Rolling your own locks

[Sinifar]

Okay, this photo is a bit dated, bit it works.

If you are going to make your own stuff you need some kind of machine tool. Back in the 90's, like 91 or so we bought this machine.



It is a Smithy AT-3, today you would find the Midas, which is the same thing. Basically it is mill, drill and a 6 inch over lathe, 30 inches between centers. You will of course need tons of tooling to work on this unit, and some comes with it and some you will need to pick up. For my money, I mainly bought Smithy stuff, yes it is made in China, but it was designed to work on this unit, and sized to match the machines capabilities.

You would not believe all the stuff which has come off this unit over the ages. From safe parts which were made a big larger to compensate for wear, to lock parts which could not be purchased anywhere -- to our little Emhart unit. If we needed something "special" and we could find bar stock, it was made down here. One part which I was proudest of was a rabbited strike made from a brass flat for a church.

So much just screams "SMITH" when you produce your own parts.

Of course just having a machine does you no good unless you know how to actually be a machinist. Unless you have the experience of actually working in a machine shop, and running all kinds of machines, then I would suggest a course at the local technical college in your town.

Another skill set you should have as a smith is how to weld. Both arc and gas, forget wire welding, that is too much gear for a small house like ours. Just get electrical stick welding and basic gas welding down and you should be able to fabricate almost anything, then machine it on the Smithy.

Want more kit bashing ideas?

Ask and I may reveal more fun in the lockshop -- and stuff we made down here to absolutely screw up other smiths and stop them from making our keys and screwing up the security on our systems.

This is what 43 years on the street, and almost a half century in the biz looks like.

Sinifar

[YouLuckyFox]

Very impressive, Sinifar. Thank you for sharing, I hope to see more in the future!

[74TR6]

Good point on the ability to repair or produce parts needed. I have a Smithy unit. Also have a South Bend 9" lathe and an import knee mill; same style sold under several names ie Husky, Grizzly. You can make small parts on a large machine, but can not make large parts on a small machine.

I respectfully disagree with you on the welding. I have stick, gas and wire (mig with gas). If I had to give up one, it would be stick. Much more chance of too much heat and warping a piece/part with stick welding

For supplies for any lathe, mill, or combination machine, a company such as Enco is an economical source for bits end mills, etc.

[billdeserthills]

ENCO is still a pretty good machine/tooling supply outlet (800) use-enco
They were unfortunately bought out by MSC a few years ago, I heard

I have an ENCO 12x24 metal lathe and an ENCO mill/drill, they keep on working
The mill is great for making old medeco restricted keys

[cj101]

For hobby locksmiths, who do not want to spend too much money in the beginning, I can also recommend the Proxxon Drill, it's drill stand (proxxon MBS140) and it's coordinate dish (proxxon kt70) for the drill stand. Also much smaller, than the professional machine showed by sinifar, it helps a lot when producing small partsas it's nevertheless a small drilling and milling machine.

This is the equipment, I started with and acquired the taste of it.
However, if you want to seriously start machining, I have to repeat what sinifar already wrote: You need the proper (big) tools and machining experience and some kind of machining course.

And if you are new to machining, first of all, read out (and understand) all safety instructions and get you the proper safety equipment (-> safety goggles)!

[billdeserthills]

Actually all the training I had when I bought my first lathe was the book I had read about operating a metal lathe. Take your time and try to learn things the easy way,
using a book, over making a limb-losing accident (or worse) . I started out with a little 7"x10" Harbor Freight metal lathe and worked my way up from there. In fact my
2nd lathe, an ENCO 12x36 was too big for me, at the time I got it. I wound up returning it, as it just made me nervous about making a life-changing mistake, like something
out of The Machinist!

[cj101]

Actually all the training I had when I bought my first lathe was the book I had read about operating a metal lathe. Take your time and try to learn things the easy way, using a book, over making a limb-losing accident (or worse)

Actually, this is the way I started as well. By the way, I had no accident at all, but reminded of the safety rules, because I know some guys (especially some crazy guy in school), who prefer to learn the hard way (working without safety googles, removing safety shield of angle grinders, acid etching of pcb boards and using bare hands to get the pcb out of the ecthing bath, ...).

[74TR6]

Did not know Enco had been bought out. Catalogs still are under Enco name etc. One reason I like them is monthly discounts. I keep a want list of supplies and order when they have big discount and free shipping

In the early 80's a local vo-tech offered a night class in machine shop. Seems I cycled through that class about seven times. It was cheap access to machines and practice time. At the time a hobby was restoring antique gas engines (1890's to 1930's); any part missing had to be made. So far, no accidents; a good deterrent was watching someone leave the key in four jaw chuck on a large Monarch lathe. and push start.

[jeffmoss26]

Very cool!

[cledry]

We also make lots of parts too. We have a fairly large in comparison lathe, a Southbend Heavy 10 as well as two smaller units, a Sherline lathe mill combination (before they cheapened them up) and a high speed precision bench lathe from Starke. Then we have a large Jet drill press and a tiny high speed Electro Mecho drill press that turns 25,000 RPM!

For welding we prefer MIG, can't understand why anyone would prefer stick for our sort of work, we also do gas brazing with brass and silver. We have a few sheet metal tools too, such as a small brake, and bead roller and a wire forming tool and a spring bender.

I remember we were doing a lot of Russwin work and so we basically whipped up some master pin followers like the Keedek but with the larger diameter. We also make a lot of our own tools. This past week we mad" long 12-24 screws because they seemingly don't exist. We also made some 5" spindles for Kaba Eplex panic bar trim as well as a special ring that mounts to a gate box and prevents Grade 1 knob locks from sliding around.

[hag3l3]

Thanks for sharing. .
I am so glad there are others who take initiative with machining your own parts. I'm trying to incorporate machining and welding at the shop here. It's nice making your own parts when you need one; you don't have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for it to come in.

[Pintickler]

You know , Sinifar, it's guys like you that make me realize how little I actually know. Please keep those super cool posts coming.

[GWiens2001]

Can't help it. As much as I am loving this thread, can never look at the thread title "Rolling your own locks" without thinking how much of a b#%@## they would be to light.

Gordon

[1mrchristopher]

Gordon, the trick is to use magnesium springs

[dll932]

When you have old locks and no replacement parts, a lathe/mill/drill press are REAL handy! I worked as a machinist at my last job and the Sargent mortise lock jammed. I took it apart and found out the end of the latch retractor was broken (stupid pot metal!). Using the lathe and mill I was able to buzz out a new one from scrap 4130 steel that will likely last till they tear the door and frame out!