Wood Padlock

This is another attempt by me to become a wood worker. The plans were found in an excellent book called "Making Working Wooden Locks" written by Tim Detweiler. I bought my copy I believe from Amazon. The instructions are very clear, lots of color photos and blueprints. Th instructions state the shackle is the most difficult part so I started with that. I copied the dimensions from the book onto my home CAD system and made an actual size blueprint. Incidently, all the blueprints in the book are actual size so I can't really say why I re-drew them. Then I pasted the print onto the wood. I made the shackle from maple. I practiced first on basswood and pine and I believe you could use just about any wood you like.



The finished shackle:



The shackle requires the use of a router and I don't like routers which is why I Haven't bought a router table.....which is really dumb. The challenge is to make the shackle end up with perfectly round 3/4" wood. The book says to make about 3 gradual passes with the router and I found it to be really very easy to make.....with the help of a little sandpaper. It would have been really easy with a router table.

There are five "layers" in the main body. I used wood I had on hand, Oak, Poplar, and Maple. Each layer has a special purpose. This five layers look like this:



The most critical one (in my estimation) is the second layer which contains the actual lock. The lock is two 1/16" strips of wood positioned at a relatively precise angle. I made the strips from hickory



On the bottom there is a round piece with a key slot made from two pieces to from a little ledge to hold it in place.



You do have to be extremely careful during the final glue-up. If any glue is allowed to get inside any of the layers the lock probably will not work and there is no plan B.

I made the keys from standard 1/4" red oak and they require minimal skill.

There are five locks described in the book but I kinda lost interest after the first one.....it is a fun project though and a "Job well done" to Mr. Tim Detweiler for the excellent instructions.

Neat. Do more.

What a great job!! I always say, "I am going to do those one of these days" whenever I see someone post a wooden padlock. Then this year Larry goes and gives me a "roundtoit" so now my excuses are more limited. I think those things are just amazing. How much time do you estimate that particular lock took to make? I have never seen them for sale in a craft shop/show, that is something I would probably buy just for the fun of it. Thanks for posting this and pushing me one step closer to making one of these.

Padlock time

I think I could make the next one in one day. If I had a router table I'm sure I could do it. The author of the book states he has made 3,500 locks and did at one time sell them some place like craft sales, friends, etc. Would be curious to know what they are worth. I'm kinda tempted to make another one with a better selection of wood....like black walnut and whatever weird lumber I could find. I've been a beginning wood carver for 30+ years and my wife suggested carving some kind of symbol or something on the side. I just ain't too excited though in carving something where there is no second chance if you screw it up. The author shows how to build some jigs and fixtures to help build the lock but I just measured and cut with no problem. I do know the response has really been good from people I have showed it to. If anyone else is interested in building one of these, you'll have to buy the book I guess but then let me know...I found a few short cuts and one error.

Very cool Ken

I would hardly say you are "attempting to be a woodworker" having made that lock or the other projects we have seen of yours.

I have bookmarked this one and will come back to it. Great idea and you certainly did it justice. Must be a great conversational piece. Sure can see it having a great deal of fascination at a flea market. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Really interesting and real cool. I'd like to try making one of those

Ken, a family member here, Pete Simmons has an engraving business. He engraves all types of things including pens I make for customers. Very affordable, great guy to deal with. Do a member search under the members list for Pete Simmons and send him a pm. He will answer. Check out his laser image art website. Beautiful work, he can put whatever you want on that padlock. If you are in need of some contrasting wood, can put you a small flat rate box together. PM me if you are interested.