candado3 wroteI was disassembling an old SAFE brand PTPK padlock the other day to clean it and make a key for it.
I was surprised to find ball bearings in the lock.
From further research I think that the lock was made for SAFE Padlock and Hardware by Corbin Cabinet Lock Co. See http://antique-padlocks.com/ptpk_l_p-s.htm
I am including photos.
Hope this is some interest to somebody as I have not seen mention of ball bearings in a PTPK padlock before.
I’m told that back in the day, Corbin Cabinet Lock Co. made all the padlocks for other American Hardware Corp. divisions including P & F Corbin, Russell & Erwin Mfg. Co. (now Corbin Russwin) and Safe Padlock & Hardware Co. (closed in 1981). In 1987 Corbin Cabinet Lock was sold to the Eastern Co. and the successor company, CCL Security Products; is still in business. Ball bearings were used at the bottom of pin stacks in all or some chambers of their pin tumbler products from about 1902 until the mid 1960s to reduce wear on the pins.*
*Adapted from Locks and Lockmakers of America, rev. 3rd ed. © by the late Thomas F. Hennessy and Corbin Russwin Cylinder Manual, 6th ed. by the late A.J. Hoffman.
Pete Schifferli
[unknown]
