Darby Shackles Redux

 I posted about these last week when I purchased them. They arrived today and I gave them a few good cleanings.  I paid $31.01 plus $20 shipping for these. Normally I don't mention or include shipping costs as that would artificially increase the sale price of any given item over time if it were sold for the same price that the previous buyer paid + the shipping they paid.  I only mention it here because it represents a high percentage of the overall purchase here and was a factor in almost NOT bidding, but the truth is these are HEAVY, much heavier than any other darby shackles I have. This is both due to the length of the chain as well as the overall heft of the cuffs. 

Here are the irons as received..they were rusty and dirty but not heavily rusted. 

The makers mark was all but illegible. I thought I could read the name 'Froggatt' through the layer of rusty grime. I was pretty sure these were Froggatt just based on the design but now I am nearly certain. 

Here you can read the makers mark. 'FROGGATT WARRANTED WROUGHT' after some cleaning. 

These are an amazing set of shackles. I recently posted about my Froggatt Darby Handcuffs and now I have the matching leg irons which is how I've structured my collection. These were plated at some point, but there is very little plating left. 

You can see in the photo above, that there is a unique point formed by the shoulder around the keyway. Also, note the swell in the cuff where the connection is made to the chain. This is present on my Froggatt Darby Handcuffs but not on the Hiatts or others, at least not nearly to this degree. 

They didn't come with a key, so I tried all my other Darby keys, which is at least half a dozen different types and makers, but very few even reached the threaded post.  The length of the lock tube that the key must reach to get to the threaded post is deeper than most Darbies. but because these early Darby cuffs were hand made individually, the tolerances can vary, and there  was room enough to shim one cuff using a pair of fine scissors to press down on the locking wedge from just below the end cap of the lock tube, and then yank the cuff open. 

The other cuff seems to have a weak or broken spring, because it acts as if it were gaffed for escapology. When the keyhole is facing up, the locking post slides about 5mm up and locks the shackle in place. When the keyhole is turned downward, the locking post slides down and it is possible to lift on the shackle and yank hard to open the shackle. 

Because the possibility of finding a key for these is slim, and making one is difficult, I have considered making these into gaffed irons. Either that or if I am going to open up the lock tubes anyway, I could try to swap out the locks by removing the threaded post and attaching a new threaded section and then making a key to that known thread size.