Combinating Schlage FSIC cores and balancing pin stacks

[tpark]

When I've purchased 0 bitted cores, I note that they come with short drivers and short pins. Presumably one can simply use a follower and replace only the pins to combinate the lock, however Schlage documentation specifies different drivers based on the size of the key pin stack. How important is it to change the driver when changing the key pins? If you use the shortest pin/driver combination, it's still sufficiently long, and the springs seem long enough for this combination. When setting up these locks, do you just replace the pins, or do you replace the drivers where appropriate?

Thanks,

--Ted

[cledry]

When I've purchased 0 bitted cores, I note that they come with short drivers and short pins. Presumably one can simply use a follower and replace only the pins to combinate the lock, however Schlage documentation specifies different drivers based on the size of the key pin stack. How important is it to change the driver when changing the key pins? If you use the shortest pin/driver combination, it's still sufficiently long, and the springs seem long enough for this combination. When setting up these locks, do you just replace the pins, or do you replace the drivers where appropriate?

Thanks,

--Ted

Drivers as well.

[tpark]

Thanks for the info. I figured they put the smallest drivers in, so the lazy locksmith could push out the core with a follower, put pins in, replace the core and it would work OK even if it wasn't right.

[jeffmoss26]

I've never thought about it, just put new keypins in. Schlage is pretty forgiving.

[tpark]

I've never thought about it, just put new keypins in. Schlage is pretty forgiving.

They are forgiving, and it it's not like using short drivers is putting extra stress on the springs. The reasons I can see for using different drivers is to keep the total stack reasonably close, and perhaps it helps somewhat for bump/pick gun resistance. It seems the philosophy goes from BEST, where all the stacks are exactly the same size, to Master/American, where the drivers are the same length regardless of the pin size.

[RedE]

I've found that key insertion forces tend to be much better when the pin stacks are balanced, and therefore I've made it common practice to balance all pin stacks. I'd say make an effort to do so, but if the manufacturer calls for it, then you almost certainly should.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

I've found that key insertion forces tend to be much better when the pin stacks are balanced, and therefore I've made it common practice to balance all pin stacks. I'd say make an effort to do so, but if the manufacturer calls for it, then you almost certainly should.

It's pretty much this.

Too much stuff and you make life hard on the springs and run into the potential of cylinder failure. Too little stuff and you run the risk of allowing comb attacks to work. Proper stack height is designed with these two factors in mind primarily.

Schlage's conventional pinning requirements aren't as picky with stack uniformity as say BEST and their A2, A3, and A4 pinning systems. Of the top of my head (because I don't pin a lot of Schlage anymore) I think they use a single driver for 3 depths. So, you're looking at a swing of 0.045", which isn't too much if you think about it but definitely not as strict as keying systems requiring uniform pin stacks.

[RedE]

I've found that key insertion forces tend to be much better when the pin stacks are balanced, and therefore I've made it common practice to balance all pin stacks. I'd say make an effort to do so, but if the manufacturer calls for it, then you almost certainly should.

It's pretty much this.

Too much stuff and you make life hard on the springs and run into the potential of cylinder failure. Too little stuff and you run the risk of allowing comb attacks to work. Proper stack height is designed with these two factors in mind primarily.

Schlage's conventional pinning requirements aren't as picky with stack uniformity as say BEST and their A2, A3, and A4 pinning systems. Of the top of my head (because I don't pin a lot of Schlage anymore) I think they use a single driver for 3 depths. So, you're looking at a swing of 0.045", which isn't too much if you think about it but definitely not as strict as keying systems requiring uniform pin stacks.

Yeah I just refilled my Schlage pin kit last night. The top pins were 0.165", 0.200", and 0.235".