Tumbler repair question

[SyLibby]

Hi,

  Forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask this question.  I have a tumbler problem.  The half cock notch fractured off of the tumbler of a friends lock.  It doesn't look like filing in a new groove would work.  Would it be possible to silver solder more steel to the tumber and reshape the stop?

Thanks all,

Scott

[rich pierce]

In the period, tumblers would have been case hardened wrought iron. They would anneal the tumbler, file in a mortise where an oversized piece of wrought could be inlet, and braze it in place using brass. Then the new notch would be filed and the tumbler would be charcoal packed case hardened and quenched. The brazed joint wouldn’t come loose at case hardening temps.

[SyLibby]

Thank you,

  I can defintely make that happen.  Really appreciate the help.

[redheart]

Wouldn't it be easier to figure out the brand of lock it is and try to buy a new tumbler?

[rich pierce]

Wouldn't it be easier to figure out the brand of lock it is and try to buy a new tumbler?

For sure! I’m a sucker for a harder solution.  . I was making a wild guess that the parts may not be available as they were not “back then.”  Get caught up in period solutions sometimes.

[SyLibby]

It would definitely be easier to get a new tumbler.  But they just aren't available for this.  The particular model doesn't fit the focus of this site, but I was hoping the expertise here would help. And it did.  I'm certainly going to keep looking for a new one also thoug