Question about lockplate / pan joint?

[PrairieD]

Hello Folks! This one is for the lock builders...

I'm working on a second-hand large Siler lock I picked up at the CLA show a couple of weeks back - in the process of disassembly to do some clean-up work on the lock plate, I discovered there was some filler in the joint between the lock plate and the pan. Is it "usual & customary" to seal the joint between the lock plate and the pan with something like "J-B Weld" etc?
 
Mike C.
Pretty Prairie, KS

[hanshi]

I am not a lock builder but, being a duffer, I'll try to answer your post.  I have heard some owners talk about either adding material to the pan cover and, more commonly, make frizzen modifications to solve this issue.  My take is that any well done fix would work for me.

[rich pierce]

Not customary but necessary to do something if someone polished both the lockplate and the channel in the pan where it slides over the plate. I can’t nominate a modern materials fix I’d be inclined to use punches and peen the lip of the bottom edge of the pan down.

[Eric Krewson]

I think he means below the pan where it connects to the lock plate. I have never noticed any gap that needed filling on any of my locks. I just looked at my current builds lock and it has some casting flaws in the lock plate at this juncture, nothing serious but the first of mine that had any actual gap. The gap is so insignificant I can't think of any reason to fill it.

Here is the gap between the lockplate and the pan on my current build.

[Nhgrants]

I'm just curious, is there a reason for the pan to be detachable?  If not, why wouldn't the pan and plate
Be soldered together?
 Were  original locks made with pan and plate as separate pieces?

[smart dog]

Hi Mike,
There should be no need for a filler.  The pan should fit snug all the way round. If the plate is filed and polished too much that fit could get sloppy but there is no need to fill it.  When polishing a Siler lock, or any with a detachable pan, either polish it with the pan in place or do so very carefully if removed. The collar can be peened down if desired but there is no reason it has to be sealed with anything.

NHGrants, many Germanic and some French locks had detachable pans.  It makes it easier to forge the lock plate. You could certainly solder it in place but there is no need.

dave

[PrairieD]

Thank you, Eric!  I should have included a shot of my lockplate/pan joint -- the biggest gap (about .020") is just aft of the fence behind the pan (not on the surface of the lock like yours, but on the top edge of the plate... )

Rich & Dave! I'll get out my punches and see what I can do to peen the edge of the pan and top edge of the lock plate to close up the joint a bit - this lock might have gotten too much "attention" earlier in it's life... ;-) 

"Track of the Wolf" shows the pan as a separate piece in their exploded picture of the Siler lock kits -- I've never messed with one of the Siler kits, so I wasn't sure how the kits were assembled or what the instructions said...

Thanks everyone!
Mike C.