Cuff of the Day for April 17. Made in Australia

Today we visit Australia.  Show us your cuffs new and old from Australia.
There are three groups of Australian cuffs.
First are the  convict cuffs from the 19th century, 
second are the modern cuffs particularly Saf-Lok cuffs from Lithgow Arms,
and third, the wonderful cuffs from Ian McColl.

Here are three examples to get us going.

A early model Saf-Lok.
An Ian McColl reproduction of the Rankin Guiteau handcuffs with their unique key within a key locking mechanism.
An Ian McColl original. The Russian Czar handcuff which Ian designed and made for the TNT Houdini movie back in the 1990s.
It is one of the prettiest cuffs in my collection.

Joe

Great choice today Joe. I was waiting for you to pick this topic as cuff of the day.

Here is my Ian McColl "Houdini's #61 Cuff"

Great topic, over the years I have collected many of Ian’s excellent copies.
Photo shows:
Very early Russian 1902 cuff made by Ian in the early 1990’s
Houdini Seance Handcuffs
Kahlke (Towers) Handcuffs
#61 Handcuffs - one of my favourites
Lorey 4 wheel combination handcuffs.

Chris, that's a nice collection. I didn't even know that he made a Lorey cuff.

Ian's Mirror Challenge Handcuff. With the Bramah lock.

Ian's Palmer Neck collar and handcuffs with chain.

Great Pick for Today, Joe! Australia is a favorite of mine, because of our friend, Ian McColl and his amazing re-creations of many classic restraints, rare restraints and his fantasy restraint designs. I will share some of all 3.  First up is his replica of the Square Top Berliner. This one is a gimmicked version used by escape artist and magicians.  The gimmick on this one is slick!

The we have Houdini's 1902 Bar Cuff. This one is also gimmicked and used by magicians. You can put them on someone and they cant get out. Have them put on you, and you will be in a flash!



Then we have Ian's remake of the Stotz Leg Iron. This on is so well made and just beautiful, in its appearance.



On to Ian's Fantasy Restraints. This is an interesting take on the idea of Thumbcuffs. The Finger Cuffs are an imaginative, swing thru design. Surprisingly, very secure once applied! Opens with a standard handcuff key.




Probably my favorite of his Fantasy Designs! The Str8 Cuff. Aptly named, since it holds your arms in a straitjacket-like position in front of your body. The shackles on the sides, go around your biceps and the center, stacked shackles, enclose each wrist. One padlock secures this device device and sits just behind the location of your wrists. So, you get to stare at the 1 lock that holds you and evn with keys in hand, can do nothing about it! The Str8-Cuff made its debut at an escape artists convention. Many tried to escape, none succeeded. The last picture I have for you is Ian applying the Cuff to Steve Baker at the Escape Artist's Convention. This is 5 of the restraints, out of the 14 of his restraints, currently in my collection. I am always looking for pieces of his, that I do not have, yet. If you have something you are willing to let go, let's talk!

-Richard Knip-

When it comes to Australian cuffs, I don't have anything exciting at all, only some SAF standard cuffs.
I haven't looked at these for years...

Lars

Some of Ian's masterpieces.

Ups, I think an original Palmer crept in there in the last photo.

I suppose I can also share with the group, my latest undertaking. This one is going to take a lot of work and a lot of time. I will need help, from a few different people to get this one finished. I bought the last of Ian's sand casted, bronze,  Mirror Cuff, pieces. Ian sold them to me, recently. He also sold me the Bramah Lock and keys to go with it. The end caps still have to be made. Everything has to be sanded down and smoothed out. The inside of the tube needs bored out big enough to accept the locking mechanism. The locking bolt and linkage need to be made and put in place. The hinges have to be drilled and pins made to secure the shackle to the tube and allow it to pivot in the center for opening. Then, the whole piece needs sent out for the final, nickel  plating. This is going to be an expensive cuff when finished! I want to thank both Ian McColl and Chris Gower for the information both have given me, to complete this piece. Ian also, for allowing me to buy the pieces he has had for quite some time. My good friend, Steve Chace will be also helping with the design and using his expertise to finish this one as well as some of the engineering, that has yet to be done. Right now, I am deep into the sanding of the pieces. This one is going to take a lot of time, but be more than worth all of the blood, sweat and tears, when the mission is accomplished! The last pic of the two Mirror Cuffs, side by side, is showing a replica that was built by Chris Gower, next to the unfinished, bronze pieces. You can see some of the surfaces that have already been smoothed out.

-Richard Knip-

Nothing too exciting here.
Just some Small Arms Factory cuffs that are slightly different than what was already posted.

The Houdini French Letter Cuff recreated by Ian McCall in 1997.  This is #25 of only 26 that were made.  Great workmanship.

Ron

Whats the combo to open them? CLEFS or maybe, FRAUD?
-RK-

Nevermind. LOL! I just realized this was only 4 letters to open them. Wrong cuffs. My mistake.
-RK-

Here are all of my cuffs associated with Ian. They were either made by, gaffed by or were made from parts supplied by Ian.

My other Aussie cuffs.

