Latest pick...

[Mad Mick]

never seen a factory schlage lock loaded for bear like that.
somebody trying to give you a challenge?

Is it standard factory practice for the retaining screws to be secured by a punch mark? It didn't look like the screws had been removed before.

mick; it's a pity that you put the whole lock back together, it might of been handy if you'd re-pinned as a three pin lock with one of these pins, for ease of learning about how they feel. just keep thinking about how nice that would have been, think about it all the time while you're trying to re-open it, i mean let it occupy your every thought

Lol. I didn't put the cylinder back in the knob yet, so I can use a shim if it continues beating me.

[stick]

capt.dunc, aaah. That's what you meant. Doh, my bad.

Mick, see if you can find out where those pins came from? I want to experiment with some myself.

[Mad Mick]

I think they might be some form of factory pin, as the screws looked like they had never been touched with a screwdriver. They look a little different now, as the centre-punch mark locked them pretty tight.

I'm pretty darn sure this is a Schlage as the keyway is SC1, the bolt was marked Schlage, and the lock mech body is held together with the usual split-pins. One thing I have noted about the shell, is that the pin-loading holes have caps in them, and are then secured with some sort of wide, blunt stamping tool, at a right-angle to the shell. Where the 7th pin-loading hole would be, a letter 'N' is stamped, or maybe it's a 'Z'. Across the bottom of the shell, it appears to have been filed length-wise, presumably to remove burrs.

Maybe this info is useful to someone more 'in the know'.

[Mad Mick]

Well firstly, my apologies. Although I am still sure this lock is a Schlage, the construction is slightly different to what I posted. Here is a pic of the knob construction (which uses screws)...:



which was confused with the knob construction below (which does use split pins)...:



Here is the underside of the shell, showing the stamping marks which hold the loading plugs, and the 'N' or 'Z':



Still had a hard time re-picking this lock though, so decided to shim from the rear. Big mistake...due to very tight tolerances between the plug and shell and difficulty shimming security stacks 5 & 6, the shim (pepsi can strip) fatigued and snapped flush with the rear of the cyl with stacks 1 & 2 still to go! Luckily, hard tension with a wiper blade tension wrench allowed picking of stacks 1 & 2...Phew!

A new chrome plated, solid steel follower (made from the piston of a gas strut which holds up a tailgate) was able to push out the plug/shim...See bottom of pic below:



...much easier than trying to use the usual coiled Pepsi can follower.

Also, just completed is a carbon fibre follower (see top of pic above).

This new follower was turned on a lathe from a broken golf club shaft, which is hollow and tapered. (please don't go breaking Dad's Pings ) The outside taper is reduced to 1/2" along the length and a plastic plug is inserted & glued, to facilitate the notched "business end". The hollow centre allows storage of spare pins/springs etc. and a second removable plug is used to cap/gain access. (note split pin glued into rubber bung)

Regards,
Mick.

[Chucklz]

Mick, for decent cylinder shims, buy some DVD's or CD's or any item that has an antitheft tag that is a small rectangle, approx 1x4 cm. Cut one open around the edges, and you will find two small curved pieces of metal that make wonderful shims.

[Mad Mick]

Yeah, thanks Chuck. I've seen that tip posted a few times before, and now I see why.

Ever get the feeling, when something goes wrong, like the one you did when you got your head stuck in a railing as a kid? That was one of those moments when the shim snapped.

BTW, I've been a mechanic for many, many, many years and am still hanging onto that 0.0015" feeler blade, just in case it 'comes in handy'. Should I have used it in this situation?:wink:

[Varjeal]

Alright Mad...as you mentioned the first lock body construction is very typical of Schlage and the newer knock-off brands using the split pin or cotter pin holding the lock casing together.

I have to admit though, I'm puzzled by the second and it's screw construction. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that this an early Corbin or Yale product. If you feel brave enough to pull it apart, there should be some numbers stamped somewhere that denote a model of some type.

As for the Schlage plug, from the picture it looks like it's been heavily filed on (could be wear too I guess) and the "Z" or "N" also puzzles me as this seems to be the mark of someone who has worked on the lock, although I've no idea why anyone would actually bother to stamp the plug.

Perhaps they had a hundred of these on their bench and were loading plugs like crazy and decided to stamp the plug in order to keep their system organized...I have no idea...

The slots across the pin chambers look factory, and this is what leads me to believe that the particular lock or lock cylinder in question is NOT a Schlage original...I could be wrong.

[raimundo]

steel followers have a lot of weight, and can pull themselves out of the lock under gravity. A piece of half inch wooden dowel won't do that and can easily be shaped to fit any special ends you might need.