Rare 1890 Mortise Lock Set Restoration | Random Restoration

Welcome! Today I'll be restoring an antique mortise lock set which was manufactured in the 1890s by a company named Brittan Graham & Mathes, of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. According to their 1890 catalog, this is called the Lotus deign and is a vestibule lock. Unlike many of my other restorations this set was not very rusty, though it was heavily tarnished, and the inside of the cast iron lock case was truly filthy haha.

To start off this restoration I disassembled the mortise lock, followed by grinding and drilling out the solid rivets holding the faceplate to the case. Next up it was paint stripping time - I went ahead and scraped off most of the japanning from the lock case, followed by removing any paint from all the remaining hardware with an aerosol aircraft paint remover. After paint stripping the parts were cleaned with degreaser, then it was time to soak them in rust remover. I use Evapo Rust for rust removal, as I can get a five gallon bucket of it for a reasonable price, and it lasts me a bout a year before needing to be replaced. None of the parts were too rusty, though the lock components did have a bit of rust built up on them.

Next up in the hardware restoration I needed to make some new springs. Two of the original three springs had been replaced and the third spring, which was brass, ended up breaking after being removed. A bit of quick off camera spring bending later and the lock was working good as new! Then I had to cut a key which was only used on the exterior side of the door. I have a couple hundred uncut antique nickel plated steel keys which I sifted through until I found one that fit perfectly. Since this is not a double key lock which only has one tumbler the key cutting process went pretty quickly. Then I moved on to quickly painting the iron lock case and case cover.

Finally I was able to restore the bronze faceplate, thumb turn, door knobs and rosette one by one. I decided to go for an unpolished but bright finish as per the description of the finishes in the 1890 catalog. So instead of polishing they were all sanded up to 1200 grit, then after sanding were given a few coats of cellulose nitrate lacquer to prevent tarnishing. After lacquering I applied a coat of dark green paint to the recessed areas to recreate the original finish. With the painting all done I went ahead and restored all the small interior lock components - The bronze parts were wire wheeled and polished, and the steel parts got a cold bluing treatment. With all the parts restored and with nothing else to repair I reassembles the lock and lubricated it off camera.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Welcome!
0:35 Disassembly
2:05 Paint Stripping
3:11 Rust Removal
3:41 Abrasive Buffing
4:26 Reattaching the Faceplate
5:26 Making New Springs
5:49 Making A Key
6:30 1890 Catalog
6:59 Restoring the Lock
9:52 Reassembling the lock
11:20 Restoring the Backplate
12:10 Restoring the Knobs
13:18 Restoring the Rosette
13:47 Restoring the Twist
14:15 Before and After
15:01 Testing it Out

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Rare Ornate 1890 Mortise Lock Set Restoration | Random Restoration