making a key for a victorian chubb cabinet lock - modern steel barrel key blank?

vgf_uk

Hi there,

I am restoring a Victorian campaign chest of drawers, that has a 7 lever chubb lock on one of the top drawers, with no key.

I have taken it apart, and made a working key from a steel barrel key blank i got from a local locksmith.

My concern is that the levers are brass, and my key is modern steel, and that they key will wear away the level saddles.

Should i look to make a key from some other material? If so what? The bore of the barrel i need is quite large (3/16ths of an inch) and i’ve been struggling to find any key blanks online made of anything but modern steel.

Paul Prescott

The original key would have been hardened steel ! If well cut with smooth radiused lever steps then the key should cause no damage to the lock at all.

vgf_uk

Thanks for the reply.

Being new to locks and keys - by radiused lever steps - does that mean the profile of the bits should not be dead square (with sharp corners) but curved to match the profile of the saddle?

Paul Prescott

Quite right, the curve does not have to match precisely. Removing the sharp corners is usually adequate for most locks. Final finishing can be done with fine emery cloth if desired / necessary. The hardest problem with old locks is finding modern blanks that fit correctly in the first place.