Pin Tumbler Sizes and Sources

[okasional]

I'm new to the forum and hope to be able to make some contributions (deposits) in the future as well as withdrawals. Meanwhile, my interest today is in pin tumblers, their specifications, and where to get them. Over the years I have acquired tons of Schlage type tumblers, which seem to have a diameter of 0.113 to 0.115 inch, and come in length increments of 0.016 inch. But I'm trying to rekey a cabinet lock whose tumblers measure 0.071 inch diameter. I've looked through the forums and there's lots of information about picks, guns, followers, and similar "tools" but not much discussion about simple "parts" such as tumblers and springs. I'll confess to being inexperienced and stupid and all that, but can anyone point me to any published data on pin diameters and lengths, and particularly where to buy the small size (0.071 inch) pins in hobby quantities? How many different diameter pins are there, anyway, and do they have names?

[Chucklz]

Just refer to them as pins, then everyone will know exactly what you mean. I beleive the diameter of a standard pin to be 0.115" but its rather irrelevant, as standard diameter, well you get the idea. SFIC use 0.110" diameter pins I beleive. Yale peanut cylinders also use a smaller diameter pin, but I forget exactly. Besides manufacturer "original" pins, which will be in manufacturers increments, you can have your choice of 0.003 and 0.005" pin increments from LAB. Either kit will work fine. www.lockpicks.com sells these universal kits, including a budget priced one that has a few pins of each size. You just buy more of what you need from LAB. About the data you request, well I know its on the inside cover of LAB pin kits, so maby someone with a pinkit will have made a copy.

[locksmistress]

A lot of specifics on pin increments, diameters, tolerances, etc.. are available from the manufacturer. If it's not high security they can actualy be fairly forthcoming. Sometimes.

Take the lab chart with a grain of salt - they are approximations. They are within +/-0.002" (on th 0.003 increment) and +/- 0.003" (on the 0.005 increment) but that can add up in master pinning.

When repinning one cylinder it's not much of an issue - nothing a little precision pin-filing can't solve - but if you're doing any sort of quantity, having the manufacturers originals is handy. For example, Schlage original pins are actually 0.015" increment.

I can't contribute anything more than Chucklz on availability. I've only seen the 2 sizes available for sale and we've only bought from LAB and the factory. If there is any makers mark whatsoever on the cabinet or any numbers on the cylinder, that might help narrow it down.

Shorter pins are easy - smaller diameter? Good luck.

[Romstar]

Go here, and check this:

http://www.dlaco.com/spacing/spacing.htm

This will give you depth and spacing for a very large variety of locks. If you examine the charts, you will find most of the information that you need.

Have fun.
Romstar

[okasional]

Chucklz -- Your referral to www.lockpicks.com is typical of what I find on the net. They offer pin kits by lock brand (Schlage, Kwickset, and Weiser, for example) but not a clue to pin diameters.

locksmistress -- Your comment about the tolerances in the Lab charts is interesting, since that would mean you could take a pin out of your bag of .105" length pins and find it actually shorter than one from your bag of .100" length pins. I'm curious how you determined those tolerances, since the equipment used to manufacture that kind of item would normally provide length tolerances about ten times better than what you've quoted. Did you happen to notice that the lengths in Lab's ".003 System" chart vary by .005" increments, and those in the ".005 System" chart vary by .003" increments? Is that a typo, and if so how can Lab miss it?

The lock I'm re-keying is a mailbox lock. The keys are marked "National Cabinet Lock" and can be freely duplicated.

Romstar -- Thanks for the fantastic link to that chart of pin lengths and spacings. I'm surprised that with all that wealth of information there's not a single mention of pin diameter.

Here's my scorecard so far. We all know Schlage (and others) use .115" diameter pins. www.olympus-lock.com has a #N1 pin kit with .101" diameter pins and a #R1 kit with .095" diameter pins. Chucklz said "SFIC use .110" diameter pins I believe". I found some .093" diameter pins in my junk box, but maybe those are what Olympus calls .095". And then there are the .071" diameter pins in my mailbox lock. It can't be as hard as all this.

[mrchadwickusa]

in looking for basic information, I found this catalog, which shows a pin size similar to what you're asking about.

https://www.labpins.com/wp-content/uploads/2017-LAB-Catalog.pdf

[Squelchtone]

in looking for basic information, I found this catalog, which shows a pin size similar to what you're asking about.

https://www.labpins.com/wp-content/uploads/2017-LAB-Catalog.pdf

Thank you for posting the link, but please note you replied to someone who posted their question in 2004, 14 years ago. The people in this thread have not been on the forum in over 11+ years.

On message boards this is known as necromancing or waking the dead, and is usually to be avoided unless some really difficult question was left unanswered and someone finally found a solution to it and wants to close the loop for the sake of others who may stumble upon the question and answer in the future.

Thanks for understanding,
Squelchtone