Bramah box lock dating help?

Riyame

Hello,

I picked up a box with a Bramah lock on it and they stated that it was made between 1805-1821 due to the name stamped on it.

Well I finally got it in and would like some help putting a more precise date on it, whether it fits in that time period or not.

I was looking through the dating thread and since it has a single spring and false notches it would place it sometime after 1817.

I tried to take a lot of pictures but my photography skills are not the best. The slot headed screws appear to have hand cut notches in them due to being off center and varying slot depth.

I was wondering if the back plate may be older but the lock mechanism, or screws may have been replaced at one time or another.

Here is a link to the album with the pictures. If I were to upload them here I would have to reduce the size by a significant amount.

http://s1143.beta.photobucket.com/user/Riyame/library/Bramah

Any help is much appreciated, thank you.

Tom Gordon

The wording would suggest 1800-1813

Riyame

That is what I thought but going by this http://www.antique-locks.com/showthread.php/70-Bramah-locks-a-guide-to-dating and from the pictures, the sliders? have false notches and it is a single spring which would put it after 1817 or it was overhauled at a later date.

Another thing that I noticed is that the sliders are 2 pieces of metal side by side instead of being solid. Are they all like this or was it changed at some point?

Doug MacQueen

I suspect the bent over sliders came about after the change to a single central spring. That gave the sliders enough friction in the groove to prevent them from free floating. I have only worked on a couple authentic Bramahs but surprisingly the lock design was popular with several Cincinnati, Ohio safemakers in the 1850’s- 60’s. I have found them on J. Hall (Haill & Dodds?) , (Dodds?))MacNeale & Urban and Mosler Bahmann. More often as an inner door lock but one was on the outer door. Doug