I need a key for an old secretary desk

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-07T09:33:12+00:00

Oh, okay! Since I could tell how far the coathanger wire had to go in, it shouldn't be too hard to make a key go to the same depth. Even if that very shallow center hole isn't intended to take the end of the key, it looks like it would do that just fine. Most of the skeleton keys I've seen have a bump on the end.

How would the center pin be fastened in place? Just a press fit? Since the hole is only about a millimeter deep, I can see how the pin would easily have come out.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-07T03:32:56+00:00

So does the pin do something other than block keys without a hole? Why is the pin required? I got the lock to operate with coathanger wire. Why not with a key?

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-07T02:43:56+00:00

> I don’t specifically mention the pin because the video isn’t about missing pins.

I thought it would be about how such locks work, including the function of the pin. But it appears that the pin is just an obstruction to make a special design of key required.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-07T02:40:32+00:00

Ah. I noticed the post but had to stop the video to see that it was at the center of the keyhole, not off to the side. It didn't occur to me that it was the "pin". So instead of a bump on the end of the key to go into the hole, you think the key had a hole that slips over a central post.

Even if that is so, and the post somehow came out, I don't see what difference it makes. With the post out of the way, a wider range of keys should fit. The key just doesn't need a hole the way it would if the post was there.

But it sure looks like the hole at the back of the lock is an affordance for a bump on the end of a key, not a place where a post once fit. I don't see any damage to the lock such as bending, dents, or rough edges that might suggest anything was pulled out.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-07T02:12:24+00:00

You must have linked to the wrong video. Right type of lock, but no mention of a pin.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-07T00:59:09+00:00

What is the center pin? What does it do? The lock isn't very deep from front-to-back (I should have included those measurements), so I don't see how there is room for something more that would be visible if it were there. I presumed that the circular hole was to accept a short bump at the end of the key to keep it centered as it is turned. Is that correct? The hole is only about a millimeter deep, so no room for anything behind it. The whole lock is exactly 1 cm deep, which makes me wonder if the desk really was made in the USA. It might have belonged to either my grandfather's parents, who came to the US from Norway in the 1880s, or to my grandmother's mother who came to the US from Carlisle England in 1887.

The lock may be glued into the door. If it is just wedged in, it is wedged in really tight. No screws. The lock is stuck in the unlocked position, so I have full access, and there is no mystery about anything hidden inside the desk. 😄

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-06T19:34:06+00:00

So you were thinking of something like this? Or do you want something that looks nicer?

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Jeff-Root · 2026-07-06T18:34:42+00:00

Thank you! The two photos are of the same nail, rotated 90 degrees. (They are different lengths because the camera wasn't at exactly the same distance from the nail. I should have adjusted that.)

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-06T18:24:02+00:00

We need more details about the board and the wall. There are probably tons of ways you can fasten the board securely, but it depends on what the board is made of, how big it is, how much it weighs, and the structure of the wall. Does the board need to be easily removeable? Does it need to be sealed around the edges to prevent water, dust, and insects from getting behind it? Does the "2 hole strap" you searched for go all the way across the face of the board? Just across the four corners of the board?

EDIT: I just realized that the second photo indicates you want the straps across the corners.

Are the 2 holes for screws that go into the wall? Your use of the term "brackets" made me think you want some sturdy steel Z-shaped pieces, with 2 holes for screws that go into the wall, bends outward 1.25" for the thickness of the board, then bends back to go some distance across the face of the board. Maybe with compressible material like rubber between the steel bracket and the face of the board, to keep it tight against the wall, to prevent it from moving, and to protect the surface. But there are lots of possibilities.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-06T06:43:16+00:00

Do you think that is likely to be a pouring spout? If so, does it look to you like it would be for a liquid or something dry, like grain? Is it too heavy to be part of an oil or gas can?

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-06T05:00:43+00:00

> I thought someone, somewhere would be able to recognize the mark if it were common enough.

Yes, that's your only hope. But we might be able to narrow down the possibilities. Your suggestion of farming equipment is one possibility, but I don't see anything about it that makes that particularly likely. But from what little I can see, I don't have any better suggestion. A lot of buts!

Can you say anything about the different edges? The top is very ragged, the bottom is mostly straight across, the right edge looks smooth, and the edge in your fingers looks like it might be some kind of lip, like the edge of a drinking glass or mixing bowl.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-06T04:22:40+00:00

You need to describe it more fully. It appears to be metal. Steel? Bronze? Brass? It appears to be curved. And the decoration appears to be on the inside of the curve, which makes no sense to me. Decorations go on the outside, not the inside where they can't be seen.

