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apartment mailbox key holes are sideways....Why?

Having read the FAQ's you are still unfulfilled and seek more enlightenment, so post your general lock picking questions here.
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Do not post safe related questions in this sub forum! Post them in This Old Safe

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apartment mailbox key holes are sideways....Why?

Postby Kodack » 22 Oct 2004 23:23

I've noticed that the rows of mailboxes in my apartments all have sideways key entry as opposed to vertical. Is this to make them harder to pick?

Note I have Zero intention of trying to pick one, I'm just curious.
Michael Scott

All progress is the race between 'idiot proof' and the new and improved 'idiot'.
Kodack
 
Posts: 74
Joined: 24 Sep 2004 2:37
Location: Dallas, TX

Postby thertel » 22 Oct 2004 23:25

From looking at the few i have its because of the type of cam lock them are.

Thomas
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
~Friedrich Nietzsche
thertel
 
Posts: 435
Joined: 3 Aug 2004 0:06
Location: Central Texas (near Fort Hood)

Postby sevenply » 22 Oct 2004 23:43

Do your mailbox locks have seperate locks for the mailman or does his masterkey go into each lock?

In my apartment building our locks are setup vertical with the pins at the top. On each row of mailboxes has a lock in the center that the mailman uses to pull the boxes forward. His lock is mounted horizontal. Outside the building is box with a key to give him access to the building, that box has a lock and it is also mounted horizontal. I believe that box outside uses the same key as the mailbox locks they use.
sevenply
 
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Joined: 19 Sep 2004 20:32

Postby Kodack » 23 Oct 2004 0:02

sevenply wrote:Do your mailbox locks have seperate locks for the mailman or does his masterkey go into each lock?

In my apartment building our locks are setup vertical with the pins at the top. On each row of mailboxes has a lock in the center that the mailman uses to pull the boxes forward. His lock is mounted horizontal. Outside the building is box with a key to give him access to the building, that box has a lock and it is also mounted horizontal. I believe that box outside uses the same key as the mailbox locks they use.


They have like 16 boxes that are in a group, each group has a larger swing away door with all of the faces on it. When they deliver the mail they unlock the 6x6 door with all of the individual mailboxes on it, swing it away and then just drop the mail into each cubby. So my mailbox door has 1 keyhole.

If the postal service lock failed then every mailbox in that group could be accessed. IE single point of failure. Thankfully the main lock is pretty sturdy looking.

Of course, locks aren't everything. We have had the outgoing mailbox pryed open with a crowbar or something on several occasions, enough that I send important letters from work or the post office.
Michael Scott

All progress is the race between 'idiot proof' and the new and improved 'idiot'.
Kodack
 
Posts: 74
Joined: 24 Sep 2004 2:37
Location: Dallas, TX

Postby randmguy » 23 Oct 2004 10:39

Most likely the manufacturer of the mailbox doors punched the lock mounting holes with the flats on the top and bottom (as a desk or filing cabinet) without realizing that the tailpiece was going to engage on the side instead of above the lock.
randmguy
 
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Joined: 11 Jan 2004 23:30
Location: MN, USA

Postby frollard » 23 Oct 2004 19:23

my mailbox is uuber old - warded flat-steel key, surely openable with anything, but then nobody around here would lock their mailbox if it they could actually close/open the door completely without the key. nothing around here is locked.
The meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42.

Inflation however, may have changed this.
...
edit: yup, its definately 43 now
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