How should I have re-assembled my lock?

[Custom24]

Hi
I'm new to lock picking.
I'm using a 5 pin cylinder and plug type practice lock (I don't know the tech term for it - it is like the classic Yale lock commonly used in the UK)

I read that it is a good idea to take your practice lock apart and start by picking with only one or two pins present.

Problem was, I destroyed the springs when trying to re-assemble the lock. Part of me thinks if I could not even put it back together, then trying to pick it might be a non-starter.

How should I have re-assembled the lock? Is there a special tool I need?

Also, is there anywhere I can get new springs, or will I just have to buy a new lock and be more careful?

I did try the search function on this forum, but it seems to be broken right now - it is outputting a load of SQL to the page.

Thanks for any advice.
Mark

[Elijah]

How exactly did you ruin the springs? Was it when you removed the cylinder from the shell? If so, you probably weren't using a plug follower, which you should have. When using a plug follower, the springs and driver pins stay in the shell while you remove the key pins, so there is no damage to the pieces.

Also, you should take care to keep as little space as possible between the plug follower and the cylinder when inserting and removing the pieces. if there is even the slightest gap between them, the springs and driver pins will fall out of the shell or get caught and break. This is just one of the reasons you may have screwed up your lock. To fix it, you'd have to have a repinning kit with some extra springs of the right size. Good luck, and someone will be here shortly to cover another scenario, I'm sure.

-Elijah

[toomush2drink]

If you could fill out your profile that would help a lot. As im not sure which part of the world you live in not sure what to advise.
Check out the buy sell section anyway and look at vargeals package, cheap lock kits to practice on.

[Custom24]

Thanks for your replies. I have updated my profile - I am living in the UK.

Basically, the lock came apart without any damage, it was when I tried to put it back together that I ran into problems. I thought I would place the springs back in their holes. Then there was not enough space - if I put the drivers on top of them, I would not have been able to reinsert the plug. Actually, come to think of it, I could have done it one driver at a time, pushing it down with a pick and then pushing the plug over it to keep it in place. Doh!

I'm not sure how I would have re-inserted the pins, but there are holes at the bottom of the cylinder as well, and I am guessing that these are used for this purpose?

What happened was that I put the springs back in, and then reinserted the plug, but I think without the drivers, the springs got caught in the holes in the plug, and when I tried to remove the plug, it unravelled the springs.

I will buy another lock and not take it apart until I can find a dismantling guide - can anyone point me to such a guide? I don't even know what a plug follower or repinning kit is, I'm afraid.

Thanks for your kind advice.
Mark

[Elijah]

Alright, you confuse me, but I can explain to the best of my ability. First of all, you mention putting in the springs THEN putting in the driver pins. Are you loading these back in from the inside of the cylinder or something? Usually, there is a kind of "cap" on top of the pin stacks once you have the cylinder free from the housing. You remove this cap, and the springs are visible. When putting things back, you would put in the driver pins (make sure your plug follower is still in the place of the cylinder), then put in the springs, and ultimately squeeze them down and seal them with the same cap you took off. If you screwed up the springs, though, you'll need replacements to make the lock work correctly.

If this description doesn't apply to you, it might be because I live in the US and you're using a different type of lock that I'm not familiar with. This is my 2 cents, though. Later!

-Elijah

[vector40]

Mind you that there's not always a removable cap on the gallery, and if there is, it may be a major PITA to get off. I almost always load drivers and springs from the bottom; it's not hard with a (proper) follower.

[stick]

Kwiksets usually have removable caps. However, the Schlage knock-offs I bought off eBay recently don't. They have a thin sheet of brass stamped on, and once removed can't be replaced, hence the need for a follower.

[Mad Mick]

Custom24:
If there are any of the springs still intact, all is not lost - you can still repin the lock starting from one stack. The lock you are describing sounds like a normal rim cylinder lock, in that it is fitted through a hole in the door and secured with two screws from the rear. You have obviously figured out how to take the plug out, and the problem is rebuilding it.

Get either a piece of 1/2 inch wooden dowel, or an aluminium (proper UK spelling, not the dodgy US mumbo-jumbo ) pop can.

1. Dowel - cut a length approximately 5 inches and notch one end with a hacksaw, to the width of a driver pin.
Or, 2. cut the top and bottom off a pop can, then slit this cylinder down the middle of one side. Fold out the aluminium and cut a square as large as possible, without leaving mangled edges. Take one end and roll the aluminium sheet tightly around a (round) pencil.

Both of these steps will create a plug follower.

Pinning a cylinder for 1 stack:
When ready to rebuild the lock, start at the end of the cylinder where the key goes in. This is pin stack No 1. Insert the plug follower from the rear, so that only the No 1 hole is uncovered. Drop in the spring, then rest the driver pin on the top. Carefully, push the driver into the cylinder with the tip of a pick, or a small screwdriver, then slide the follower over the pin to keep it in place (the notch in the wooden dowel is a great aid in this process!). Put a key pin in the corresponding hole in the plug. Insert the plug into the front of the cylinder, making sure that both the holes in the plug and the cylinder are mis-aligned (like you've got the key turned 45 degrees), then push out the follower as the plug is inserted. Once the plug is fully inserted, return it to the neutral position. Refit the clip or locking ring which prevents the plug from being removed. Then pick away merrily.

Pinning a cylinder for 2 stacks:
Insert the follower, but leave the first two holes uncovered. Insert the springs in the two holes and insert a driver into the 2nd hole. Push it into the cylinder, move the follower towards the first hole (covering #2 stack) and repeat. Load the corresponding key pins into the plug and again, making sure the holes are mis-aligned, insert the plug, then secure it.

Pinning a cylinder for X stacks:
Blah, blah, blah...progressive from the above examples.

[MrB]

I think that Kwiksets are the only commonly available lock that has an easily removable cover to let you take the springs and pins out of the top. And Kwiksets are not found in the UK (you do not find US-style deadbolts at all in the UK).

If you want to repin a lock with fewer pins, you are going to have to remove the springs and drivers for the pin stacks you are not using, or grief and broken springs will lie ahead.

[vector40]

To be honest I'm not even sure how the Kwikset cover is supposed to come off. I always feel like I'm going to bend it beyond repair if I attack it enough to remove it.

[Custom24]

Mad Mick - that is exactly what I was looking for. I guess I could have figured it out myself. But I probably would have ruined another couple of locks in the process!

Last night I went to Homebase and bought the cheapest cylinder lock they had (£5.99 - Avocet - I think it has 6 pins?). I managed to resist pulling it apart so far, but tonight that lock is going to wish it had never been made.

Thanks to everyone again for their help
Mark

[NKT]

What no-one has said is that you got it right when you said "D'oh! I could have done one spring, then one pin, then moved the plug up."

That is exactly what you do.

With a Yale style cylinder and a follower, just start placing from the back, and slide the follower in from the back. You will push it back out with the plug at 90 degrees to the pins when you are finished putting springs back in.

Make sure you leave the empty holes totally empty - no springs nor top or bottom pins.