HISTORYOFLOCKS
SPONSORED BY SECURIKEY
Adjustable and
Detachable Bit Keys
By Brian Morland,
Early Hobbs Parutoptic lock, the first of the change key locks in Britain.
Note the knife edge behind the bolt head which retains or ‘memorises’
the combination. There is no direct access to this set of levers from
keyhole and will only engage with the key arrangement that set it.
A Parautoptic Bankers Change Key (BCK) disassembled.
Hobbs keys with individual steps that could be rearranged in any
order. Another feature with these keys is that the fixed lever cut at
each end or sometimes in the middle of the pack would be unique to a
bank or institution whereby there would be no chance the key would
be capable of operating a similar lock of another organisation.
34
THE MAY/JUN 2014 ISSUE
SPONSORED BY ASSA ABLOY Security Solutions
Curator of the History
of Locks Museum.
Following on from our last
discussion, where I looked
at how the early locksmiths
found it necessary to
supplement the lever with
another additional feature
to thwart the Victorian
‘scientific’ methods of
defeating locks, it was
concluded that the antipressure principle was
effective and has continued
to be so, it even having a
place today. And so, ever
resourceful, that element
that would illicitly defeat
locks, looked for other ways
so to do.
Locksmiths today recognise,
through familiarity the basic
patterns to bittings on keys,
and very often even relating
that to a brand or style of lock.
Taking this one step further it
was possible with just a few
trials to produce a working key
simply by casually observing
it. How often do customers
to our shops place their keys
on the counter while they
make their purchases or when
any of us visit shops or the
pub - instead of pocketing
our keys - they are placed in
full view? Indeed, some keys
‘How often do
customers to our
shops place their
keys on the counter
while they make
their purchases or
when any of us visit
shops or the pub’
have a status symbol aspect
which compounds the issue.
If, therefore, the rewards
are high enough, the simple
observation of keys can be a
serious threat to security.
‘Ever resourceful
and to help counter
this, early locksmiths
applied their minds to
ways to counter this
aspect of criminality.
Another Victorian practise,
which was even less skilled,
but equally effective, was
simply to take an impression.
If a key could be ‘borrowed’
for just a few moments then an
impression could be taken and
again, with trials and minor
adjustments, a working key
could be produced.
Ever