Did Schlage make this plug?

[jimmycofc]

Here are some photos of a plug that I took out of a cylinder that was once in one of my door locks. I needed the lever handle for a door but had a hard time getting the cylinder out because my key wouldn't turn it. For a long time, I thought that it was just a different combination from the others in my house (they were there when I bought it). Then I decided that that makes no sense and started fooling with it. When I put in the key and then pulled it back out just a little bit, the thing turned enough that I was able to get the cylinder out of the handle and put a good one in its place.

Being curious about why the house key wouldn't turn it, I took it apart and found that whoever rekeyed it had missed the combination slightly on a pin or two. In the process of taking the plug out I found that its tail is too wide to fit into the Schlage follower (picture 1). My other cylinders that I had out of the doors fit all the way into that follower just fine.

Also, with the plug in the shell but with no pins at all, I can feel some roughness when I turn it. This got me to look at the plug closely enough to notice the ridges down each side of it (pictures 2 and 3). I began to wonder if this is a cheap knockoff and not a real Schlage plug. Do other companies make parts that are supposed to be interchangeable with Schlage?

http://stono.cs.cofc.edu/~jimmy/plug/plug.html

Just out of curiosity, can somebody tell me what the extra row of holes is for (visible in all the pictures, but particularly 4 and 5)? There are four holes instead of five, and they are only about .085 inch deep.

BTW, your spell checker doesn't like it when I type Schlage. Seems a bit odd for a lock blog.

thanks guys

[kwoswalt99-]

Nope, doesn't look like a Schlage plug at all. Those little holes are for construction keying.

[Sinifar]

It's an "F" line plug. Not interchangeable with any other Schlage lock mechanism.

[kwoswalt99-]

That's surprising. It looked too crappy to be a Schlage. You'll need a hollow follower for those.

[cledry]

Yes, older style F-line Schlage and yes they are crappy. The holes are for small ball bearings used in construction masterkeying the lock. You do not need a hollow follower but it does make it easier. Multi-lock makes a cylinder for these locks.

[billdeserthills]

I stock medeco cylinders too (unfortunately)