In message <[log in to unmask]>, Automatic digest processor
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>Does anyone out there know the history of lock washers?  Their invent=
>or? =3D
> Beginning date?
>    B. Fontana

There's a Lock Museum in the US which might be able to help.  There used
to be a Lock Museum in the UK, too (I used to work there). They had huge
funding cuts from their local authority (the other partners were the
local industry, and the lockmaking unions).  The address is New Street,
Willenhall, West Midlands.

Is the washer still associated with the lock, or could it come from a
set of handles?  The mechanism of the lock would probably be a better
dating tool than the washer, per se (or do you have a box of 'lock
washers'???).

I'm trying (and failing) to remember which types of locks use washers.
Runner action locks, certainly - with these, the key or follow don't act
directly on the bolt, but there's a sliding bit (a 'runner') which
transmits the action.  The washer goes between the end of the spring
behind the bolt head and the runner.

Best wishes to all,

Pat
(who would like to reassure folk that she is not at all typical of the
historical archaeologists at York)
--
Pat Reynolds
[log in to unmask]
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)