two keys provided with the irons were filed down incorrectly, or perhaps simply very worn, and thus not engaging all the pawls/levers.

     The key that works is basically a larger version of a standard modern handcuff key. Does anyone have any information about this key, or is anyone willing to sell one, or point me towards a replacement key?

From other threads I have read, this is "blank height", and that other Towers may have had modified versions of this standard key with a full height flag.

     Here are the three keys. The top one works in my Towers Handcuffs (Union Hardware, I believe,) and in the Towers DL leg irons. The bottom two keys, provided with the leg irons, interestingly enough, DO NOT even fit the Handcuffs, although the Handcuff key opens the leg irons.

I am starting to think the two provided keys are not usable keys at all, or possibly would manage if the prior owner knew a certain trick to it. I am very keen on finding a key like the top one, so I can have one for each of my Towers set.
Thank you for reading, and for any information you can offer regarding Towers keys!

Hi Ryan,
there are four combinations of Tower keys, which differ by the position/absence of the key bit.
A few years ago the ebay seller "erestraints" had a set of this keys for sale:

Bjoern

Thank you for the information, Bjoern,
At this point, I find I can reliably lock and unlock both of the leg irons with ease, from any point on the adjustable ratchet. When I double lock them, that causes trouble, and it takes some finagling to reset the double lock and be able to open them.
I will continue to mess with them, and I hope someone will be able to point me towards an appropriate replacement key.

My belief is that, while the full flag key from the Union Hardware Towers handcuffs works to open the single lock, the right key for the leg irons is probably a little larger, and thus able to activate the double lock, (unless the double lock itself is malfunctioning.)
I am hoping to purchase either a full flag Union Hardware type key, as in the topmost key in my last photo, or Towers DL leg iron key.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

I forgot to add, I believe that the Towers DL leg iron key I need is the (A) marked key in Bjoerns photo. Thank you!

You can obtain Double Lock Tower Leg iron keys from Ian McColl in Australia. Contact him for availability and pricing.   imccoll@dcsi.net.au
-Richard Knip-

I have recently purchased a set of Tower double lock leg iron cuffs.  I was wondering where I could find a key?  I would appreciate any help on this matter.

Thank you,

Kevin Edwards

Look one comment up from where you posted, Kedwards01. I gave the email address for Ian McColl. He is our go to guy for keys to older cuffs. He is located in Australia but will ship keys just about anywhere. Contact him, via his email and he will fill you in on price and any details.
-Richard Knip-

The two towers keys I got from Ian work perfectly.  I also have got a Bean Cobb key from him.

kedwards01@windstream.net wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2020

I have recently purchased a set of Tower double lock leg iron cuffs.  I was wondering where I could find a key?  I would appreciate any help on this matter.

Thank you,

Kevin Edwards

I sent an email direct to Kevin the same day he posted his request, never heard back.