Cuff of the Day for May 30. Leg Irons

30th  Saturday - Leg Irons
31st    Sunday - Hiatt

I plan to suspend my Cuff of the Day postings at the end of May.   We have gone through most topics and people are
getting busier.  But I encourage everyone else to start their own topics using a similar format.    I am somewhat out of ideas.

Today we look at Leg Irons.  This is a huge topic, but it has not been as well covered as handcuffs.  
I will focus on old Darby style leg irons, but feel free to post pictures of cuffs from any era.

Thomas Hiatt started his one company circa 1816 on Moor Street in Birmingham. In 1821 the business moved to Masshouse Lane where it remained until WW2.
Here are two pairs of Hiatts leg irons.  The first from Moor Street and the second from Masshouse Lane.  The first leg iron is one of the few early 19th century cuffs that we can give a semi accurate date.  I must have been made during the short 1816-1821 period when Hiatt was located on Moor Street.

I need to make special note of the leg iron keys.  Leg irons often come without keys and replacements are a real problem. I want to thank Ian for making the keys shown with the two leg irons below.  The Moor Street leg iron came with a key, but it was old and damaged.  After lots of emails and back and forth Ian made some very nice copy keys that open several of my older leg irons of various manufacturers. 

Here is a Nichols Leg Iron.   With one of Ian's keys.

Fields and Sons.  Ian's key.

And a Froggatt.

I'm adding two leg irons. The first is a Balco, pretty much like an ordinary Tower but with round links. The second set is a set I bought from the collection of Timo Toumivaara. He referred to them as "N****r leg irons". I have no clue what these are.

Providens Tool leg irons

Harvard Lock Co. Leg Irons.
Dave

I don't. own this set of Marlin Leg Irons.  They are very rare and since one has not been posted yet, I thought you would find it interesting.  This is hanging in the Sheriff's Office in Goldfield, Nevada.  It was found in an old desk drawer with a pair of Towers which is also on the wall above the Marlins.  Many have tried to purchase them but don't bother to ask since the first thing they tell you is they are not for sale.  When I took these pictures several years ago, they were going to let me try a key, but I did not want to climb on the desk.  Should you ever visit the Jail, where Wyatt Earp was working after his Tombstone days, be sure to go upstairs where the court room is still operating in its original condition.  

Ron

These are an exact copy of the Tower leg-irons. I wonder if Hiatt went to the work to make an exact copy,
or if they just purchased some from Tower and put their markings on them.

Ron, 
Thanks for the other pic of the Marlin Leg Iron.
I think it is earlier than mine since the bottle neck is more robust.


Joe thank you for the Covid Collection blog.

I enjoyed seeing some new things and learning more.
I have been getting much busier lately and have many, many safes to open since the stores are reopening.  I predicted many would forget their combos or anyone who had them are not returning to work yet.

I was glad to visit the cuffs that I put away and post many of them here.

Be safe, everyone!

Thought I’d post a pic of the Woods chain “leg irons”. I have this set, Glenn (the discoverer) has a set, and I think there’s another known set somewhere or other.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Ron for posting!
What a lovely set and in such pristine condition. I'm still drooling!

Lars


M

ronspitz wrote: ↑

May 30, 2020

I don't. own this set of Marlin Leg Irons.  They are very rare and since one has not been posted yet, I thought you would find it interesting.  This is hanging in the Sheriff's Office in Goldfield, Nevada.  It was found in an old desk drawer with a pair of Towers which is also on the wall above the Marlins.  Many have tried to purchase them but don't bother to ask since the first thing they tell you is they are not for sale.  When I took these pictures several years ago, they were going to let me try a key, but I did not want to climb on the desk.  Should you ever visit the Jail, where Wyatt Earp was working after his Tombstone days, be sure to go upstairs where the court room is still operating in its original condition.  

Ron

Click to expand...

Mark-There is a lot of differences between the the two.  The chain and body are quite different.  I found another picture of the end cap and body.  Gordon, this should look familiar.

Ron

This is such a broad topic! Leg Irons vary just as much as handcuffs!  I have no idea what to share, but here is a pair of American Handcuff Company L-100 leg irons that I find to be very high quality, almost art deco in their well rounded lines, the radius of the edges, and the finish.  They double lock, take a standard key, and backload as well. 

I'll have a bunch more to share tommorrow, as I was waiting for Joe to bring the topic around to Hiatt sooner or later. I think I have 7 Hiatt steel cuffs and a bunch of the cast alloys as well, but I've shared most of those in some of my other posts.

