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I imagine this subject has come up in the past but couldn't find it so would appreciate any advice please.

Does anyone have any idea where I can get a new lock for a Win-A-Chew Allwin I have started working on? All the locks I have found have wider barrels (if that's the right word?) . The lock on this one is relatively narrow as attached pic. As usual the keys are missing so unless I can find a locksmith that can make a key without the original (is that doable?) I guess easiest to replace it but I'm struggling to find a lock this small. Could fit a larger one but would be a shame to start cannibalising the machine, which is otherwise quite a tidy example, unless I really have to.

The only identification on the locks are that they are Yale. Approximate measurements are:

1 – diameter of barrel 14mm
2 – bottom and top length 37mm
3 – side length 44mm
4 - approx length of barrel 16mm

Many thanks once again for such a helpful forum!

There may well be an easy answer, although I've rarely tracked it down.
You'll often read on here that a decent locksmith could manufacture a key, but my experience is they're just not interested or perhaps they're just not up to it.
I guess the labour charges would appear prohibitive to them.


Put a search onto eBay and then save it.

My interest is restoring machines back to their operative state and not when they came out of the factory. In the 60s at my Uncle's arcade in the Summer holidays I was forever drilling out locks because kids had been trying to open them with lolly sticks etc. This often involved reaming out the hole to take a bigger barrel.


At the Coventry Auction last year I bought a large bag of various cabinet locks, the small barrelled ones were the first used.

Good luck, keep searching, they're out there somewhere.

BP

These guys are usually very helpful with vintage cabinet locks and keys,

Worth an email with pic and dimensions, just Google them

Keysplease

Hard to tell from the photo if it’s the flat type key that I’m thinking it is - if you're handy I made a key to suit one of my games from a flat piece of steel and a dremel. It’s kind of funny that I used a piece of a modern pinball 1990s Williams machine as the base for my key.

If I remember I’ll take a photo of the dodgy looking thing.

I’ve got 2 of these, any good to you, These came off similar machines . With some careful drilling and a chisel they can look and fit like new. Barrel width is 22mm.

Thanks for all your helpful replies, and your offer, radiochrissie. I'll have a go at "keysplease" first and report back.
Brian

There are several locksmiths listed in Archive/Services, including one I've used for this sort of work: Birmingham Master Locksmiths

Thanks for the info pennymachines. (and apols - that's the second time I should have checked the forum menu first Problem seems to be finding locks with smaller barrel diameter - having spent a good hour or 3 googling the catalogs of various lock suppliers no-one seems to do them small enough so I will give those in archive/services a go, thanks.

If all else fails I can always drill larger hole, chisel a bit out of the frame, and fit a different size lock (as per radiochrissie's comments and helpful offer) as I have done in the past on several machines, but it's becoming a pain having to do this every time so would be good if I can find a matching lock and it has become a mission to beat this problem!

eBay the hell out of that lock, it's not rare just an uncommon size. I've picked up lots of them this way over the years, though I can re-key myself so doesn't bother me with or without the key. Many sellers will put all the sizing info you need in the listing. But they use different kinds of terminology so you need to try various words, drawer lock, draw lock, cabinet lock etc. Or if you don't mind trawling like I do, I find it best to make the search as comprehensive as possible with basic search parameters like : yale lock vintage, yale lock antique, yale lock old, yale lock old brass, etc. Sometimes you'll find what you need in minutes, sometimes it takes a little longer.

Thanks for that, Gameswat - useful tips about terminology. Won't be giving up any time soon!

Yep, they do come up for sale. I bought half a dozen brand new old stock Yale locks from the States. They were identical. I would try not to drill them out from your machine if at all possible.

Does anyone have a key from an Oliver Whales lock? I'm just curious as to what it looks like. The locks are extremely simple with only two tumblers and the key acting like a cam. If I can find the lock I disassembled, I'll take a picture of it. My shop is a disaster....

Found it:

Flat key, rather like this.

Thanks! Does it have a little point at the end or is it flat there too?

I suspect it will be similar to the type below for the Yale locks they used......the code number maybe written on the back of the lock plate, but did not always do this...

Yes, pointy bit at the end, as in TF photo.

Thanks guys. I should be able to machine one of these pretty easily once I figure out the tumblers in AutoCAD.

AutoCAD.... crikey, clever stuff. I wouldn't have a clue where to start - it would be a bit of sheet steel, a hacksaw, file, and uneducated guesswork for me.

Is the key code on the back plate?

13rebel wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:23 pm AutoCAD.... crikey, clever stuff. I wouldn't have a clue where to start - it would be a bit of sheet steel, a hacksaw, file, and uneducated guesswork for me.

I'll just pop out the tumbler levers, draw them up in autocad, spin them around the pivot point and it'll show exactly what the key should look like. I'll post a picture when I figure it out. Being an engineer, I hate trial and error.