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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Shangas, post: 63003, member: 360&quot;]This is not mine. I make no claims that it ever was, is, or will ever be mine.</p><p><br /></p><p>A friend of mine is in the process of moving house. This meant getting rid of a LOT of junk. She&#039;s moving out of the old family home, which means it&#039;s loaded with generations of crap.</p><p><br /></p><p>She&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of them was this cabinet:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11202599_1617978145127332_3858745090597239788_n.jpg?oh=926979594eb83ad26e7bb634a0a76463&amp;oe=562BA258&amp;__gda__=1445932197_04eb7a852dfde02c0a854a5d982e5512" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>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?</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;d see what I could do. So she did.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I first saw the lock, my first reaction was: &quot;What the hell have I got myself into!?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I knew for a FACT I didn&#039;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: &quot;Do you sell antique keys??&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Yes!&quot; they said. And the lady behind the counter pulled out two boxes loaded with keys. She said I could knock myself out.</p><p><br /></p><p>I sifted through what must&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then...at the very bottom...was this little steel key. I picked it up and I said: &quot;How much?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;$5&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;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&#039;d never find another key, so I just bought it.</p><p><br /></p><p>I went home and sure enough - the key didn&#039;t fit. Damn it!</p><p><br /></p><p>Out with the files.</p><p><br /></p><p>After a lot of grinding, I got the key to physically fit IN the lock.</p><p><br /></p><p>After more grinding, I got the key to TURN in the lock.</p><p><br /></p><p>OK, good.&nbsp; Now it&#039;s in, now it&#039;s turning...Now...how do I UNLOCK this thing?</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Working on this assumption, I filed down the bit, milimeter by fraction of a milimeter at a time...testing after each filing.</p><p><br /></p><p>I was about to give up. If the lock didn&#039;t turn soon, I was gonna run out of things to file. That was when the lock gave a &#039;pop!&#039; and the door fell open!</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11267356_1617978221793991_2714842593677193686_n.jpg?oh=b58bf99b88ec51a184f67e61cb4ad673&amp;oe=55F2EB20&amp;__gda__=1445938397_414a619f3bec3ed2d061789bc3b95117" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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 <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/smile.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":)" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I think she wants to send me an antique sewing machine next time for me to fix it.</p><p><br /></p><p>--- --- --- --- </p><p><br /></p><p>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).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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