How to disassemble Kwikset? Photo included

[atlsmitty]

I would like a show of hands of smiths who replace springs and top pins every time they rekey a cylinder.

Out of the fifteen locksmiths that work here (myself included). Nobody takes the cap off and replaces it without a reason to do so. And rekeying the lock doesn't justify taking the cap off or replacing it, that's just wastefull.

Yep thanks man. exactly what i was saying.

[theTastyCat]

Well, with the aid of a vise and a shop light, I was able to get my remaining four pins back in the lock. For the record, I bought this lock only to practice on - it will never see a door. I don't experiment with things I rely on - I learned that from an '89 Camaro Many thanks for the help.

[Evan]

I would like a show of hands of smiths who replace springs and top pins every time they rekey a cylinder.

Out of the fifteen locksmiths that work here (myself included). Nobody takes the cap off and replaces it without a reason to do so. And rekeying the lock doesn't justify taking the cap off or replacing it, that's just wastefull.

That is lovely for you...

I find that in my area when I take a KW lock apart there is all sorts of crap built up in the springs, sometimes but not always requiring replacement, but usually requiring a cleansing spray of WD-40 to remove... It also allows me to completely DUMP the cylinder irregardless of how it was keyed before, are you saying that you can see any master pins inside the lock with your plug follower in place? Do you even check every KW for them as you re-key? That sort of check requires a lot more than 30 seconds and considerably more time to do using tweezers and the follower... Why bother with all of that for the price of the spring cover clip you can see all that needs to be seen and not have to spend time putting the cylinder back together in stages...

You can recycle the springs and driver pins, but its better to re-seat a brand new spring cover rather than trying to be cheap and reuse the old one... KW lock cylinders with the spring clip over the pin chambers are designed to be serviced that way rather than disassembled the traditional way required by other cylinders not so equipped...

~~ Evan

[atlsmitty]

are you saying that you can see any master pins inside the lock with your plug follower in place? Do you even check every KW for them as you re-key? That sort of check requires a lot more than 30 seconds

~~ Evan

Well, the follower that i rekey cylinders with has a section that is milled lower than the rest of the follower. it allows for me to check for master pins and remove them while leaving main drivers in place, without ever removing the follower from the plug. The follower came from the factory with that purpose in mind. takes maybe ten seconds to remove master pins. With kwiksets tolerances the smaller size of the top driver left in place after the removal of the master pin will not affect the rotation of the plug. We all know that a top pin size is not as crucial as bottom pin. even so, if a cylinder does look in bad shape then your previously mention process replacing of springs and caps would happen, it just is not needed on every single cylinder. When i leave a customer my work is without question perfect(im sure the same applys for you), my job is only secure as long as i keep my high standards and high quality

[FarmerFreak]

Evan, to take out master pins you can always use a custom follower like the one atlsmitty mentions. But no, that's not how I do it. Here we are scolded if we don't take out any master pins and make sure the springs are good and the driver pins are in there.

So, how do I do it with a regular follower and tweezers? Skip to 1:38 of this video of mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBRYZDwRypc As you can see, it is possible to see the driver pins "spring" up, the springs are good. Secondly since you can "see" the drivers, it's pretty obvious that the drivers are in there. And if there are any master pins in there, they will be easily spotted and only requires a little left to right action with the tweezers and they will fall off the driver pin and out of the lock.

If it takes you thirty plus seconds to do that. You really need to practice a little. Even if the lock is dirty, checking it shouldn't take any longer. But yes replacing all the springs may take a little longer, but considering how often you actually need to replace the springs and drivers...

[keysman]

are you saying that you can see any master pins inside the lock with your plug follower in place? Do you even check every KW for them as you re-key? That sort of check requires a lot more than 30 seconds

~~ Evan

Well, the follower that i rekey cylinders with has a section that is milled lower than the rest of the follower. it allows for me to check for master pins and remove them while leaving main drivers in place, without ever removing the follower from the plug. The follower came from the factory with that purpose in mind.

Some pics of what they are talking about:

The Follower and a Kwickset tool



The Kw tool in action




The follower in the plug



The follower in the plug,notice the top pins droped enough to remove any master pins. The master pins will just fall out. Done in a few seconds.


larger pics can be seen here:
Larger photos

[femurat]

Thanks keysman for taking the time to shoot and share these pictures, I was having a hard time trying to imagine the tool!

Cheers

[Evan]

Evan, to take out master pins you can always use a custom follower like the one atlsmitty mentions. But no, that's not how I do it. Here we are scolded if we don't take out any master pins and make sure the springs are good and the driver pins are in there.

