Rekeying

[ctaoymearse]

could anyone tell me what rekeying a lock is, how to do it, and what kind of locks you can do it on. i have a weather proof masterlock that i've been practicing on but its gotten too easy, i wanna change the pins around. any help would be nice thanks

[Grudge]

Most padlocks don't have a removable core and so can't be repinned (I know, I know, you could cut the lock open, remove the core and weld it back together ) I am not sure about your master lock (I don't have that model) but if you can remove the core, you usually do that by opening the shackle and checking for a hex nut or bolt to unscrew. This releases the cylinder of of the bottom of the lock.

Most deadbolts are easy to repin and I know Home Depot (not Lowes for some reason) has repinning kits for Kwiksets, Schlage and others. They are the Changealock brand (http://changealock.com/). They come with pins, a plug follower, any specialized tools needed and some (poorly written) instructions.

Hope that helps

[Chucklz]

You don't have to do a cut and weld though. A grind and Hammer works just as well. On the bottom of the lock, get rid of all that plastic crap. Around the base you will see 4-8 (depending on the size of the lock) metal rivets which look like bumps. Now grind/file AROUND these rivets, reducing their diameter to the diameter of the holes in the metal plate below them. Now pop that first metal plate off. Probably goign to need to use a screwdriver to do it. Now that youve gotten that plate off, you can remove/rekey that core.

Now about the core. You will notice there are some nice holes on the bottom of the core, insert the key (NOT PICK) and rotate the key until you can see the pins through the hole. You can dump the pins that way. Now you can remove the key/chance the pins. THe top pins will snap up a good bit into the bottom of the keyway, but you can push them back with a pick, and rotate the plug.

Put everything back together, and mushroom those rivets with a hammer.
Unforunately, you can only do this once or maby twice due to how you treat the rivets.

[Grudge]

Chucklz you obviously had more success with Master laminated padlocks than I did. A while back I pretty much did what you suggested, but after I ground down the rivets, the plate won't budge. I eventually even ground off the rivets and still no luck I assumed the plate was welded as well as riveted. Maybe I just need to get a bigger hammer next time (a big hammer is always one of my favorite problem solving tools)

Thanks for the info, I stand corrected.

[randmguy]

Chucklz my only question is "Why bother to reassemble the padlock?"

[ctaoymearse]

thanks for all the suggentions---helps alot

[Chucklz]

Grudge, I removed the stupid plastic ring, and theres a notch in the second and third layers for the ring to hold on to. Take a big screwdriver and pry hard.

Why to reassemble the padlock? Who knows, why rekey it anyway?

[Grudge]

Chucklz thanks for the tip! Time to revisit those stubborn Master locks.

[Ryzom]

Why to reassemble the padlock? Who knows, why rekey it anyway?

Because we can.

or

Why not? (man im tricky did a little fliparoo right there)