typical length of a plug follower?

[frostbyte]

I picked up a 1/2" wooden dowel to make some plug followers out of, and except for two things I'm ready to cut. 1. I don't happen to have a saw with me right this moment, and 2. I don't know how long to cut it. I'm sure a wide range will work, but I wonder what years of practice and use has determined as a good range for working well.

[mbell]

My Kaba Ilco steel plug follower is 3 inches / 76mm in length.

Bear in mind that the diameter of a plug follower MUST be precisely the same as the plug for it to be effective. I get 12.65mm which works fine for most cylinder over here in the UK

Alternatively, you can just use another plug from a particular lock - Not the best thing to use but it works fine.

[frostbyte]

My Kaba Ilco steel plug follower is 3 inches / 76mm in length.

Bear in mind that the diameter of a plug follower MUST be precisely the same as the plug for it to be effective. I get 12.65mm which works fine for most cylinder over here in the UK

Alternatively, you can just use another plug from a particular lock - Not the best thing to use but it works fine.

The 1/2" fits well (google tells me 1" = 25.4mm, so I'm sure we're talking about the same diameter). I took the plug out of one of the locks I'd be using it on, took the lock down to the place where I bought the dowel, and tried it out for fit. (Canada is supposedly metric, but I guess we can't quite bring ourselves to commit to it, so we still use inches and pounds at times.)

[frostbyte]

Dang, no edit...

Anyway, I meant to thank you for the length suggestion. I'm not overly concerned since I had to buy a 36" piece of dowel, I'll have a few chances to adjust the length to what I'm comfortable with, I just wanted a starting place.

[mbell]

Yes, I realised that might not be clear after posting it - The only dowel I could get my hands on was 12mm, not precisely ½ inch & becomes a pain.

[Varjeal]

Try about 3"-4" long...because you want something that you can hold against the palm of your hand as well. You could also just measure the cylinder, multiply it by 3 or so, and add an extra inch as a "handle".