Actual good Masters?? Not quite...

[sisk]

So I've just realized that the most challenging lock I own, with the exception of a Bell style lock I've had 0 luck with and a couple that are flat impossible with the tools I currently have available (too paracentric for my fat picks), is a Master. But not just any Master. It's one of those plastic safety lockout locks. And I suppose a good chunk of the difficulty is a fluke of the bitting and binding order. The first binder is a very low cut pin (4 or 5 I think) with a 0 cut spool (maybe a serrated spool) right behind it and a 1 cut right behind that. That plus the paracentric keyway and my fat picks (side note, I've got some 0.015" hooks coming in the mail) makes it really tough.

So I've got two questions. Given that these things really aren't all that expensive - this was cheaper than my #5 - why is Master still selling the locks we all love to make fun of so much when they could drop this core in them and have decent locks? (semi-rhetorical). And also why is the only decent Master core I've come across in a PLASTIC lock?

Second and less rhetorical, has anyone gutted one of these things? I'm very curious what's in them but I'm reluctant to destroy my lock just to satisfy my curiosity.

[C locked]

2 ball bearings, a cam, and the master cylinder
Mounted in the plastic housing

I've previously destroyed those when customers lost keys

As they are designed for safety lockout you cannot get keys so...

[Daltonj21]

I have a dozen of them or so. All the ones I've gutted have had 5 spools and 1 serrated. That's from at least 5, some brand new some old. Pin 5 being the serrated in all of them. (2 Very light serrations.)

A few of mine are a pain to open and they all seem to have pretty good bitting.

[Jacob Morgan]

...
As they are designed for safety lockout you cannot get keys so...

Was walking through the plant today while some maintenance was going on and took a picture of lockout padlocks in use, in case anyone is interested. In this case there was a keyswitch to control the machine so it was turned off then any tradesman who might be hurt if it was turned on put his lock on this group lock out box after the keyswitch key went in. Other times individual switches, valves, etc. are locked. The lock in the upper left is one of the plastic bodied Master locks. Used to have to do this myself when entering an AS/RS bay where automation moved 40,000 lb coils of metal around automatically with frightening speed--if it flattened you like a pancake it would never notice.



If you look closely, what the locks are protecting is a plastic case that anyone could break open with anything. Brute force security is not the issue at all. Making sure that the wrong key does not accidentally open the wrong lock is the issue. That, and I think that safety departments figured if the padlock could be torn apart easily then people would not take them home and use them.

They only come with one key and I have not been able to spot any blanks for sale, I think that is a selling point for them. The good pick resistance is probably so some bored maintenance mechanic does not try to impress his buddies with what he can do, then they might not take locking things out seriously thinking that the locks really don't mean much. Used to the philosophy was for management to have a spare key in case it was time to turn on a machine and they could not find one of the workers. Now the direction is to still follow a strict procedure on what to do if a missing worker still has a lock in place at start up, but the rule is to cut the lock, not open it with a spare key or by any other means. Not having a spare key eliminates any claim that the supervisor was the one who removed the lock, not the person who the lock belonged to. It also protects the worker as a supervisor will not be tempted to unlock things on his own to hurry things along.

Looks like a case where Master Lock listened to the customer.

[cledry]

Master & American safety lockout padlocks are available MK, KAA or KD.

[Jacob Morgan]

Master & American safety lockout padlocks are available MK, KAA or KD.

Keyed alike I could see so maintenance workers only have to have one key for their set of locks, but master keying lock out locks is the most disturbing thing I've heard in a while.

[mh]

I hope the key switch to the actual machine isn't KA, many are...

[cledry]

Master & American safety lockout padlocks are available MK, KAA or KD.

Keyed alike I could see so maintenance workers only have to have one key for their set of locks, but master keying lock out locks is the most disturbing thing I've heard in a while.

I thought so too, but I assume people use them for other purposes than safety lockout. We sell them to Wendy's Resturants 500 at a time and I assume they use them for something other than a safety lockout.