Pull up a chair, grab a cold one, and talk about life as a locksmith. Trade stories of good and bad customers, general work day frustrations, any fun projects you worked on recently, or anything else you want to chat about with fellow locksmiths.
Early this week we receive a call to replace a couple of locks. The customer informed us that they had removed the electronic locks from the doors and needed the doors returned to "building standard". Furthermore they requested it be completed ASAP so that construction on the space could proceed.
Already knowing that this building uses Grade 1 Sargent mortise locks in bright chrome 626 finish as "building standard" on their main entrances we knew just obtaining the locks quickly would be a challenge. You can't just call up your local wholesale distributor and find locks such as these.
We quickly dispatched one of our locksmiths to inspect the job and the photos he sent back confirmed the worst. These doors had more holes in them than a block of Swiss cheese! Not only would locks be needed, we would also have to cover all of the holes in the door. Thankfully these weren't fire rated doors. Just like the locks, sourcing bright chrome push plates would present a similar challenge; nobody uses these as they tend to show fingerprints.
We ended up sourcing from two different suppliers and had the parts shipped overnight. Some parts coming from Akron, Ohio and other parts from Boston, Massachusetts.
About 10 the next morning Fed Ex delivered the goods and we set off to install things.
The plates covered all of the existing holes perfectly with very little room to spare. Now came the fun part, drilling all of the holes. I say fun because these aren't simply chrome plated brass plates, they are polished stainless steel. Fortunately we had planned ahead and were armed with lots of new cobalt bits and sharp hole saws.
Three hours later we had a very happy customer. They couldn't believe the transformation, they thought they would be responsible for buying new doors. The tenant is happy, the building management is happy so we are happy.
Here's what we started with.
We ended up with this. (The lock is on the vertical center line of the plate, but it looks offset due to the angle I took the photo from)
Nice clean job on that plate! I worry about the strength of that door with all the holes drilled into it. Does DonJo or anyone else make a blank door wrap that is not prepped and would allow you to drill your own holes and strike hole on the edge? I feel like a wrap would offer a lot more structural strength to that door.
Thanks for the great photos, nice professional work! Squelchtone
Squelchtone wrote:Nice clean job on that plate! I worry about the strength of that door with all the holes drilled into it. Does DonJo or anyone else make a blank door wrap that is not prepped and would allow you to drill your own holes and strike hole on the edge? I feel like a wrap would offer a lot more structural strength to that door.
Thanks for the great photos, nice professional work! Squelchtone
They do; 40 CW, 70 CW, 80 CW, 90 CW, etc. Various sizes.
I hate wraps. Absolutely despise them. They always protrude beyond the edge of the door which means its a lot easier for the door to bind. If the tim gets loose, even slightly, the screws that hold the wrap immediately strip. They're always piss-poor made - eg. 1 3/4" thickness actually means 1 13/16", which means doesn't lie flush. They're just massive clusters. I even hate their appearance.
Cledry says they're stainless steel. In addition to be an absolute pain to prep in the field, they are the strongest push plates. Believe it or not, that sort of repair will hold for many years.
I posted this on my Twitter two days ago, funny enough:
I use plates for cosmetic/structural repairs quite often. They don't look too terrible if you do them right.
Squelchtone wrote:Nice clean job on that plate! I worry about the strength of that door with all the holes drilled into it. Does DonJo or anyone else make a blank door wrap that is not prepped and would allow you to drill your own holes and strike hole on the edge? I feel like a wrap would offer a lot more structural strength to that door.
Thanks for the great photos, nice professional work! Squelchtone
These are stronger than the wrap around plates and look cleaner. A wood door especially these chip board or mineral filled doors are not that strong when you add a mortise pocket anyway.
Many locksmiths absolutely hate those wrap around plates, and I am of that camp.
We need a new thread dedicated to the dumb things we see, locksmiths and enthusiast. I saw this in a Wednys drive-thru. The hinges are in the right so it's a right-hand reverse door. Try to figure out the thinking, or lack of thinking, behind this door "hardware":
You got me. I guess. I hope it's not a latch guard. Whatever it is its custom. Galvanized steel with custom spaced bolt holes (that was my first "wait a second" moment).
Place was recently built so that was thrown on from the beginning.
Squelchtone wrote:Nice clean job on that plate! I worry about the strength of that door with all the holes drilled into it. Does DonJo or anyone else make a blank door wrap that is not prepped and would allow you to drill your own holes and strike hole on the edge? I feel like a wrap would offer a lot more structural strength to that door.
Thanks for the great photos, nice professional work! Squelchtone
They do; 40 CW, 70 CW, 80 CW, 90 CW, etc. Various sizes.
I hate wraps. Absolutely despise them. They always protrude beyond the edge of the door which means its a lot easier for the door to bind. If the tim gets loose, even slightly, the screws that hold the wrap immediately strip. They're always piss-poor made - eg. 1 3/4" thickness actually means 1 13/16", which means doesn't lie flush. They're just massive clusters. I even hate their appearance.
Cledry says they're stainless steel. In addition to be an absolute pain to prep in the field, they are the strongest push plates. Believe it or not, that sort of repair will hold for many years.
I posted this on my Twitter two days ago, funny enough:
I use plates for cosmetic/structural repairs quite often. They don't look too terrible if you do them right.
I've been known to use wraparound plates from time to time. I plane out enough edge so that it lies flush. Never had a problem with one.
There are times when wraps have their place. A homeowner was putting a rental house on the market and the old doorknob was trashed by the previous renter:
And this commercial office wanted user tracking and Prox cards. This was to be the 4th lock installed on the door...
Eh, money and time is important I guess. I used to not have an iPhone or OneDrive and never bothered to move pictures between phones or back them up. I did a killer dutchman repair on a door years ago. I wish I got to do more stuff like that. There's a guy in Atlanta and his business niche is literally antique and high dollar doors/door hardware. I think I'll get into that business when I retire - something to keep me busy a couple days a week.
Two of my favorite tools are my rafter square and plunge router. I wish I got to use them more.
