Josh66 wrote:For now I'm only concerned with actually getting one - picking them will come much later, I think - haha.
From what I've been reading, they seem to be very common in the UK/Europe - but pretty rare in the US. I can't actually remember seeing one actually installed on a door except for a house I used to live in that was built in 1904. That house was almost all original - cloth insulation on the wiring and everything. No central air/heat, etc. (though it was very comfortable for not having A/C - every room in the house had windows on opposite walls, providing better air flow than any house I've lived in since...).
I was reading an article that mentioned their security benefits compared to pin tumblers - harder to pick, can't bump them, etc... The article seemed to imply that they were sort of making a comeback, but I can't find them for sale anywhere - and I haven't seen them in use recently, so I'm not so sure about their 'comeback' status...
Lever tumbler locks are not used on normal doors in the US...
They are generally reserved for special applications...
Some older locks using bit keys could still be in service
but they are usually supplemented with an additional
lock which is pin tumbler as there are a small handful
of "skeleton" keys which would operate most of the common
bit key locks available to the general public...
Like I said in my last reply the most common application
you would run across lever tumbler locks in the US are
on the USPS Arrow master locks on postal mailboxes and
in Bank Safe Depository boxes... I made that reply very
quickly and can add that you would also be able to find
such lever tumbler locks in detention/correctional
facilities but those locks would cost more than a safe
deposit lock and would be slightly more difficult to obtain...
In the past lever tumbler locks were commonly found on
public payphones but there are an ever shrinking number
of those around today and those that remain in service
often have higher security locks fitted more for
key control and accountability as it would not take all
that sophisticated if a machinist to put a few grooves
on a piece of flat stock to make a lever tumbler key...
~~ Evan
