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01The pin tumbler is the lock you will open, rekey and sell more than any other. Almost every house in North America runs on it. Understand the shear line and you understand rekeying, picking, master keying and most of what goes wrong in a worn cylinder.
- The shear line is the boundary between plug and housing. A key works by splitting every pin stack there.
- Binding on insertion points to spacing. Smooth insertion with no turn points to depth.
- A lock that works only with the worn original has worn to fit that key.
Covers The shear line, Depths, spacing and why a key sticks, Wear, and the lock that only works one way.
Read this topic →Rekeying changes which key operates a lock without changing the lock. It is the single most requested residential service, it costs almost nothing in parts, and it is the correct answer to most of the reasons people call a locksmith about their house.
- Use a follower and keep constant contact so no top pin drops into the plug.
- Test four times. Cylinder alone, installed, door open, door closed.
- Keying several doors alike removes the reason people prop a door open.
Covers The procedure, When rekeying is the right answer, Smart keyed and tool rekeyable cylinders.
Read this topic →Customers ask which lock is best. The honest answer is that the lock is rarely the weak point. The strike, the frame and the screws are. Grading gives you a defensible way to talk about quality, and understanding door reinforcement gives you something worth selling beyond the lock itself.
- Grade 1 survives ten hammer strikes and 250,000 cycles. Grade 3 survives two and 100,000.
- A deadbolt needs a one inch throw to reach meaningful material in the frame.
- Four three inch screws through the jamb into the stud beat a lock upgrade for stopping a kick.
Covers ANSI and BHMA grades, Throw, strike and the three inch screw, Single cylinder against double cylinder.
Read this topic →A locksmith who only looks at the lock will keep being called back. Most residential security failures happen at the door, the frame or the hinge, and being able to see them turns a fifteen minute rekey into a properly secured entrance.
- A gap wider than an eighth of an inch is enough for a pry bar or a shim.
- A hollow core door sounds like a drum and cannot hold a bolt whatever lock you fit.
- Outward opening doors need non removable hinge pins or a security stud hinge.
Covers Reading a door for weakness, Hinges and outward opening doors, Sliding doors and secondary entrances.
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