C. J. Gaylor – 1834

C.J. Gaylor introduced this lock to the United States around 1834 where he made them at 102 Water Street in New York. It is essentially a faithful replica of Chubb’s detector lock, first patented in 1818 and later improved in 1824 and beyond. Click here for an excellent article detailing the history of the Chubb detector lock and its workmanship. This lock is a 4 lever lock renowned for its security at the time and would have been utilized in a burglar-proof safe. If someone attempts to pick the lock and sets any lever too far, the detector seen on top of the tumblers will be set. Once set, the lock cannot unlock except by use of the real key turning as if it was going to be locked to reset the detector prior to unlocking. This informs the owner of an attempted break-in and makes it significantly harder to pick once a failed attempt is made.

An illustration of the lock showing how it would be connected to the boltwork via two attachment points on the lock’s external portion of the bolt.

Knight, John. Mechanics’ Magazine, and Journal of the Mechanics’ Institute. Vol. 3, D. K. Minor and J. E. Challis, 1834. Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=P-U-AQAAMAAJ.