How To Attach A Round Brass Lock To A Briefcase?

[HRE838]

Hello,

Soon I'll be attempting to make a single gusset, traditional bridle briefcase. I've bought a lock from Abbey England but am curious how to go about attaching it.

http://www.abbeyengland.com/DesktopModules/CATALooKStore/MakeThumbImage.aspx?fileticket=AYT6MW6dcZE%3d&PORTALID=0&W=200&H=200

I've seen some other people have attached it with what looks like a backing piece of leather (so a circle of stitching is visible around the lock on the front). On some other examples however, there is no stitching.

I've got the escutcheon pins (solid brass) ready to go, but it doesn't seem like it would be a very strong connection with these alone. Am I correct in thinking that you simply cut out the square shape for the lock to fit in, then rivet it together? (no stitching method).

Has anybody got any insight on how to go about installing the lock? Any illuminating pictures or how-to's?

Many thanks!

[MY63]

I have restored an old English case with a similar lock they are riveted in place with a piece of leather glued over the backing plate no stitching that I can see. I have a few of these cases in my restoration queue I will try and post a picture although flicker has just changed all of the settings again so I am a little lost.

I would also like to make such a case from scratch so would be interested in watching your progress

Edited May 9, 2015 by MY63

[AndersenLeather]

The stitching has nothing to do with holding the lock in place. It is there to secure the backing piece of leather. The brass pins will hold it together no problems. The lock itself is rather thick so it protrudes something like 5-8 mm from the back of the leather. Also the edges of the box is sharp so you really need som kind of backing leather.

If you glue it with good contact cement I think it would hold without stitching.

in the leather working handbook by Valerie Michael she shows how to install the lock.

[jling]

Would love to hear how it turns out. I just attached this lock to my briefcase project and I was not happy with the results. I'm not very experiences like most of the contributors to this forum, so there might be some glaring rookie mistakes with my method.

However, I would advise you to be careful when cutting the square for the inner lock mechanism. The holes on the plate/backer are VERY close to the lock box. Mark those holes on the leather before cutting the square.

A few thoughts, which might help. As far as I can tell there is no good tutorial for attaching these locks. I tried using Al Stohlman's tip of using #14 burrs with large escutcheon pins, but the burrs were too too big.

My issues:

-The holes to assemble the plates were too close the the cut square, and barely had any bite in the leather. Not a huge deal since there is a back plate, once attached keeps everything together.

-When peening the escutcheon pins to secure the backplate, I laid thin leather under the pin head to reduce damage. This caused the pins to push back out slightly, and therefore the lock does not sit flush to the face of the case.

-It was difficult to peen the pins because they sit so close to the inner lock mechanism. I had to take great care not to damage the face of the lock. Next time I would probably use a block of wood with a hold drilled the size of the Key latch.

-I'm not sure why, but the lock does not close very well now that I have everything assembled. I cut notches to allow plenty of clearance for the latch bar to move up and down. So i'm not sure what the issues is.

Overall, I'm disappointed with my execution. I hope you have better luck!

[MY63]

I can't help with your first issue but when riveting using standard rivets the front of the rivet needs to be held tight against the front of the lock, I use a rivet set a metal rod with a cup for the rivet head to hold it tight. Wood or leather will deform and make for a loose fit.

A ball peen hammer is best for riveting but I often use a small bolt with a slightly dished end to peen over the end of the rivet as I can place it where I want it then hit it with the hammer.

I am sure you could remove the rivets and try again a tighter fit may resolve your locking issues small washers behind the rivets may also help them to grip the leather.

If all else fails would it be possible to cut a piece of leather larger than the lock mount the lock to that and stitch that to the case and make a feature of it.

Hope that helps I am not an expert but have had similar issues.

[jling]

Reviving this topic to ask a question. I Love the look of these so much, and I'm planning my second attempt using this lock. 

Has anyone found it difficult to snap the lock closed when the case is empty? 

I do suspect my issue is on account of poor installation the first time around, but I'm wondering whether my single gusset briefcase might have been a poor choice.

My thinking is that with a multi-gusset design, the case is never really empty, and the lock has something to push against as you snap the flap into it. Instead, pressing the flap of my case onto the lock flexes the wide front panel of the case, causing the angle of locking to misalign. I would be embarrassed to make a case like this for someone and have them deal with such an annoying closure. If this weren't the best looking lock available, I would move right along and select a different one

[AndersenLeather]

4 hours ago, jling said:

Reviving this topic to ask a question. I Love the look of these so much, and I'm planning my second attempt using this lock. 

Has anyone found it difficult to snap the lock closed when the case is empty? 

I do suspect my issue is on account of poor installation the first time around, but I'm wondering whether my single gusset briefcase might have been a poor choice.

My thinking is that with a multi-gusset design, the case is never really empty, and the lock has something to push against as you snap the flap into it. Instead, pressing the flap of my case onto the lock flexes the wide front panel of the case, causing the angle of locking to misalign. I would be embarrassed to make a case like this for someone and have them deal with such an annoying closure. If this weren't the best looking lock available, I would move right along and select a different one

Yes I also find it difficult to snap the lock with an empty bag. I dont think it makes a difference to have more than an single gusset. As you say it depends on how rigid the front of the bag is. 

[AndersenLeather]

Regarding some of the issues you had installing the lock here are some information that shows how set rivets:

http://andersenleather.blogspot.com/2016/08/setting-rivet.html

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by jonasbo