Ok, am I the only person in the world that doesn't want a gale
whistling through the keyhole?

I have a mortice lock on the front door, which has a handle to operate
it (it's a latch as well as a mortice bolt thingywhatsit). As such, it
has a complete brass facing plate which the handle goes through, and in
said plate is a keyhole for the key.

This is stopping me fitting an escutcheon to it.

What I'm *really* after is what I had in the last place (and am rueing
not taking with me) - draught excluders for the keyhole. They were
from betterware or kleeneze or someone like that - little self-adhesive
things you fit to the inside of that handle plate, with a rubber seal
and a slit in it to insert the key through.

Bloody marvellous things.

Can't get hold of them for love nor money now, though. And as above,
escutcheons just don't work. The key has a collar on it, so all the
escutcheons that are small enough to be glued onto the face plate are
also too small to permit the collar to pass through.

Anyone have any ideas?

I've looked high and low but not been able to find any mortice handle
plate things that also have built-in escutcheons, yet you'd think
they'd be a good idea!

Velvet

"Velvet" wrote in message
ups.com...
Ok, am I the only person in the world that doesn't want a gale
whistling through the keyhole?

I have a mortice lock on the front door, which has a handle to operate
it (it's a latch as well as a mortice bolt thingywhatsit). As such, it
has a complete brass facing plate which the handle goes through, and in
said plate is a keyhole for the key.

This is stopping me fitting an escutcheon to it.

What I'm *really* after is what I had in the last place (and am rueing
not taking with me) - draught excluders for the keyhole. They were
from betterware or kleeneze or someone like that - little self-adhesive
things you fit to the inside of that handle plate, with a rubber seal
and a slit in it to insert the key through.

Bloody marvellous things.

Can't get hold of them for love nor money now, though. And as above,
escutcheons just don't work. The key has a collar on it, so all the
escutcheons that are small enough to be glued onto the face plate are
also too small to permit the collar to pass through.

Anyone have any ideas?

I've looked high and low but not been able to find any mortice handle
plate things that also have built-in escutcheons, yet you'd think
they'd be a good idea!

Velvet


From what you described (Kleeneze)why not glue a piece of bicycle inner tube
inside the handle plate and cut a slot in it - if it works it's also cheap
enough to replace when needed.

Just a thought...

Peter

See, I'd thought about making my own, but couldn't work out where to
source hte rubber from. Now, all I have to do is purloin a punctured
tyre from the boyfriend this weekend, and I may well be in business!!!

Sometimes it takes someone else to point out the obvious :-) Cheers!

In article . com,
says...
Ok, am I the only person in the world that doesn't want a gale
whistling through the keyhole?

I have a mortice lock on the front door, which has a handle to operate
it (it's a latch as well as a mortice bolt thingywhatsit). As such, it
has a complete brass facing plate which the handle goes through, and in
said plate is a keyhole for the key.

This is stopping me fitting an escutcheon to it.

What I'm *really* after is what I had in the last place (and am rueing
not taking with me) - draught excluders for the keyhole. They were
from betterware or kleeneze or someone like that - little self-adhesive
things you fit to the inside of that handle plate, with a rubber seal
and a slit in it to insert the key through.

Bloody marvellous things.

Can't get hold of them for love nor money now, though. And as above,
escutcheons just don't work. The key has a collar on it, so all the
escutcheons that are small enough to be glued onto the face plate are
also too small to permit the collar to pass through.

Anyone have any ideas?

I've looked high and low but not been able to find any mortice handle
plate things that also have built-in escutcheons, yet you'd think
they'd be a good idea!

Can you not make your own draught excluder from a bit of old innertube?

On 22 Sep 2005 10:59:09 -0700, Velvet wrote:

What I'm *really* after is what I had in the last place (and am
rueing not taking with me) - draught excluders for the keyhole.
They were from betterware or kleeneze or someone like that

Are you sure that they don't still do 'em? I should imagine they ahve
a website but how you'd buy with out a door step rep I'm not sure.

