skeleton key

[Romstar]

Good lord, bend some wire.

Its a plain warded lock, or at worst it has two levers. I would bet plain warding.

I used to open locks like this all the time when I was young with nothing more than a few pieces of bent wire.

Romstar

[maxxed]

Even with the key attached to the lock the key can be coppied by a lockie and use it to open the lock.

Yea, but how many lockies have spare barrel skeleton keys laying around to make copies from?
.

I'm sure many lockies who have been around for years have a selection to pick from, I was trying to offer a simple solution that is practical. ( in case he couldn't pick it )

[I Pik U]

Yea, but how many lockies have spare barrel skeleton keys laying around to make copies from?

We've got a fair bit. I should take a picture sometime.

Come by with the lock. Should have something that fits.

[FiapFiak]

Umm,
if that's the key for it in the picture, on the lock shackle... why dont you just bend a piece of paperclip in a similar shape to the key and just turn?
It's not that hard.
Just straighten a paper clip, bend it and stick it in and turn.
Or just pop off a bulldog clip and stick it in and turn.

[Shrub]

Use paper clips for holding paper, useless on lever locks,

Firstly a skelinton key is a key that has been cut to miss any warding on a lock, thus called a skelinton key,

A lever lock is not a skelinton lock and it doesnt use skelinton keys,

Im not sure where all your side of the world got this idea but im supprised so many members still dont know this or at least correct it when its wrongly labeled,

Now thats off my chest.........

Thats a lever padlock,

Its low quality and more of a micky mouse lock thats been made to look as if its old,

Most lever locks require a key to lock them, they cant simply be pushed to to be locked, as most locks come with 2 keys i suggest the other key has locked that key on there,

If you took a picture of the key blade we could tell you how many levers it has but from looking at what youve shown it looks like it may be a warded lock with either 1 or 2 levers,

If you follow the guides in the european section on picking a non bs lock and the 2 in 1 guides and hey even look at the curtain picking guide to see what you should be doing to the levers,

With the peg in the centre its not gpoing to be easy for you to sort out with make shif tools,

As said i think your best bet is to copy the key to a hacksaw blade and then grind that and bend it so it fits the key way,

You need to look down the keyway and tell us what you can see exactally, use a manifier and torch, can you see levers or simply bits of metal fastened in place, does the shackle spring up and down when you press it? if so shimming it may be possable but its very unlikely as nearly all lever or warded locks need a key to lock them, show us a pic of the key bit,

You could start messing around by making moulds and casting keys but on such a simple cheap nasty lock its really not worth the effort to be honest but if you need or want to go down that route after the other options have been exchausted then i will be happy to tell you various methods this can be done,

The lock is unsecure as there is at least another key somewhere so the lock cant be used to lock anything up therefore the challenge to you is to pick it not bypass or make working keys thats simply not picking and is cheating in the hobby sence,

Grab a pic of the key and we/i can tell you how to bend wires to attempt to pick it for the fun you want from it,

That said, if its important to your mum and she doesnt want it damageing then simply give it her back as an unskilled hand being over zealous with wires and hacksaw blades could damage the internals which you havent any chance of repairing,

[Romstar]

Come on Shrub, its a plain old bit and barrel key. Its a beginner's lock.

If it is levered, it has 2 levers at most, and so many of the ones I have seen don't even have that. It really depends on where it was made.

I still say two pieces of wire is the most you would need for that thing, even an amateur could over that in under a half hour.

I agree that there is most likely another key floating around, but that shouldn't matter, as just the construction alone makes it insecure.

A small light, and some wire is all you need.

Romstar

[I Pik U]

Yea, but how many lockies have spare barrel skeleton keys laying around to make copies from?

Here's some we have on the board. We also have a collection of antique keys in boxes we go through from time to time.

[plot]

Wow... I've never seen a wide variety of skeleton key blanks like that before. That's awesome.

Do most locksmiths in your area have a selection like that, or is it a pretty specialized deal for your area?

[Romstar]

Plot,

Thats a freaking rarity!

Almost no shop has that many of those types of keys anymore. Perhaps some shops in the UK maybe, but not North America.

I am duely impressed.
Romstar

[maxxed]

Nice selection I am impresed

[I Pik U]

Do most locksmiths in your area have a selection like that, or is it a pretty specialized deal for your area?

We do repair and make keys to all kinds of odd locks that no one else will touch. Some don't find them worth the effort. If a customer is willing to pay and can wait, almost anything can be made/repaired.

We do find some older homes (100 year) near both of our locations, and will repair older locks that are still usable.
We also get a few Antique dealers bringing in furniture locks for repair or to have keys made to fit.

[raimundo]

First photo, a collection of old keyblanks, probably stock that has been in the shop since lever padlocks were common, In older lockshops, look at the top unreachable part of the keyboards and where stuff blocks the view of the keyboard, the second photo seems to feature modern blanks for furniture locks, A lot of modern furniture have this sort of 'lock' though, I doubt that there are any levers or wards in these modern copies. If I come accross any old padlocks, I'll send to U pik me for the blank.

[grim]

Yea, but how many lockies have spare barrel skeleton keys laying around to make copies from?

me.

[2octops]

Yeah, me too. We stock around 40 or 50 different uncuts and have a couple hundred different that are already cut. If someone wants to sort thru the precuts to find one that works, more power to them and $10 if they find one

[grim]

Plot,

Thats a freaking rarity!

Almost no shop has that many of those types of keys anymore. Perhaps some shops in the UK maybe, but not North America.

my shop's got 'em. flat steel, bit keys, barrels... name it and we got it. and that's not even including our "archive" in the basement. in that room, you can really find some weird ones.