Strange older mortise cylinder ... what'm I supposed to do?

[wry415]

I found an older Schlage mortise cylinder (my best guess is that it's
circa mid-70's) in one of my crates of cylinders, and it's unlike any
I've seen in a few years. The tops of the pin chambers aren't
individually capped or with a crimped strip, they're just tiny little
holes. It's on the underside of the cylinder that one finds what
appear to be ordinary individual chamber caps.



What exactly is the procedure for disassembly here?

Should I drill out the caps on the underside of the cylinder, and try
to find a tool tiny enough to fit through each of the six holes in the
top and push the pin stacks down, through, and out? I can't seem to
find a tool for this purpose in any of Schlage's literature (catalogs,
service manuals, pricelists, et al).

Am I just daftly missing some obvious solution? If I can't find a
suitable tool, all I can think to do is to shim the cylinder open ...
but then I'll risk shimming in between bottom and master pins, leaving
one or more pins above the shim stock and the pin chambers not fully
unloaded.

Thoughts?

[gloves]

I was about to post about shimming though I just read you already thought about this. Heating it on a flame and then steep into cold water seems like too much damaging to the lock so I won't suggest it.

Does it have any screws on its back? I gave a quick look at Schlage's service manuals and found that they indeed have an ejector tool, though I'm not sure if they sell it. http://professional.schlage.com/pdfs/pc ... or_web.pdf

[wry415]

Thanks for the suggestion!

The top-of-the-chamber holes on this mortise cylinder are exactly 1 mm wide ... I just checked the holes on a few Best SFIC's, and those holes are about 2 mm wide. I like the idea, but I think I'd need an especially thin ejector tool ... or, for that matter, maybe just a stainless pin nail and a hammer. I just might try that.

Updates to follow.

[wry415]

Oh ... re: the screws on the back:

I could certainly unscrew and remove the cam from the back of the cylinder plug, and then shim it ... but again, I think it'd be likely that I'd slip the shim stock between a bottom pin and a master pin, or between two master pins, leaving the chambers not fully unloaded.

[Violaetor]

Pick it!

[gloves]

Oh ... re: the screws on the back:

I could certainly unscrew and remove the cam from the back of the cylinder plug, and then shim it ... but again, I think it'd be likely that I'd slip the shim stock between a bottom pin and a master pin, or between two master pins, leaving the chambers not fully unloaded.

Have you got a key for it? In that same paper I linked (or another Schlage service manual) there's explained how master and regular keys affect pin height on the cylinder for disassembling the outer and inner one. However your cylinder may not have this design.

The top-of-the-chamber holes on this mortise cylinder are exactly 1 mm wide ... I just checked the holes on a few Best SFIC's, and those holes are about 2 mm wide. I like the idea, but I think I'd need an especially thin ejector tool ... or, for that matter, maybe just a stainless pin nail and a hammer.

1mm is plenty of strength in a short length of steel. I'm sure a nail or a piece of steel wire tightly fitting would make it because even if it's bend in the open, it has to go nothing down when forced in a fitting hole. Just secure yourself some way to recover it

Cheers

[wry415]

No key (it's from my "Box Of Cylinders Without Keys") ... I must admit I'm not the best lockpicker ever, but that'd be worth a shot. Still, my mind returns to the concern that I'd pick each stack in such a way that one or more master pins would remain in the chamber, and when I withdrew the plug I'd be missing some pins.

On the topic of picking ... it's a Schlage 1347 ("Paracentric") keyway, which I've never tried to pick. In theory the paracentric keyway should pose a hinderance, but, then, when you look at the milling of the keyway, it really doesn't look all that "paracentric." (Actually, it almost looks ... antiparacentric? Counterparacentric? Whatever.)

Unless a better idea comes along, I think I'm gonna mount the cylinder rightside-up in a vise, insert a 2"-or-so-long stainless nail into the top of one chamber at a time, and drive the contents out through the bottom ... just gotta make sure that I get the pin stack out in its original order. Pins spurting out haphazardly wouldn't do at all.

Anyhow, thanks for the input, fellas (and/or ladies)!

[wry415]

[wry415]

One other "btw" ... it's a conventional mortise cylinder, not LFIC or SFIC.

[Raymond]

You will ruin it forever if you try to drive out the pins.

Shim it. This is everyday work for most locksmiths. Shim it and put in a follower as the plug comes out. Then use your tweezers to let out ONE wafer/top pin at a time and lay them out in order so you will know which space they came from. When all the wafers and top pins are out, you can put each wafer back into the plug in the space it came from and do whatever else you were planning with the mortise cylinder.

If you are really desparate and cannot shim or pick it, you can drill out the holes in top and later replace them with any plug of choice. Just dont get in an impatient rush and mess things up.

[wry415]

@ Raymond ...

Thanks for sparing me the destruction!

I'm gonna go ahead and shim it, then use a follower as you suggested. I think that's exactly the right-on-the-tip-of-my-tongue answer that was eluding me all day. Thanks for being my muse

[DayZiro]

You will ruin it forever if you try to drive out the pins.

Shim it. This is everyday work for most locksmiths. Shim it and put in a follower as the plug comes out. Then use your tweezers to let out ONE wafer/top pin at a time and lay them out in order so you will know which space they came from. When all the wafers and top pins are out, you can put each wafer back into the plug in the space it came from and do whatever else you were planning with the mortise cylinder.

I kept scrolling down thinking "SOMEONE will tell him to use a plug follower...right?" Thank you Raymond.

Schlage plugs are normally .5" or just a hair under, you might try a 1/2" wooden dowel. Sandpaper if it is very close to fitting. Also around the house are the cap of a sharpie (push in hollow end first!) or a coiled up roll of toilet paper cardboard. You can also take something smaller and wrap tape around it until it's the right size.

[wry415]

I *do* have an actual Schlage follower ... would one of the other items you mentioned be preferable to that, or were those just crafty MacGuyver options?

[Violaetor]

Just Macguyver options, more importantly is the fit of the follower, doesn't matter if it was designed for that manufacturer or not, if the Schlage doesn't fit as well as that "broken peice of what the hell is that in the corner of my junk drawer", then use the UFO (unidentified following object) instead of the Schlage follower.

[wry415]

Hey, that's exactly what my grandma used to say! I love such pragmatic advice.

Thanks for the input