any good locky tales ?

[raimundo]

Just a bit about the meaning of mortice. it comes from the french word mort, which means dead. it also refers to the old mortice and tenon joint in which the mortice is a hole chiseled in wood and the tenon is the piece of wood being joined to it by being fitted into that hole.
Mortice locks are 'buried' in the wood of the door, while 'rimlocks' are screwed to the surface of the door on the inside. Old lock styles were lever tumbler locks, and these at their mature tech development were always morticed into the wood. So to the british who are still making good lever locks, these are called mortice locks. Many mortice locks in the US are pin tumbler cylinders, but will often have large brass eschutions and fancy handles with thumb levers for the latch mechanism.

Moderator is welcome to move this post if a more appropriate thread is wanted, british lockys may correct any wrong impressions.

[Mutzy]

yeah, sorry. I WAS referring to a lever lock, with the oldstyle 'skeleton keys'. At my work, they're basically referred to as mortice locks (hey, it's what i've been taught... ) And any different models are quoted as they are, i.e. Lockwood Mortice Lock. Hope this clears it up.

[Chrispy]

All good Mutzy. Simple mistake.

[LockNewbie21]

Well i am not a locksmith yet but i do have a very interesting construction..general contracting story if you wisht o be specific. We got subcontracted to the house in about a half hour away. The job was patch a smashed out section of a typical inground pool. In my wildest dreams i can not figure how this happened. But back to the story, I was sick the previous night and only went to bed at three am. So there we are at 5:30 out mixing this specail pool concrete, and we applied the base coat and then went to breakfast till it dried. Upon returning the woman or should i saw weman that owned the house came out to see our progress, they were roughly 29 or so.. a little to old for me but they were smoking. anyway 12 oclock roles by and were finishing it up to paint and out come the ladies in thong bikinis! Now I was like umm... ok, my uncle said o yea fellas there lesbians so dont say anyhting relating to homosexuality becuase yadda yadda my reputation is on the line yadda yadda, so now me and me buddies are like umm... so where painting the pool and there just sunbathing and then we finished and they got up checked it out and said excellent work and invited to make us dinner it was about 6pm now and the shift was done. We all stood there like little school boys like yea yea yea yea yea food i like that!! i had that once or twice food is really good! But my boss is married and ruined it us! None the less one of the most interesting jobs i have ever been on. We also we remodeling building for the company berks counceling and i came in first to set down my drill and tool belt ect, walked around the halways turning on the lights and i swere i shat myslef there was a bum sleeping in the room where we kept the drywall. We kicked the bum out and called the police. Those are the best stories i got in the pst 5 years i have been a construction worker. Theres other littel stuff like having a neihbor call to police as your trying to replace windows thinking i was going to rob the house and almost gettin arrested. Lol they sound far fetched but my Chums will back them up 100%


Newbie

[jimb]

In the last couple of weeks I have been invited to ride along in the field with a couple of different locksmiths. Today I rode with one of them.

One of the calls was a lady needing her house unlocked and re-keyed. When we arrived at this house there was a couple sitting on the front porch. The lockie ask for some proof that this was her house and she produced a quick release deed and introduced the man as her husband.

The lockie started to pick the lock on the front door and after a couple of minutes decided to take a look at the back door. The back door was a key in knob and he decided to enter there. After a few minutes he got the door open and we proceeded through the house to unlock the front door. I noticed the house was empty, no furniture, no nothing.

After opening the front door there was a different man and the woman arguing over who owned the house. The man introduced as her husband was nowhere in sight.

The man said no one was going to re-key the doors, as this was his house. The man and woman also both claimed they did not know each other!

The woman then ask if we had a phone she could use as she was going to call the police, which she did. So we decide it would be best to wait in the van until things were sorted out.

So were sitting in the van discussing whom we thought the house belonged to when the police pull up. We figured that since she called the police and he did not seem upset that we were in his house that she was probably the owner.

Naturally when the police arrived we had the window down to hear as much of the discussion as possible. She tells the police that she wants the man arrested and kept away from her property. She shows one officer the quick release deed and the other man gets on the phone to the city trying to get proof that the deed of the house is in his name.

Then one officer tells the other one that she has a quick release deed. After he looks at the document he tells her that it’s a forgery and that she has made changes to it and threatens to take her to jail on forgery charges. The man on the phone then puts his cell on speakerphone where apparently someone from the city is saying that she had lost the house because she had not paid her property taxes in the last 4 years.

The lockie gets out of the van and one of the officers tells him that he’s not going to be able to re-key her doors today, so we left. Nope he did not get paid.

We never did find out exactly what was going on. My guess the house was auctioned on the courthouse steps and the man bought for it for resale as there was also a for sale sign in the front yard.

Do I really want to do this?

[Jryanruch]

Being the locksmith apprentice, I get sent to: the paranoid schizos, the brothels, and the auto lockout/fit key customers that aren't likely to pay up.

Recently, I went to rekey a rental building. While there, on the stairs minding my own business (working with ilco jimmy proof nightlatches, ugh). A young woman in a bikini runs up the stairs and right into me! I'm fumbling with a nasty, grime-covered lock and feel a little embarassed, so I say, "Sorry, eh?" (like any canadian would), she says, "Hey don't be sorry I don't mind" and she proceeds to a side room where a middle aged man is waiting. Moments later ambient sound is piped through speakers in the entire house, birds twittering and a bubbling stream, with the occasional bee buzzing. I put those stupid vertical deadbolts back on as fast as I could and got out of there. They paid cash.

[Jryanruch]

Jimb, my heart goes out to you. Domestic Dispute rekeys are the worst.. 'specially when you're halfway done and the other half shows up flaming mad, or the tenant starts putting the pressure on, "I need you to hurry up, he'll/she'll be back from work soon." Sorry man, I've seen this a lot!

[keysman]

Domestic disputes ALWAYS get NEW locks not a rekey, I don't want to be there any longer han I have to .

keys don't match oh well , I am out of here!

[jimb]

Jimb, my heart goes out to you. Domestic Dispute rekeys are the worst..

Yea, I was told a few of these stories on my ride along, the funny thing about this one was they both claimed they had never seen each other before.

[CVScam]

I am not a locksmith but I dealt with those documents before. One day a lady came into the dealership and asked if there was a notary public available. I told her I was the notary what could I do for her. She asked me to notarize 2 car titles that had already been signed by the owner to her. I told her the person who signed the titles would have to appear before me and affirm the signature before I could notarize the titles. About 1 hour later she comes back in with a guy and she tells me she has a quick claim deed she needs notarized too. I look at the address and then I recognize the name. The house was right behind the dealership and I knew the owner had died over 1 month ago. I let the lady talk for a few minutes tring to con me saying the guy with her had lost his ID. I knew the guy that died had a big family I asked her who she and she claimed to be a grandaugher. I told her the house and cars would have to go to probate court and she should get a lawyer.