So, how do I do it with a regular follower and tweezers? Skip to 1:38 of this video of mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBRYZDwRypc As you can see, it is possible to see the driver pins "spring" up, the springs are good. Secondly since you can "see" the drivers, it's pretty obvious that the drivers are in there. And if there are any master pins in there, they will be easily spotted and only requires a little left to right action with the tweezers and they will fall off the driver pin and out of the lock.

If it takes you thirty plus seconds to do that. You really need to practice a little. Even if the lock is dirty, checking it shouldn't take any longer. But yes replacing all the springs may take a little longer, but considering how often you actually need to replace the springs and drivers...

Those followers are nice tools...

I don't use such a tool on Kwikset cylinders because I actually want to see what is in the springs... There is a salty crud/residue that builds up inside the springs in the coastal areas here which tends to freeze solid when any sort of humidity and cold temperatures mixed together become a factor... You still can't physically inspect the springs using the flattened follower tool to make sure it is gunk free... That is why I deal with everything by yanking the spring cover...

~~ Evan

[FarmerFreak]

Evan that makes sense if you live in an area where crud is always getting into the springs. I'm guessing that means that you have to take the springs out of every lock you rekey and not just Kwiksets.

Different climate, different problems... Here we need to keep automotive locks lubricated or they get messed up from all the salt we cover the streets with every winter. The building locks here don't get hit by the salt (or other crud) anywhere near as bad as the auto locks.

[Evan]

Evan that makes sense if you live in an area where crud is always getting into the springs. I'm guessing that means that you have to take the springs out of every lock you rekey and not just Kwiksets.

Different climate, different problems... Here we need to keep automotive locks lubricated or they get messed up from all the salt we cover the streets with every winter. The building locks here don't get hit by the salt (or other crud) anywhere near as bad as the auto locks.

Yes... Kwiksets are well -- quick to do this with... Its not so fun to strip down a mortise or rim cylinder in such a way... Nor are the special purpose KIK or KIL cylinders... Pot metal seems to attract this gunk like the Titanic attracts rusticles...

SFICs are a breeze since those are just dump, spray clean then re-combinate...

The crud gets so bad in most locks, especially when it is rainy and moist during storm season that opening a Sargent & Greenleaf environmental padlock before cleaning it sounds like fingers scraping on a chalkboard from the gunk grinding...

~~ Evan

[Oldfast]

Different climate, different problems... Here we need to keep automotive locks lubricated or they get messed up from all the salt we cover the streets with every winter. The building locks here don't get hit by the salt (or other crud) anywhere near as bad as the auto locks.

FarmerFreak, I live in Michigan and have that problem with my car. Long as you mentioned it, thought I'd ask; what do you recommend I use in the the locks and how often should I lubricate them? And, should this be done only during the winter months to combat the salt or is it best to do it year around?

[FarmerFreak]

Different climate, different problems... Here we need to keep automotive locks lubricated or they get messed up from all the salt we cover the streets with every winter. The building locks here don't get hit by the salt (or other crud) anywhere near as bad as the auto locks.

FarmerFreak, I live in Michigan and have that problem with my car. Long as you mentioned it, thought I'd ask; what do you recommend I use in the the locks and how often should I lubricate them? And, should this be done only during the winter months to combat the salt or is it best to do it year around?

There are a few lubes that will do the trick. I like Tri-Flow myself, and lube the door locks as frequently as I get oil changes. That's because I remember to do it when I'm getting an oil change.

[Oldfast]

Thanks
I'll do this from now on. And since my "rememberer" works good, but my "forgeter" seems to work even better, I'll do it with every oil change (good idea). Thanks again.

[Evan]

Different climate, different problems... Here we need to keep automotive locks lubricated or they get messed up from all the salt we cover the streets with every winter. The building locks here don't get hit by the salt (or other crud) anywhere near as bad as the auto locks.

FarmerFreak, I live in Michigan and have that problem with my car. Long as you mentioned it, thought I'd ask; what do you recommend I use in the the locks and how often should I lubricate them? And, should this be done only during the winter months to combat the salt or is it best to do it year around?

There are a few lubes that will do the trick. I like Tri-Flow myself, and lube the door locks as frequently as I get oil changes. That's because I remember to do it when I'm getting an oil change.

+1...

Tri-Flow is an excellent lubricant for locks...

~~ Evan

[globallockytoo]

I have to admit, that I was quite surprised reading the Evan pulls the top cap and dumps all the springs etc. I have been smithing close to 30 years and rarely (almost never) pulled the cap off. I'm surprised when you said that all professional locksmiths do it this way. Nothing could be further from the truth. In terms of time to rekey a kwikset cylinder, it is by far and away much quicker to use the method FF and keysman say. That's the way just about every locksmith I ever met rekeys them.

Perhapsd these so called professionals Evan, are not locksmiths? (just teasing)