From “History of Locksmithing”

Locksmithing is a profession and an art of designing and producing locks and other protective hardware mechanisms that secures buildings, objects, storage facilities, cabinets, rooms and other places. After a long journey through history, the art of Locksmithing went through many changes. In the for the longest period of time, locksmiths were talented metalworkers who had the knowledge of shaping metal, creating by hand dozens of individual pieces of the locks, forging keys, and doing much of the file-work.

History of locksmithing started in Ancient Egypt and Babylon, approximately 4000 years ago. During that time, locksmith created wooden devices that used tin tumbler principle to prevent free movement of the door bar. The pins could be moved only with the use of large and cumbersome wooden key (created in the shape of modern toothbrush) that was inserted into lock and pushed upwards, which moved internal pins and unlocked doors. The oldest of those simple locks currently known was discovered in the ruins of the Assyrian Empire, in the city of Khorsabad near Nineveh. Scientists and historians agree that this wooden lock was created around 704 BC.

After the adoption of advanced metallurgy in 18th century Europe, locksmiths were finally able to create much more durable locks and keys. During that century, many famous locksmiths managed to improve upon designs that remained largely unchanged ever since the fall of Roman Empire. With the arrival of more and more successful designs and industrial mass production, locksmithing went through drastic change. Cheap industrial locks took the lucrative market of locksmiths away, and they were forced to become specialized in two fields –work as repairmen of industrial locks (fine tuning of damaged gear or replacing broken parts with those created in factories), replicate keys for people who wanted more of them available for personal use, or work for large security companies who design and build safes for banks and governments.

Today, locksmiths work from their shops (often working with all door-related hardware, such as closers, frame repairs, hinges, electric strikes and more), security institutions (designing and creating several layers of locks that protect against theft or intrusion), investigational institutions (forensic locksmiths), security consultants or are focuses on one aspect of a skill (locksmith working in a car company, designing only car locks).

From “An Ancient Profession: The History Of Locksmithing”

Locksmiths In Ancient Times

Locksmithing is one of the oldest professions. It is believed to have started in Ancient Egypt and Babylon around 4000 years ago.

A common belief was that the first locks were small and portable and were used to protect goods from thieves who were common along ancient travel routes. Not so.

Locks back then were not as sophisticated as they are now. Most locks were large, crude and made of wood. However, they were used and worked in the same way as today’s locks. There were pins in the lock, however, they could only be moved with the use of a large cumbersome wooden key (imagine something looking like a large wooden toothbrush). This giant key was inserted into the lock and pushed upwards.

As lock and key “technology” spread, it could also be found in ancient Greece, Rome, and other cultures in the east including the China.

Wealthy Romans were often found to keep their valuables under lock and key. They would wear the keys as rings on their fingers. This had the benefit of keeping the key on them at all times. It would also be a display of status and wealth. It showed you were wealthy and important enough to have valuables worth securing.

The oldest known lock was in the ruins of the Assyrian Empire in the city of Khorsabad. This key was believed to be created around 704 BC and looks and operates much like the wooden locks of the time.

Moving To Metal

Not too much changed with locks until around 870-900 AD when the first metal locks started to appear. These locks were simple iron bolt locks and are attributed to English craftsmen.

Soon locks made of iron or brass could be found all over Europe and as far as China. They were operated by keys that could be turned, screwed or pushed.

As the profession of locksmithing developed, locksmiths became talented metal workers. The 14th to 17th centuries saw a rise in artistic achievements by locksmiths. They were often invited to create locks with intricate and beautiful designs for members of the nobility. They would often design locks inspired by the royal crest and symbols.

However, while the aesthetics of locks and keys developed, there were few improvements made to the lock mechanisms themselves. With the advances in metal works in the 18th century, locksmiths were able to create more durable and secure locks and keys.

The Evolution Of The Modern Lock

The basic design of how a lock and key worked had remained relatively unchanged for centuries.

When the industrial revolution came along in the 18th century, the precision in engineering and component standardisation greatly increased the complexity and sophistication of locks and keys.

In 1778, Robert Barron perfected the lever tumbler lock. His new tumbler lock required the lever to be lifted to a specific height in order to unlock. Lifting the lever too far was as bad as not lifting it far enough. This made it more secure against intruders and is still currently used today.

After a burglary occurred in Portsmouth Dockyard in 1817, the British Government created a competition to produce a more superior lock. The competition was won by Jeremiah Chubb who developed the Chubb detector lock. The lock not only made it difficult for people to pick it, but it would indicate to the locks owner if it had been tampered with. Jeremiah won the competition after a lock picker failed to open it after 3 months.

Three years later, Jeremiah and his brother Charles started up their own lock company, Chubb. Over the next couple of decades, they made vast improvements to the standard lock and key systems. This included using six levers instead of the standard four. They also included a disc that allowed the key to pass through but made it difficult for any lock pickers to see the internal levers.

The Chubb brothers lock designs were based on the use of movable internal levels, however,Joseph Bramah created an alternative method in 1784.

His locks used a round key with notches along the surface. These notches would move metal slides that would interfere with the opening of the lock. Once these metal slides had been moved by the key notches to a specific position then the lock would open. At the time, it was said to be unpickable.

Another major improved was the double-acting pin tumbler lock. The earliest patent for this design was granted in 1805, however, the modern version (still in use today) was invented in 1848 by Linus Yale. His lock design used pins of different lengths to stop the lock from opened without the correct key. In 1861, he invented a smaller flatter key with serrated edges that would move the pins. Both his lock and key designs are still in use today.

Apart from the introduction of electronic chips, and some minor improvements in key design, most locks today are still variants of the designs created by Chubb, Bramah and Yale.

Notables

• Robert Barron
• Joseph Bramah
• Jeremiah Chubb
• Alfred Charles Hobbs
• John Mossman
• James Sargent
• Linus Yale, Sr.
• Linus Yale, Jr.

Resources

• Wikipedia - Locksmithing
• “Locksmith Museums around the World” June 19, 2014
• “The Locksmith” Excerpted from "The Smithy: Blacksmith, Nailsmith, Locksmith, Tinsmith and Gunsmith" from the Collections at Historic Bethlehem [PA]