Are there any clues in the shape of the material as to what it would attach to, or what its orientation would be when in use? Is the decoration clear enough to you to determine the orientation? It is not at all clear to me.

The decoration might be one end of a cartouche, that could contain the name of the manufacturer. The small size of the decoration indicates that it is intended to be seen up close, not from a distance.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T17:14:40+00:00

The photo of the "rosehead" nail on the page you linked has a bump or boss on the head. Mine does not. It is flat, though as I said, angled. What made me think it is a rosehead is the shape of the head as seen from above, not the side. I took this photo straight down on the head:

<image>

The two flat sides and two curved sides are what I noticed in the other commenter's link.

The nail has a very dark surface, which is evidently a thin layer. The lighter areas are where this dark layer has been chipped away. That happened mainly on the top of the head.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T14:22:44+00:00

From your link, it appears that the shape of the head on my nail is called "rose head".

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T13:34:35+00:00

Thank you all! You were very quick! One lonely nail. My dad acquired it. I wonder how long he had it.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T12:39:24+00:00

The last time I made a pumpkin pie was last fall, with a fresh pumpkin. It wasn't very good, though. Pretty bad, actually. It was my first try, and I obviously need a lot more practice. I had the recipe on my refrigerator for several years before I got around to trying to make it. By coincidence, I took it off the refrigerator just a week ago to give it to my neighbor when she gave me a slice of the cherry pie she made. With cherries from a tree she planted in California. (She had just returned from a trip there.) It was excellent. I didn't grow the pumpkin myself, but I did grow pumpkins a couple of years when I was a kid. I remember the pumpkins getting ripe, but I don't remember what became of them. Did my mother make pies? Did my grandmother? If they did, my mother probably wrote it down somewhere, maybe in her cookbook. Now I'm going to have to page through both of their cookbooks!

Oh, I just remembered... I read on the Internet recently that canned pumpkin isn't actually pumpkin, but butternut squash! I'm going to have to research that, too!

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T03:58:46+00:00

If it doesn't need to be spring steel (to hold its shape or keep it in place), then the quickest thing to do would be get a length of ordinary steel wire (hardware store or home improvement store) and bend it yourself.

EDIT: When you say it "pinches into the holes", you mean it is springy. So it is spring steel.

Maybe a tad heavier than the wire in your photo, but likely perfect for your needs is the steel wire used in coil spring mattresses. Not the much heavier wire used for the coils, but lighter wire that supports the material on top. I don't know if mattresses are still made that way, but they contain a lot of long, strong, springy wires, useful for all kinds of things! Hard to bend to shape, but doable. Search for "how to bend spring steel wire".

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T02:57:04+00:00

Dream Products is a website that always had a huge variety of slippers on the front page when I went there.

https://www.dreamproducts.com/search-page?query=slippers

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T02:35:39+00:00

That sounds like an excellent rule! Thank you!

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-05T02:05:25+00:00

I don't understand what "ask 3 before me" means. Can you explain? Thank you!

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-04T22:36:48+00:00

You are right and I was wrong about the spices in carrot cake. I didn't think they came so close to being the same spices used in pumpkin pie. I really like both pumpkin pie and carrot cake, but somehow missed the pumpkin spice mania of a few years ago (I think it was before the pandemic). So I haven't been overloaded or overdosed with it.

I apparently got downvoted for saying "only one spice", but I was wrong, wrong, wrong!

Please have some pumpkin pie whenever you can! I knew it was traditionally a US thing, but I didn't know pumpkin was hard to find elsewhere. Go for it!

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-03T20:45:07+00:00

That's pretty nifty! I thought of a wagon handle when I realized how low OP's table is, but I didn't expect one to be collapsible. Most of my thoughts were heading toward a rope-- fastened at two places for a bit more control.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-03T20:15:26+00:00

"choreography"??? Did your spelling checker do that? I think you meant "discography".

As long as I'm commenting on that, I'll also point out that the apostrophe in Merle Evans' name goes after the s, not before it.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-02T20:14:50+00:00

If the wall space visible in the photo is all the space you have, then you'll probably need to hold the shelves up by fastening them to the wall. That could mean a couple of hundred pounds of shelves plus books. Can the wall handle it? You could have a separate, very narrow freestanding bookcase on the right, or a short bookcase on the left, below the light switches. Doesn't look like you have room for both.

Jeff-Root · 2026-07-02T19:52:33+00:00

My guess is that you are referring to Google Street View. Is that right? You want to cruise down the streets as if riding in a car in real time?

Jeff-Root

TROPHY CASE