I solved the problem with gales blowing through the keyhole here with
a bit of sheet copper (ex water cylinder) and a brass 3/4" No.4 round
head screw. The copper is about 2" x 1" with a clearance hole for the
screw center at one end. Small hole drilled through the latch plate
above the keyhole enables the screw to reach the timber of the door.
Works a treat.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Velvet wrote:
Ok, am I the only person in the world that doesn't want a gale
whistling through the keyhole?

Hey! Did you buy that place? Anyway, just cut a bit off rubber
or make a plug or a rubber seal with RTV silicone to match what
you describe. Failing that, plug it with a bit of rag when you
haven't got the key in there. N.B. don't leave a key in a
mortice lock that "goes through" for security reasons.

Yes, I did! And it's great! And doesn't have a rising damp problem,
what it has is failed render to the back gully, a COMPLETE bodge for
the washingmachine on both filler and waste (which has clear signs of
persistantly long-term leakage), oh, and a sagging gutter that sends a
cascade of water sheeting down that wall from nearly top of window
upstairs right down to ground level.... :-) Yes, of course I have
rising damp in that pantry and need a new dpc right the way through
(and that crack's definitely stable - and wasn't even mentioned in the
survey).

Loving being in the place - but gosh, the DIY jobs are never ending!
:-) Good job I enjoy DIY (though, has to be said, am currently nearly
frustrated enough with trying to drill four holes in the right place
through shoddy bathroom plaster to rip huge great lumps of said plaster
off the wall and patch it with something decent that I can actually
drill into without it crumbling randomly in various directions. Holes
in it aren't round, let alone in the right place or the right size!)

I think I'm going to try the inner tube idea - should be easy enough to
do I think. And yes, I'm very careful with where I leave the keys :-)

Velvet wrote:
Yes, I did! And it's great!

Very glad to hear it.


I'm very careful with where I leave the keys :-)

Seriously, a lock with a key in it is no lock at all! I#


Well Done.

In article .com,
says...
snip
frustrated enough with trying to drill four holes in the right place
through shoddy bathroom plaster to rip huge great lumps of said plaster
off the wall and patch it with something decent that I can actually
drill into without it crumbling randomly in various directions. Holes
in it aren't round, let alone in the right place or the right size!)

You might not need to rip out great lumps of plaster - I often find that
a hole an inch or two across is enough to spread the load. Fill with
Polyfilla type stuff. I often stick the wall plugs in the wet filler
rather than drilling afterwards.

Yep, I phoned them and asked, they found htem in a back catalogue, but
confirmed they've been unable to source them from that supplier (or any
others) since.

Googling has turned up nothing at all - even looked at grommit
suppliers etc.

Ah, now.. that's a thought. Rather than trying to drill through the
plate to fix the entire escutcheon, I could drill out the swingpin,
separate the two, and use your method to fix the cover to the plate...
as long as I can find some metal drills that don't break (is it heat
buildup that does this? or just crappy drills?)

In article om,
says...
snip
Ah, now.. that's a thought. Rather than trying to drill through the
plate to fix the entire escutcheon, I could drill out the swingpin,
separate the two, and use your method to fix the cover to the plate...
as long as I can find some metal drills that don't break (is it heat
buildup that does this? or just crappy drills?)

Probably crappy drills.

If you want to fit a brass escutcheon to a brass plate might I suggest
soldering it on?

Hmm, that's an idea. I like the thought of just using the swing bit
though, it'd definitely be a neater finish overall than having a second
raised circle of the 'fixed' bit of the escutcheon on the handle plate.

On 24 Sep 2005 04:42:47 -0700, Velvet wrote:

Ah, now.. that's a thought. Rather than trying to drill through the
plate to fix the entire escutcheon, I could drill out the swingpin,
separate the two, and use your method to fix the cover to the
plate...