SAF-LOK Small Arms Factory Australian Handcuffs Marked New Zealand Police


SAF-LOK MK-1 Australian Handcuffs



SAF-LOK MK-4 Australian Handcuffs

Hi,
As a newbie, Ian has been completely helpful to me. I filed away his messages for sure. Now that I have seen his work, his words go into one of my "nota bene" files.
Mike

                                                                                                   SMALL ARMS FACTORY
                                                                                                                    NSW

Australian cuffs and those associated with Australia.
Norlin Products version of the Rankin from 1944 Department of Defence.
SAF-LOK Bedcuff.
SAP-LOK New Zealand ARMY and New South Wales Police Department.
Double hinged crudely made blacksmith leg iron.
Top and Bottom irons - riveted.
Crude combination restraint.

Hey Paul, I had never heard of the Nordin version of the Rankin before. What company made the Darbies?

Norlin were not known for making leg irons. They produced them only during war time and obviously copied the Rankin for some reason unknown. The Darby type cuffs and irons have no makers marks. As a general rule, I would say, Convict Era restraints (1788-1868) were either brought over from England, locally blacksmith made, and some could possibly be similar to slave trade restraints, as slavery and convict transportation occurred concurrently. Convicts were less likely to be shackled though, except for punishment.

Paul,
These Norlin Products imitation of Rankin is very interesting and totally new to me.
Please tell us more about them! It’s really fascinating to make an imitation of a restraint patented in 1866, almost 80 years later. I assume the stamping “1944” denote the year of manufacture.

Lars

Hi Lars, thanks for your interest. 
I did post more pictures on here a decade ago but it does not come up in a google search.

From Department of Defence - "The leg irons are 1944 military issue. The Department of Defence marking confirms this. The Serial No is 122 and the manufacturer's mark NPN stands for Norlin Products Pty Ltd. Norlin Products were an Australian civilian manufacturer during the Second World War based in Bankstown but unfortunately they no longer exist."

With thanks to a fellow Aussie collector, Justin, who also has a pair - Norlin Products was a manufacturing subsidiary of Nock & Kirby limited.
Nock & Kirbys were a large hardware chain, in Sydney, famous for selling "gadgets".
Joe the Gadget Man was a household name and used to appear regularly on morning TV, showing off new gadgets available through the store.


So it seems, Norlin changed their manufacturing during the war to produce these leg irons for the military police. I can only find them making metal pedals after that, but i'm sure they made all sorts of things.

Strangely enough, there seem to be solid non-functional versions around, I've seen one on eBay, which may have been made as toys or props?
Paul

Hi Paul,

Thanks a lot for the information! I really like these Rankin imitations, extremely neat.
Do they work exactly as the ordinary Rankin, the same function?

Lars

Yes Lars, they work exactly the same. Spring loaded cover/washer and all.

Thank you, Paul Davies, for allowing me to add this rare item into my collection.

Now to see if my Rankin key will fit.

Here is a strange Norlin leg iron #28 found online.
Connecting chain for cuffs or floor perhaps.

Only know about leg irons.
Wonder if the also made handcuffs.

PaulJDavies wrote: ↑

Apr 18, 2020

Hi Lars, thanks for your interest. 
I did post more pictures on here a decade ago but it does not come up in a google search.

From Department of Defence - "The leg irons are 1944 military issue. The Department of Defence marking confirms this. The Serial No is 122 and the manufacturer's mark NPN stands for Norlin Products Pty Ltd. Norlin Products were an Australian civilian manufacturer during the Second World War based in Bankstown but unfortunately they no longer exist."

With thanks to a fellow Aussie collector, Justin, who also has a pair - Norlin Products was a manufacturing subsidiary of Nock & Kirby limited.
Nock & Kirbys were a large hardware chain, in Sydney, famous for selling "gadgets".
Joe the Gadget Man was a household name and used to appear regularly on morning TV, showing off new gadgets available through the store.


So it seems, Norlin changed their manufacturing during the war to produce these leg irons for the military police. I can only find them making metal pedals after that, but i'm sure they made all sorts of things.

Strangely enough, there seem to be solid non-functional versions around, I've seen one on eBay, which may have been made as toys or props?
Paul

Click to expand...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=no ... &FORM=VIRE

https://nostalgiacentral.com/television ... adget-man/

Australian cuffs are rare on most auction sites, and I do not have very many.
I am getting quite fond of them as I am lacking much in the way of any representation of them, and info is scarce.

I never even heard of the Orbit and Norlin until Mr. Davies offered them up.
I recently found this postcard booklet from the Old Melbourne Gaol and they feature these lovely items.
I would love to find a neck collar like this.
The booklet has some cool pics of this nasty looking jail/gaol.
Very brutal devices for those who didn't listen!

https://mhnsw.au/stories/convict-sydney/leg-iron-guard/

https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/hyde-p ... ict-years/

I just found this write up about the origins of Syndey and its penal colony beginnings at Hype Park.
Some interesting history and items from the museum.
The leather leg irons guards are an item that I don't recall seeing before.   


I don't have any examples of the irons shown here.
I believe Paul may have some of these in his collection.