Need help fixing or installing a lock? We welcome questions from the public here! Sorry, no automotive questions, please.
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WE DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT AUTOMOTIVE OR MOTORCYCLE LOCKS OR IGNITIONS ON THIS FORUM. THIS INCLUDES QUESTIONS ABOUT PICKING, PROGRAMMING, OR TAKING APART DOOR OR IGNITION LOCKS,
Hello, I have my Grans old liquor cabinet but have lost the small, flat key to unlock the doors years ago after a move. As you can see the lock face is about the size of a dime (15 mm). The cylinder will turn freely if a small screwdriver is inserted, there don't seem to be any pins. I don't see any way to get inside other than unlocking. Can anyone tell me what kind of lock it is, if it can be picked, and where I might get a replacement key (or lock if it must be replaced)? Mysterious!
It might be possible to carefully remove a board from the back of the cabinet, unscrew the lock, then take the lock to a locksmith shop and have them impression it.
There are a lot of different flat keys out there and it would be easiest to have an assortment and try them out to see which one fits the best before impressioning it. Add up the cost of a few blanks, a warding file, a vise (if you don't have one), and the shipping costs, and taking the lock to a locksmith might come out ahead.
SeattleCedar wrote:So picking this lock is not possible for a novice? Seems like such a simple lock!
Sorry man, it's not like the movies where we can teach you to jiggle a paper clip in there and open it. Lever locks such as yours which uses a flat key with a bunch of cuts on the tip are actually harder to pick than the Kwikset on your front door because normal pick sets dont work on those locks, you need special tools which you could make or buy, and then spend a month learning how to use them.
The key looks something like this, this is what you are up against, lots of different possible combinations for the lever heights:
Here is someone picking a modern house door lever lock which uses what you'd probably call a skeleton key. *This is just to show you what's going on inside a lever lock, where the levers have to move up to a certain height based on the key cuts and then the bolt can be retracted and fall into the gates if they are all aligned. (I'm totally over simplifying a lot here just to show you the basic premise)
Thanks Squelchtone, that is exactly what the key looked like and great to know it is called a lever lock when I talk to a locksmith. Looks like I will have to try to take the back of the cabinet to get inside where I can hopefully unscrew the lock to bring it to a locksmith. Fascinating video too. Many thanks!
SeattleCedar wrote:So picking this lock is not possible for a novice? Seems like such a simple lock!
Simple even a basic lever lock might be, but do not fall into the delusion, common in USA, of thinking a lever lock is not secure, just because the principle pre-dates Yale's pin tumbler lock by a good half century. There are so many different sizes, picks need to be made of a size to suit the target lock, unlike pin tumbler locks picks. And just by the way, lever lock keys are not 'skeleton keys'.
Seems few US locksmiths will, or can, pick lever locks.
Usually, wooden cabinets can be forced by either of two methods. A gentle method is to [SNIP!].
The brutal method if all else fails is to [SNIP!].
Last edited by MBI on 10 Jan 2018 12:35, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:Removed well-intended advice that belongs in advanced forum.
rphillips52 wrote:Usually, wooden cabinets can be forced by either of two methods. A gentle method is to [SNIP!]... but it might damage some finishes, such as french polish.
The brutal method if all else fails is to [SNIP!] ... replaced, afterwards.
Neither of these seem particularly gentle to the cabinet in question. As someone that has built cabinets before, I'd start with the approach Jacob Morgan suggested, usually the rear of these will be a sheet of fairly thin plywood that is rabbeted into the main frame of the cabinet and attached with either small screws or finish nails. It will also generally be unfinished, as it's meant to be up against a well. This would be a much safer place to start. Failing that way, my next point of attack would be the hinges on the door itself. Won't go into much detail here because, even though the methods may seem obvious, we are ranging very close if not into the realm of destructive entry/bypass here, which is verboten in the open forums.
Load the entire cabinet up and take it to a locksmith shop. You might find an older locksmith company that would have a locksmith who would come out to open it and make a key, but in my experience most customers seem to think a locksmith is a handyman and thus should be paid handyman rates.
