When I first found this patent No. 47,575 of May 2, 1865, I was intrigued at how different it was compared to the earliest Sargent “Magnetic” locks known to exist. It got me to thinking why none of these have been found. So I decided to make (attempt) a working model. It is nowhere near finished and won’t be for a good while as I am now learning metal casting to remake some the parts. This design has been hard to duplicate, to say the least, but as this is my first attempt at making a complete working lock from scratch, some of the difficulty is obviously my own inexperience. But not all of it. As I see it , there are, or were two two major problem areas with this lock. First was the permutation wheel design, which definitely left something to be desired. The second and probably more frustrating, at least for me, is getting the proper interaction of the bolt connected side swing gate and the hanging fence. Both of these problems are resolved in the Sargent and Covert 1866 “cheap and simple” lock patent. They were also incorporated in the Sargent 1866second “Magnetic” lock patent, where the roller bolt was introduced. Doug
