[cszcnvea] Bowley Lock

The Bowley Lock initially excited me because it seemed to be a high security lock that could be made with loose tolerances: it looked like simply a pin-tumbler lock (which can and do get made nowadays with loose tolerances, to the delight of lockpickers), and a ward, shielding the pin stacks from lockpicking.

However, after further research, it looks like the Bowley Lock's tolerances are and must be very tight to prevent attacks like bumping and impressioning.  As such, it is not so different from other high-security locks on the market, which also gain their high security from precise machining at tight tolerances.

As an analogy, cheap disc detainer locks made with loose tolerances are easily picked.  However, high security disc detainer locks made with tight tolerances such as those made by Abloy seem to be nearly unpickable.

Bowley might be able to argue that although their lock and high-security locks of their competitors both require precision manufacturing to tight tolerances, the amount of precision needed in Bowley's design is less, so consequently the cost of manufacturing will be less (though still more expensive than cheap pin-tumbler locks) for the same security level.

It is fun to imagine what the world could have been like if Bowley's design remained secure even if manufactured at loose tolerances.  The real fun would only begin after Bowley's patents expired and cheap knockoffs get manufactured.  Everyone, for the price barely above a cheap pin-tumbler lock today, could have a unpickable high security lock.

Designing a high security lock that can be manufactured with loose tolerances remains an open problem.