Regarding Homebrewed Practice Locks

[Theist17]

Hey all,

After taking a cursory glance at illusion's fantastic tutorial on making your own practice lock (Here) I decided to give the project a whack.

From the first post, I knew I was going to have to take a different route, though. I don't have a drill press, and there was no way I was going to be doing this project with a handheld drill. I like my flesh the way it is--intact.

So I set about finding a cheap lock I could afford to scrap. I found my answer in a little five-pin, three dollar, brass affair.

I filed this lock down with a hand file, but forgot one extremely important feature of the lock. See, there's a little steel pin which retains the plug in the shell. I let that pin fall out with all the rest of the stacks and didn't think twice about it until the plug had fallen out of the shell.

There was no way I was going to be reassembling this lock with the limited knowledge I had.

So, I decided to scrap that lock and use another which I had lying about. It was the same design, so I avoided the retaining pin this time around.



Now I'm designing a sliding cover for the pin stacks.

I filed the side of the lock down until I could just flip the cover off of the body, leaving the pin springs exposed, but not the retaining pin. My only problem now is that I need a cover of some kind to hold the stacks in place.

Solution!
Fabricate a U-shaped cover which will slide over the exposed springs, keeping the stacks in position. Also, I will need to file a shallow guide slot in each side of the lock's body. In order to use this guide system, I'll need to bend the tips of my cover at 90* angles. I will probably need to get the soldering iron out to hold the stop in place, which will simply be a small plate at the end of the cover.

The finished cover should resemble a water trough with one end knocked out.

I'll post pictures of my progress as I go along.

Thanks for reading, folks! Any ideas you can throw my way would be most appreciated!

[UnlockD]

Looks like your on the right track for a homebrew. I went through a few cylinders just trying to make a cutaway.
As for holding the springs down, I used a piece of aluminum bent to size, and an elastic, or dab of glue keep it in place.

The Practice lock I use now is a cheap 'Epic Series' lock (A cheap replacement deadbolt that fits most deadlocks) because the top of the bible comes off, and you're able to change pins and tumblers in a minute.

[Theist17]

Sounds interesting.

I was talking with my father earlier today, and he suggested simply putting on a Velcro strap with a bit of epoxy on the area which would cover the pin stacks.

That's what I always liked about Dad. Simplicity in the face of needless work.

I'll probably scrap the filing and metalwork for now, at least, and do as my dad suggests.

[UnlockD]

Ye[quote="Theist17"]He suggested simply putting on a Velcro strap with a bit of epoxy on the area which would cover the pin stacks. [quote]

Yeah, that'd work too, I had a velcro strap but it was JUST to short to make it around.

[Theist17]

I've found that a good source of Velcro straps for most small padlocks can be found in laptops' charging cables' Velcro securing straps.

The one I'm using right now is from a laptop charger, in fact.

I'll post pictures as soon as I find that dang camera.