Schlage deadbolt supplied with spool pins?

[Zenophryk]

So I manage a bunch of property and figured years ago that I should standardize on a lock type and learn to rekey them. So I chose Schlage. Last week I picked up a few deadbolts without keys at the local used hardware store for 2 bucks each. Figured they would be good for parts. I usually just shim the cylinders from the back and rekey, but since I'm trying to get better at picking I figured I should pick them open. Well that didn't work at all. So I shimmed it open. the biting wasn't anything extreme. So I just figured I needed more practice. Which is certainly true anyways. Well, I didn't have my plug follower with me, just my picks, so I used a thin piece of 1/2 inch wood angled just right as a follower. And when I was putting the core back in the wood rotated a little too much and the top pins popped out. And to my surprise there were 4 spool pins and one regular top pin.
So I haven't come across a spool pin yet (as far as I know anyway). So now I will be able to get some practice with them.

My question is.. did Schlage pin it this way at the factory, or was this repined by a locksmith?
the keyway takes a regular SC1 blank. Is that a "C" keyway?

-Zenophryk

[cheerIO]

Yes, they have spool pins.

[billdeserthills]

They sure do, in fact when I first joined I couldn't pick them open much, at all.
Just reading about all You guys investing soo much time into trying to open locks
has made me much more patient & I have picked many of these open as a result.

I really think the amount of tension is everything, in fact I just picked a couple of locker locks open,
one was upside down and even without the use of my pick gun it opened readily

[Shifty1]

I am having one heck of a hard time picking the Schlage B series cylinder. The one you describe with 4 spool pins just about drove me around the bend. I would consider myself a 1000++ hour picker of only a handful of lock styles and due to availability a Schlage key-in knob f- series was the first style of lock I ever messed with. Well I got away from them for a year and picked Yale, Corbin, Weiser alot and I had been reminding myself to focus on Schlage for a time when I hit upon 2 Schlage free-bees back to back. Both B series deadbolts one was old and one was new. I received the older deadbolt first and notwithstanding its condition, took me an hour+ to pick! It had no security pins but I felt weak like I never picked anything before. It finally opened with a light touch and my reach tool but then came the new Schlage B series beast... I picked on this lock for a day and did feel right away false sets and deep false sets and knew that I was dealing with 2 or more security pins. No sweat I figured, I pin locks up all the time for myself with 1 and 2 spool and mushroom pins and I have developed a sense for them and know how to counter their presence in a lock. In fact the first security pin lock I ever picked was an older Yale rim cylinder lock with 4 security pins( 3 spools and 1 sneaky pin). That lock took some time. I discovered that it was kinda a question of balance between binding and looping in and out of false sets and when it did open wow what a feeling!!!

But now this Schlage. Having no key for the new Schlage I impressioning this lock open and discovering the four spool pins and a modest bitting. I just shook my head and felt humbled...I then transfered the key pins over to another older plug and went on to pick it successfully without the security pins. However, it still did not pick easy at all. Sometimes the feedback is so slight and other times pins just snap into place but not soon to eventuate an opening. And as was to be expected, I did notice a characteristic binding order change with the plug swap but not a change in ease of picking.

Anyway with a cramped and slightly swollen hands I have noticed that tension wrench design and tension are going to be big factors in consistently besting this lock by picking. Camming out and fulcrum/rotational wrench issues are what I'll be looking into as this lock is a little better machined than others. I feel in fact the only timely way to assure an opening of a Schlage of this kind would be to impression it. This lock is just the brand of lock I've been looking for to make me a better picker. Back to the lab again!

[bxg]

Hi, so this is maybe slightly off topic but seems related to this thread.

In the process of learning the insides of a Schlage deadbolt, I removed the top driver pins. I didn't notice until AFTER I removed them that 4 of them are spooled and one is not spooled. I don't know which position the non-spooled pin was located in. I am guessing it is either the pin closest to the "tip" of the key, or the one closest to the "handle" of the key. Sorry, I am a newbie so there are probably proper terms for this. So, I guess I have a couple of questions:

1) on a Schalge lock, with for example a code of 76543, I know that the "7" is the pin closest to the key "handle" and the "3" is the pin at the tip of the key. Is there common convention in naming the pin positions? For example, are the positions labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting at the handle of the key and working towards the tip, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting at the tip of the key and working towards the handle of the key? I am guessing it is the former, but

2) Now that I know that, which position should the non-spooled pin go into, or does it matter

3) I also notice that the end of cylinder driver bar is asymnetrical.. Kind of a partial circle (sort of hat shaped). But it seems to fit in any position when I screw the cylinder cap back on. I am guessing there is a "correct" orientation - can anyone explain that or point me to a web page (or whatever) showing that?

Thanks!!!

bruce

[billdeserthills]

It doesn't matter what order the spool pins are in, Bruce--the only reason Schlage doesn't use 5 spool pins is it makes the cylinder move back & forth too much

[Evan]

So, I guess I have a couple of questions:

1) on a Schalge lock, with for example a code of 76543, I know that the "7" is the pin closest to the key "handle" and the "3" is the pin at the tip of the key. Is there common convention in naming the pin positions? For example, are the positions labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting at the handle of the key and working towards the tip, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, starting at the tip of the key and working towards the handle of the key? I am guessing it is the former, but

2) Now that I know that, which position should the non-spooled pin go into, or does it matter

3) I also notice that the end of cylinder driver bar is asymnetrical.. Kind of a partial circle (sort of hat shaped). But it seems to fit in any position when I screw the cylinder cap back on. I am guessing there is a "correct" orientation - can anyone explain that or point me to a web page (or whatever) showing that?

@Bruce:

Answer to #1: The "handle" of a key is called the bow. Schlage keys are read bow-to-tip as you describe. An example of a tip-to-bow type key would be Best SFIC.

Answer to #2: As Bill stated it does not matter which pin chambers the normal pin is located in, just that at least one top pins is not a spooled pin as the plug of the lock can shift forward out of normal position and get jammed when you are inserting or removing a key if every top pins is spooled.

Answer to #3: The two tailpiece positions are vertical and horizontal. Vertical tailpiece is where the keyway and the wider side of the tailpiece are parallel to each other. Horizontal is where the wider side of the tailpiece is perpendicular to the keyway. Tailpiece orientation varies based on which model lock you are working with.

~~ Evan

[bxg]

Evan & Bill,
Thanks much for the information and explanations!

[RedStagKiller]

The direction of the tailpiece should be such that you cannot remove the outside knob/lever unless you have the key in and turned. (It prevents the button in the pinhole, the one you use to remove the handle, from being pushed in)

[billdeserthills]

The tailpiece is vertical for a lever handle & horizontal for a knob usually