Trick Locks

Puzzle Locks / Trick Locks

a.) Traditional puzzle locks

Chinese puzzle locks

Indian puzzle locks

In India several trick locks are still produced.

In most cases the locks consist of a solid brass, whereby there are steal plates on the front and the back

which are attached to the brass block with rivets.

In addition there is often a decorated thin brass plate on the upper steal plate.

As many parts are still made by hand, same locks show differences.

Indian locks are very hefty, big and heavy.

All currently produced Indian locks need a key and are delivered with two keys.

Many of the keys are very sensitive and the teeth can easily break.

As no stainless steal is used, the trick locks corrode very easily.

A small film of lacquer helps to protect them.

All currently produced trick locks from India consist of a single trick and can be solved in one or two steps.

Most often the trick can be easily guessed from the appearance of the lock.

In addition many locks have marking points which give a hint on the solution.

Neplalese locks

b.) special locks for puzzler

Rainer Popp

Popp's locks are kept very plain, thus there are no ornaments on the locks.

Nevertheless his locks look very unusual, as some details differ very strongly from other locks.

For example one lock has a turning disc on the front, others have many screws.

It is also striking that some of his locks don't need keys.

The locks are milled from solid brass block and stainless steel,

that is why they are extremely heavy.

Popp has used in his locks old, but also new tricks.

As Popp Locks need several steps to open, they are difficult to extremely difficult to open.

For example T1 can hardly be solved without the accompagnied solution.

Popp provides detailed solutions with many diagrams on his locks.

others

Literature

Tim Detweiler Making Working Wooden Locks