Empire 6-Lever Brass Push-Key

wlwhittier

First post. I really like the format of your file (photo) upload feature.

Unfortunately, my files were too large, and were rejected.

I’ll try again, and post what & when I can.

The lock is a recent eBay purchase, and a hard-fought win it was!

I may well have been bidding against one of you.

Somewhere on this site will be guidance about uploading pics; on my way there now.

wlwhittier

These will, I trust, be viewable and sufficient to allow you all to identify the lock

Empire evokes Great Britain; I will assume until shown otherwise that this is an English padlock.

That it came with two keys, each a little different from the other, is a rare treat. Both function well.

There has been a wee amount of hammer-damage in the center of the face, and there is evidence at the rim that the lock has been dropped. The pattern of heavy soil, especially on the backside, tells something of it’s usage.

I have refrained from lubrication, as it opens and closes very cleanly. I doubt there is any steel in the construction, so no rust.

Donnie

The Don Stewart 3rd edition book shows a long & a short shackle (yours) as being made by the Miller Lock Co…here in the USA..nice find, now you may want to locate one with the long shackle….then you will have a set. :o:the pins are very visable on your lock, are they flush with the face or recessed a bit?…………Donnie

Dean Nickel

Of the two keys the upper round hole key is like an OEM key would have been. That could be the OEM key if it said Miller on one of the two sides. The other key is a modified safety deposit key that was ground down to fit as that blank would have been much longer.

wlwhittier

Donnie wrote
…the pins are very visible on your lock, are they flush with the face or recessed a bit?…………Donnie

Recessed…maybe .008″ or a little less, Donnie. Does the Stewart 3rd give a date range for Miller’s production?

Dean, the round-hole key IS marked: so faintly that I missed it ’til I looked for it after your post; I cannot read after ’Miller Lock Co….." around the rim. But the area beneath the hole has a scroll with illegible letters within; and beneath that is: PAT 3-11-02.

The key with the heart-shaped hole is subtly different, both at the two tips (more square-cut) and at the shoulder (original is uniform, and works either way; heart is slightly offset, and only opens the lock when inserted heavy-side to the back).

Correction: the hammer-damage is on the BACK, nearly dead-center…not face, as first stated.

Thanks!

[unknown]

Dean Nickel

I am sure that isn’t hammer damage but the place where the bolt or part of the hasp hit each time it was let go once the lock was locked. The mark is the right size and place for that type of damage, all that means is that the lock was well used.:8):

If the markings are around that hole than I would say it is a very good chance you have the OEM key. That raises the value of the lock a little bit.

Donnie

I think that their production started in the 1870’s…someone else may have a more detailed patent date, but this is what I gather……Donnie

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

wlwhittier wrote
Recessed…maybe .008″ or a little less, Donnie. Does the Stewart 3rd give a date range for Miller’s production?

Dean, the round-hole key IS marked: so faintly that I missed it ’til I looked for it after your post; I cannot read after ’Miller Lock Co….." around the rim. But the area beneath the hole has a scroll with illegible letters within; and beneath that is: PAT 3-11-02.

From the appearance of the lock face and that the posts are recessed I suggest that the lock was disassembled at some point. It is entirely possible that a spring on one of the levers was broken, or that the larger spring for the shackle needed some work and that would be why. Because the original key is present I doubt that the disassembly was to fit a key.

Re the patent date, the original patent for the mechanism was 105,710 July, 1870. It is very likely that the date on the key is the date of the design patent for the Empire marking. It was common to develop different markings and then get design patents so that others couldn’t make them. If you look closely you may find a faint marking around the edge of the lock that also has a patent date or at least the Miller name.
BBE.

[unknown]

wlwhittier

BBE wrote
If you look closely you may find a faint marking around the edge of the lock that also has a patent date or at least the Miller name. BBE.

You are correct! It’s so faint and partial that a 10X triplet only gives limited help, but:

TRADE MARK (over) REG—US A—–PAT is visible on the rim roughly adjacent the 6 on the face. No MILLER name, tho.

I had to remove some ‘patina’ with an alcohol wipe and plenty elbow grease to even see it…The whole lock is more or less covered with the same tenacious machine-oil/skin soil residue.

Thanks for the pointer!

[unknown]

Scott Klemm

According to “Charles Cameron’s Illustrated History of the D.K. Miller Lock Co. Padlocks,” the empire trademark was registered 9 - 25 - 1906. Its number was 56,461.