lock help

[flm_shooter]

While cleaning up a 25 year old siler lock, I notice the hammer does not sit flush against the tumbler "axle" - for want of the correct term. The part of the tumbler that sticks through the lockplate is not flat faced. The cock wiggles against this rough face.

Did this happen over use? Should I gently file the axle off so it is flat?

 

[musketman]

I would think this could be a good thing.
If it was flush, the back side of the hammer would put scrapes and wear marks of the face of the lock plate.

Just make sure all of the screws are tight on the back side of the lock.

Try seeing if the axle will wobble without the hammer installed, this will let you know if you need to replace it.

As to how this happened, I would suspect that over the course of 25 years, the screw that holds the hammer in place (on the front side of the lock) was over tightend, thus drawing the part of the tumbler that sticks through the lockplate further out, making the gap.

If the hammer was drawn down too tight, the back side of the hammer will show marks from the exposed axle.

If you file the axle flush with the lockplate, remember to file the top of the axle too the same amount, so the hammer screw will tightend against the hammer again.

One note: Was the lock made this way?
Check the hammer itslef, maybe the wobble is from a worn hammer, not the axle.

It might be better to first place a washer under the hammer screw (just to see if the hammer will not wobble when installed) it it is tight, them instead of going through the trouble of filing the axle, just shorten the screw a bit, this will keep the screw from bottoming out in the hole and pull the hammer tight against the axle.

Work slow, it is too easy to remove metal, it's harder to add it.

 

[flm_shooter]

Sorry, the part I was worried about was the top of the axle. That is pulled up at the corners (hardly visible in the photo. The back face of the hammer is also not flat and even.

I was thinking of filing the top of the axle to make that part flush again, not the round part sticking out of the lock plate.

The axle itself does no wiggle, only the hammer when attached.

Again, thanks.

 

[musketman]

File the top of the axle flat, and this should help.

Color rhe face of the axle with a black magic marker, then file. This will let you know where you are filing by the bright marks left behind.

Again, take off a little at a time, check often and re-color before filing.

You might have to shorten the screw a bit too, but try just the axle first and see if that works..

No need doing more than you got to...

If this does not work, you may have to replace the hammer...
Good luck.

 

[Zonie]

The tumbler "axel" has 4 flats machined on it to engage the square hole in the hammer. With the axel sticking thru the lockplate, all 4 of these flats should be ABOVE the lockplate surface. I will call them the shoulders. They should all be at the same height above the plate surface, and they should be sharp where they meet the outside diameter of the axel. These four shoulders are what the hammers back face rests against. If they are rounded where they meet the axel diameter they will not provide enough surface to properly support the hammer even if the screw is tight.
The back side of the hammer which rests aginst these shoulders must be flat and also must not have rounded edges where the square hole meets the backface. If it is beat up or has large radii at this junction, file the back side of the hammer (thereby thinning the whole area) so the junction of the square and the backface is sharp.
Place the hammer on the tumbler square and make sure the outer end of the tumbler does not protrude thru it. The only critical thing here is that the end of the axel must be below the outer face of the hammer.
Tighten the screw. If it will not tighten against the outer hammer face, remove the screw and shorten it just enough so it will tighten properly against the hammer.
If the tumbler shoulders are below the lockplate face, the only easy answer is to grind the face of the tumbler which rests aginst the inside of the lockplate back to permit the axel to protrude further thru the plate. OR if you have access to a milling machine you might mill the inside surface which the tumbler bears against. Remove just enough material to locate the shoulders about 1/32 inch above the outer lock surface.
As the Syler lock has a bridle on the tumbler it will have to be adjusted (tweeked?) to keep the tumbler in its new "outer" position. That is unless you don't care of the back surface of the hammer (cock?) rubs on the lockplate. If you don't care, then your done.
Good Shooting

 

[flm_shooter]

After due deliberation, ( and with great trepidation), I applied file to end of axle. After a few strokes to knock down the high places, the hammer fits much more tightly now. No more wiggling hammer.

Thanks to all the suggestions!