help with mortice locks

[bazg]

hi there,i am currently setting up as a locksmith and i am pretty much sorted for yales and cylinders ,but i need help with mortice locks i have been pretty succesful when point drilling them but i need help in picking them,what is the the best method of entry which pick or picks should i buy where is the best place to buy these picks ,is it worth buying try out keys,please could you help i am on a budget and dont want to waste money thankyou

[Shrub]

The best money you can spend is to do a NDE course as theres so much more to mortice locks than simply putting a tool in them, you need to be able to id them first of all and then know what tool works best in what lock,

Look at illusions guide on them for 2/3 lever locks,

Get a 5g and a 7g 2in1 pick from RB Medical,

You need a curtain pick which i suggest you get from Chris Belcher and also get all the differant wires,

A good addition at this point may be a 114 P+C,

Then buy at least 2 of every mortice lock on the market and practice and practice,

If your no good at picking then youll have to start on the decoder route,

Work your way down the list at Safe Ventures and buy all of them,


Mortice locks are what makes the expense up on being a uk lockie,

If you look in the correct section on this site (locksmith business section) you will find a good list that toomushtodrink posted for all your tool suggestions.

Drills? leave them at home, if you have to drill you should be useing a 2mm drill template kit and aiming for the lever gates of the lock and not drilling a 6mm hole in at the bolt stump, i dont know which way you drill but im taking a guess that you remove the bolt stump at the moment.

[horsefeathers]

oh dear.......

First fill in your profile so we all know where in the world you are - then we can ascertain which suppliers and tools are best suited to the locks you will encounter.

Are you actually trading? You need to spend, spend and spend some more of your money on getting the large number of, yes expensive, tools for mortice locks. One tool will not not do them all! Shrub mentioned some of what you need, also check out the other references he mentioned. I dont have every tool available of course but I got the essentials first to cover the widest range i encounter (2-in-1, CB 5 + 7G for example) and am now increasing my collection of more specialised tools (decoders, P+C) for those occasions when I am confronted by a rare beast.

I just dont think you can set up as a trading locksmith on a budget. Unless you want to be a driller killer of course!

Shrub - Gee! Drill out the stump??? Wow, can you really do that? That is really gonna impress my next customer when I show them how accuratley I can drill....

regards

[Shrub]

Sure you go for the stump

drilling a 2/3mm hole and going for the gates is much more skillful but still drilling at the end of the day and on a perfectly good lock is crinimal,

[horsefeathers]

....... but still drilling at the end of the day and on a perfectly good lock crinimal,

well i certainly dont want to be a crinimal....

regards

[Shrub]

lol That should have had 'is' in it, ive edited it to show that now lol

[horsefeathers]

lol That should have had 'is' in it, ive edited it to show that now lol

crinimal??????

(check it again carefully)

regards

[Shrub]

Well if your on about my spelling as im sure you know this is not a spelling101 site its a lockpicking site and if you dont like my bad spelling skip my posts as i cant help it, i spell check important things like guides etc but throw away comments like the above get typed quickly and submitted,

[p1ckf1sh]

crinimal??????

That term reminds me of an Mythbusters episode. That young guy with glasses (keep forgetting their names) was so shocked about the destruction of Buster that all that came out of his mouth was "criminy" or something like this...

[horsefeathers]

Well if your on about my spelling as im sure you know this is not a spelling101 site its a lockpicking site and if you dont like my bad spelling skip my posts as i cant help it, i spell check important things like guides etc but throw away comments like the above get typed quickly and submitted,

I know I know....but some typos are quite funny Try singing Michael Jackson's Smooth Crinimal....

regards

[panalman]

I would suggest you take note on what Shrub said and get yourself on a NDE course which in it self opens up a differet can of worms.

As it just seems nowadays no matter where you look there are so many courses avalible but again be careful as its no secret that a lot of people who do thease courses realise that they cannot make it as a locksmith and set up schools with the promise of work upon completion and so on.

Get yourself a 121 course on mortice locks and settle for nothing else on a company or a person who has the whole range of SV decoders and has the savey on 2 in 1 picks and the Curtain pick.

Forget the drill if you take heed on what I and others have said you will not need it and unless you encounter a faulty lock you should never need it.

For an example last week I was called to a faulty lock where the key only turned 75% I went in with the 5g 2 in 1 and got a unusual feel tried the 3 lever tryout keys and got a bit of movement then inseted the key and put ecsesive force on the bow and got it open when I took the lock apart someone had removed the 3rd lever and doubled up the white plastic spacers to form a lever just another story in the life of a lock problem and I am not a locksmith just a maintentenace engineer.

The moral of the story is pin tumbulars are not the same as mortice locks and do need a bit of thought or a decoder to open them.

[Shrub]

For an example last week I was called to a faulty lock where the key only turned 75% I went in with the 5g 2 in 1 and got a unusual feel tried the 3 lever tryout keys and got a bit of movement then inseted the key and put ecsesive force on the bow and got it open when I took the lock apart someone had removed the 3rd lever and doubled up the white plastic spacers to form a lever

Thats frightenly common, the other one i cant fathom out is Legges with no spacers in at all its a pain as well as the customer always seems to empty a can of WD-40 into the lock so the key works and says theyve been doing that for 6 months before the lock finally locked them out