Featured 1906 Desktop Tambour Cabinet - Fixed for a Friend

This is not mine. I make no claims that it ever was, is, or will ever be mine.

A friend of mine is in the process of moving house. This meant getting rid of a LOT of junk. She's moving out of the old family home, which means it's loaded with generations of crap.

She's had something like four yard-sales to try and get rid of much of this stuff as possible, but some things she wanted to keep and hold onto, and take to her new house.

One of them was this cabinet:



Her great-grandfather won it in a competition back in 1906, and she desperately wanted to use this in her new house. But it was locked and she had no key for it. She knows I tinker with this stuff, so she asked if I could fix it?

I told her I could have a look at it, but I gave her absolutely no promises on anything. She was welcome to drop it off and I'd see what I could do. So she did.

When I first saw the lock, my first reaction was: "What the hell have I got myself into!?"

I knew for a FACT I didn't have a single key in my collection that would open this lock. On a COMPLETE whim, I went to the nearest antiques shop, in the next suburb, went up to the counter and said: "Do you sell antique keys??"

"Yes!" they said. And the lady behind the counter pulled out two boxes loaded with keys. She said I could knock myself out.

I sifted through what must've been close on a hundred keys, and none of them were the right size, let alone the right type. The bottom of the barrel was coming up fast and I had NOTHING.

Then...at the very bottom...was this little steel key. I picked it up and I said: "How much?"

"$5"

It's a bit more than I usually pay ($2-$3), but I decided to get it anyway. I had absolutely no idea if it would fit the lock, but the hell with it. I'd never find another key, so I just bought it.

I went home and sure enough - the key didn't fit. Damn it!

Out with the files.

After a lot of grinding, I got the key to physically fit IN the lock.

After more grinding, I got the key to TURN in the lock.

OK, good. Now it's in, now it's turning...Now...how do I UNLOCK this thing?

I turned it one way and nothing happened. OK, wrong direction. I turned it the other way and it spun almost the whole way around the lock-chamber. This, I assumed, was the unlock position.

Working on this assumption, I filed down the bit, milimeter by fraction of a milimeter at a time...testing after each filing.

I was about to give up. If the lock didn't turn soon, I was gonna run out of things to file. That was when the lock gave a 'pop!' and the door fell open!



Once I got the door opened, I took out all the drawers, cleaned the interior, removed all the dust, and then I scraped and cleaned the grooves which the tambour runs along, and put in some oil for lubrication.

The tambour grooves were CLOGGED with 109 years of dust and grit and grime and gunk. I was terrified of ripping the door in half, so I *had* to clean it, to keep it in one piece. I got there in the end, and the door slid and shut and opened smoothly. My friend was very happy

I think she wants to send me an antique sewing machine next time for me to fix it.

--- --- --- ---

The whole process between receiving the case, and actually unlocking it, took 3 hours. Cleaning the grooves took a couple of days (they were absolutely CLOGGED with filth).

 

You are a good friend.

 

Impressive.

 

Ha!!!!! Perhaps you'll be able then to 'treadle' the he** out of there!!!
~
Good work! I get the effort on the key issue. I would do it too. Everything is a learning experience good or bad.
Did you think you might find Geraldo in there?

 

What no amazing item inside? Not even a risque postcard or something for a job well-done.

 

Cool story ! I too,am disappointed there weren't any $20 gold pieces .

 

Everyone expected all kinds of great antique paperwork and money and all, but no such luck...

 

Usually all I find are mouse nests.

 

Great work, Shangas! I missed this thread when first posted. It is getting harder for me to keep up! I am glad that I looked through unread threads and found this one.

 

Thanks. Always tinkering. You know me.

 

I used sewing-machine oil, paper-towels and cotton-buds to clean out the grooves in my cabinet.

Start with the bits that are easiest to clean. Then close the door halfway and clean what you can reach, inside the cabinet. It has to be done entirely by feel, this stuff, for obvious reasons. It's a long process, and you'll scrape out a LOT of gunk. But it'll be worth it when it's finished.