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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Shangas, post: 97244, member: 360&quot;]Thank you, thank you, and thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>To GalleriaG: </b></p><p><br /></p><p>Nothing that I put into the box is &#039;new&#039;. Everything there is an antique. A period-correct replacement to what *would* have been included in the box when it was new.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>And yes, I made a key. Ideally, I would&#039;ve liked to pull the lock apart and cut a key that way, but that wasn&#039;t possible with this box. (Well probably is, but I didn&#039;t want to damage the box). So I had to size up the dimensions of the key by peeking through the keyhole. </b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>The first step</b> was to figure out the dimensions of the key barrel to fit around the post and turn. This is the easiest step. It either fits, or it don&#039;t.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The second step</b> was to measure the dimensions of the bit at the end of the barrel. This of course, is dictated by the size of the keyhole. So I filed the key-head down until it was the right size to sorta-fit-in.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The third step</b> is one I almost screwed up - and that was cutting the notch for the ward. I wouldn&#039;t be able to photograph this (I almost couldn&#039;t see it myself without a bright torchlight!), but inside the lock is a ward (an obstruction) which the key has to BYPASS in order to open the lock.</p><p><br /></p><p>The trick is to cut a notch in the key-head to bypass the ward, but at the same time, filing down the OTHER side of the key-head, to fit into the lock properly. You have to take off JUST the right amount of metal on both sides, or else the key just snaps in half.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was tricky, but I got there in the end.</p><p><br /></p><p>The final step is to hammer on a new escutcheon for the keyhole and line it up with the lock. Gonna go to an antiques hardware shop and see what they got.</p><p><br /></p><p>The <b>&#039;Underage Antiques Collector&#039;</b> is because I got into antiques at a very, very, very young age. I was five years old when I started visiting antiques shops on a regular basis. I&#039;m not even 30 yet.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>No, I am NOT a locksmith!!</b> <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/tongue.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":p" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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