Locks for Hidden Compartments

H

Herbkettler

Member
I am completing a gallery for a secretary.  I have 3 hidden compartments and would like to use locks on all three.  I am installing a wooden spring under the prospect box to lock it into the prospect.  I would like to know what other types of locks are possible, I am concerned the spring lock will not be very reliable.  I have seen at least two antiques in museums where the lock and failed and it looked like it had been forced open.  Any other suggestions for hidden wooden lock or catch designs?

Thanks

Herb Kettler
 
The catch doesn't actually need to move very much in operation, so virtually any flexible timber could be used. The most common types I've seen are ash, beech and oak.
 
I have seen a few examples which lock the prospect compartment from a dovetailed slot in the drawer rail which slides into the prospect's side. You have to pull out one of the drawers next to the prospect compartment reach in to the underside of the drawer rail and slide the dovetailed catch with your fingernail. I am sure I have a picture somewhere if this makes no sense.
 
Herb,

I do not remember the specific details, but some time back I was looking into a project and I did a Google search on folding or protable writing desks, sometimes called Captain's writing desks.

There were many hits, including lots of such desks for sale on various antique's sellers or auction sites, and I recall lots of close up detailed photographs of a a wide variety of extremely clever hidden compartments.

Sorry I do not remember enough to be more specific, but I had never seen so many hidden compartments and I think that chances are good you wil find some unusual variations.

Karl
 
I have seen arcaded pigeonholes in a bureau with a few tricks. The arches are often very small drawers that simply pull out, but one I saw actually had to be pushed quite hard which then released the three neighbouring, conjoined arches/drawers. I wasn't able to see the mechanism without removing the backboards.

I have also seen a pigeonhole arch whose front rocked on a central pivot. When one side of the arch was pressed, it forced an integral wedge against a spring catch (part of the actual single-piece drawer) which withdrew it from the side of the pigeonhole allowing the drawer to slide out. The drawer opened to reveal a shallow tray (about 3/16" deep) capable of containing several coins. It was well conceived and made and defeated many people's attempts to discover it's secret.

Document boxes either side of the central door (prospect to you?) often have intriguing catches ranging from tilting the top and pulling the bottom, to pressing or pulling the thin divider beside the box, to sliding the plinth of the attached pilaster etc.

The simple spring catch is used in many situations to secure dummy interiors behind the central doors etc. and is often accessed by first sliding part of the wall, floor or ceiling of the box rearwards to reveal the catch, or a hole through which one inserts a finger to release the catch.
 
I worked on a desk where the prospect latch was actuated by lateral pressure on the lid support which had to be pulled about 1/2 way out first. I remember nothing of how it worked, I do recall it was a fairly simple arrangement.
 
Here is the locking system I discussed earlier. Note the hole in the inside. There is a matching hole on the left side also.
 

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Corresponding hole in prospect side. These pictures were taken for a lecture we gave a few years ago at Williamsburg.
 

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Jeff

Thanks for the pictures.  They illustrate the technology very clearly.  I am looking forward to implementing a similar lock in my secretary.

Herb Kettler
 
Here's a picture of a shallow secret compartment in the bottom of a kneehole desk. The drawer stops are the catches and are slid towards each other to release the lid of the compartment.
 

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Jeff L Headley said:
For such a sophisticated piece is scratch beading a standard with English pieces like this one?
Click to expand...
It's not so sophisticated; being oak (and English oak at that, not wainscot), it's likely a provincial piece imitating a more cosmopolitan mahogany or walnut desk. Or it may have been a lesser order for commercial use rather than a fashionable domestic piece.

As with everything, it came down to cost. The 1788 Cabinet-Maker's London Book of Prices shows the cost of scratched beads on a 8"-12" drawer (similar to that in the kneehole desk) to be 2 1/4d. and the cost of cockbeads to be 4 1/2d.
 
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