Im going to add some leg irons from my "unknown" category. The first is this rather robust darby. very well made. The key is definitely one someone adapted to them, though I have no idea what the key would have originally gone to? I have never seen one like that? The seller gave me the information that is on the tag. However, i dont know if anyone of it is correct or not? Not being able to place a maker with these, as there are no visible stamps anywhere, i cannot say when they were made or who may have made them.
The next is an unknown pair of prisoner's shackles that would have been closed with a rivet or padlock through the holes drilled in the flat part of the cuff's arms. In all of the information i have found, these would have most likely have been riveted on. The chain shows machine welds, so this may have been a replacement chain or this is a newer leg iron, than it appears to be? No idea on a country of origin from them and the seller knew nothing about a possible history for them. So, for now, they remain, "unknown."

Lastly, more of a leg cuff than a leg iron. I only have the one. Its is heavy and nicely made. You can see how the leg cuff opens in the firstpic. I have no further information about it. No information on possible country of origin or date of manufacture. It also shows no way of being connected to another cuff, except for the hasp for the padlock? I can take more pics, if needed, as soon as I find out where i put it in the collection! LOL! I havent seen this thing in probably 5 years? LOL! I had kind of forgotten about it.
-Richard Knip-

Richard-Your first leg iron sure looks like it is a Providence Tool Company LI.  The key is not original or has been modified.

Ron

Frogatt Darby Leg Irons with original key. Both marked "4"

Pic of it's markings

pic of it's end caps

Balco Double Lock Leg Irons

Balco markings & key

Providence Tool Company Leg Irons with replacement key made by Ian McColl.

Markings

End Caps

Tower Bottom Key Leg Irons

Key Holes

Hiatt Darby Leg Irons with original key. Both marked "3"


Markings

End caps

Woods Leg Irons with original key


Markings

American Munitions Leg irons.

ronspitz wrote: ↑

May 31, 2020

Richard-Your first leg iron sure looks like it is a Providence Tool Company LI.  The key is not original or has been modified.

Ron

Thank you for that information, Ron! I do feel the same, with the dome shaped end caps, i believe they are Prov Tool. Co. I have even put the sides of the lock tube under heavy magnification to see if I could find any evidence that a stamp once was there. I havent been able to find anything. But, its possible, its just that worn away and none of the original stamp is visible any longer.
-Richard Knip-

One of the Federal Labs Leg Irons that was made by American Munitions Co. Exact same as the A.M. Leg Irons. These use a solid post key.


Tower Bottom Key Leg irons with an odd chain. Dont know if it was made like at the factory or if it was a field repair of a broken set? If it was a repair, it was done some time ago, as the patina is consistent with the rest of the set.

A set of East German GDR Cable Leg Irons. This was purchased from Damon Shields a few years back.
This one I am on the fence on a bit. Its either a real Tower Leg iron, with an odd chain or its is an imitation Tower Leg iron? the chain does have a machine weld on it tho. And if you look at the size of the smaller than usual center pin in the lock, i am leaning more towards an imitation Tower, possibly with a newer chain, than it was originally made with?
-Richard Knip-

Here's a Thompson.
In distant posts I did some history on this maker, showing that there were 2 generations of the Thompson family making handcuffs and leg irons. Now I can confirm 3 generations dating back to about 1780. Maybe one day soon I will compile the research I have to build a better picture of how all the Birmingham handcuff makers were making virtually identical products and interacting with each other over the years.

Correction. Federal Labs Leg Iron uses a standard barrel key, as seen in pic. I was looking at the wrong cuff when i typed that.
-RK-

Sadly my last EBay Auction of an GDR leg iron failed, so I only own two leg irons:

Clejuso Nr. 8


and
Clejuso Nr. 109

Oh my, all leg irons in one day? That's material for half a month! 
We could still do cuffs used in movies, or props. 

Here are some of mine.
- Australian convict shackles
- French "Bordello" leg irons, light version (I actually have a pair of these for sale)
- some Finnish cup shackles (bought from Lars, thank you!)
- German cup shackles on a bar.
- Ian McColl Palmers
- some assorted shackles, probably pre 1850

RCS Brass Legirons. Not many of these around. They were offered by Patterson Smith in the late 1950’s I have a feeling he may have bought the last stocks from RCS including their swinging bow pattern.

Two Legirons that use padlocks or rivets to close them. The heavier set seem to have been used in South Africa and there is a rumour that Hiatt made them but no proof.

?French screw key Legirons. No markings also single screw key British Legiron connected by the heavy bars. Just a pity they were nickel plated in the 1970’s!