cabinet locks, missing keys

[victorylocksmith]

found a client that has cabinets with locks but, no keys. i dont know how to impression btw. any suggestions? im thinking of either replacing them all together but, have not seen the locks in person quite yet. is it hard to take the locks off?

[GWiens2001]

We have not seen the locks, either. If they are cheap cam wafer locks, they are easy to pick with a diamond rake or a half ball pick. If they are lever locks, harder. Duracam - you better be really, really good. If they are double-sided Chicago locks, half ball pick, but some are still hard.

Gordon

[cledry]

Since you are representing yourself I assume as a locksmith you should be able to tackle this easy job without your customer needing to buy new locks. This is like the most basic part of locksmithing after rekeying locks. Some locks are proprietary so not easy to replace.

If you get the codes you can order the keys either from a local locksmith or online. You could possibly learn to pull cores with a pick and hand file a key, which is much easier for most than impressioning. Subscribe to a code service for your key codes. It will pay for itself. I use it on my phone many times in a day.

If you don't have a code machine then try and buy some space and depth keys for a few of the more common locks.

Buy some locks and learn to impression keys.

[Sinifar]

Once you get into the thing, you should find they are held in by screws on the back to the drawer or cabinet. Take the lock out.

There should be a hole someplace about 3/4 or 7/8 of an inch back from the front on the "bottom" of the keyway. If not, drill a 1/16 inch hole there and just hit the retainer and extract the plug and fit a key from there. Measure a key blank and figure that the retainer is in the 6th position or if Corbin 7th position, hence the two dimensions above. It is opposite the working side of the plate tumblers.

Some locks you can see the retainer on the back of the plug thru the bolt. If this is a cam lock with a staked on cam, toss and replace. If the cam comes off, just pull the plug and fit a key.

Small locks like this are one of the bread and butter items we work on. ALSO look for code numbers, if not on the front, some older ones have them on the back.

Sinifar

[hjlocks]

Without knowing what exactly you're looking at it's hard to say, but a lot of times cabinet locks will have the code stamped right on the lock. If not they are usually easy to remove once you get the door open.

[billdeserthills]

In my area you would likely find National Cam locks, most are keyed alike to the same few code #'s and they are easy to pick open. Once you have picked it open get a National Key blank part # RO3 comes to mind, even an IN-8 key blank should work & push it into the lock. Now unscrew the back and remove the core with the blank in it. You can easily file the key now or cut one to code by guessing the heights of the tumblers with the blank in the keyhole. You will need to learn to impression keys to be successful at locksmithing, or become proficient at reading wafer cylinder heights.