Check carefully where there is timber behind the face plate where the
pivot screw will have to go. I looked at normal escutcheons but the
pivot point was to near the top of the keyhole and there wasn't any
(or enough) timber to take the screw. Hence fashioning my own plate
out of sheet copper. Also on my face plate the keyhole is somewhat
larger than that required just for the key and normal escutcheon was
barely big enough to cover it.

as long as I can find some metal drills that don't break (is it heat
buildup that does this? or just crappy drills?)

Poor drills but more likely excessive pressure. As with most cutting
tools let the tool do the work, if it isn't cutting then the tool is
blunt or incorrectly set.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In article om,
says...
On 24 Sep 2005 04:42:47 -0700, Velvet wrote:

Ah, now.. that's a thought. Rather than trying to drill through the
plate to fix the entire escutcheon, I could drill out the swingpin,
separate the two, and use your method to fix the cover to the
plate...

Check carefully where there is timber behind the face plate where the
pivot screw will have to go. I looked at normal escutcheons but the
pivot point was to near the top of the keyhole and there wasn't any
(or enough) timber to take the screw.

A machine screw with two nuts on it will get around that.

Almost certainly blunt, then, cos there was quite possibly excess
pressure being applied.

I was a bit surprised when I bent one of those padsaw things, too.
I've had to re-evaluate my strength - I'd assumed that as a girly (and
not all that strong, IMO), I'd be pretty incapable of bending/breaking
'blokes tools' :-)

In article .com,
says...
Almost certainly blunt, then, cos there was quite possibly excess
pressure being applied.

I was a bit surprised when I bent one of those padsaw things, too.

They only resist pulling - if you press down while pushing they can
easily buckle or break.

On 24 Sep 2005 10:02:01 -0700, Velvet wrote:

Almost certainly blunt, then, cos there was quite possibly excess
pressure being applied.

New drills aren't overly sharp. I was rather surprised at the
difference sharpening made when I bought a Martek sharpener many moons
ago.

I was a bit surprised when I bent one of those padsaw things, too.
I've had to re-evaluate my strength - I'd assumed that as a girly
(and not all that strong, IMO), I'd be pretty incapable of
bending/breaking 'blokes tools' :-)

A pad saw is very easy to bend when pushing and once it starts to go
it goes. Decent drills, being High Speed Steel (HSS) are fairly
brittle and won't take much bending before they snap.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Indeedy. Well, it was more a case of pushing forwards rather than
down, since I was cutting a hole in my door for a catflap to be
installed. First DIY job in the new house, and I was extremely chuffed
with how well it went - very neat and tidy finish to it (and I ignored
hte instructions to cut a square hole, and did a catflap-inner shaped
hole, to retain door strength better). Padsaw's a little kink in the
middle (I straightened it out again) and still cuts fine, just needs a
bit of care since it's obviously not quite as strong there now :-)

Pity that I did so well sealing around the catflap/door join, yet
failed completely on the bath sealing - very neat, accurate, not too
much not too little - but discovered empty bath with me in isn't the
same as bath with me and water ;-)

Velvet wrote:

I am currently frustrated with trying to drill four holes in the right
place through shoddy bathroom plaster to rip huge great lumps of said
plasteroff the wall and patch it with something decent that I can
actually drill into without it crumbling randomly in various
directions.

Holes in it aren't round, let alone in the right place or the right
size!)

I don't know what you want to drillinto the plaster for, one or two
items or a lot.

You might be better fixing two lengths of three by one along the wall
you want to hang the fittings from. Then all you have to do is screw
the cabinets or shelves/mirrors whatever to them.

Buy some stuff that looks good not just ordinary 3 (or 2) x 1. Any mess
you make drilling into the walls will be covered by the batton(s.) You
might have to pack them out with small wedges as you go to keep them in
line with each other/straight.

Put a screw in one end about where you want he batton to go then lift
the other end level and screw that. Then run along filling in with more
screws every 2 or 3 feet. Any that fail just put another plug in or try
near by. Any holes can easily be filled with caulk. As can gaps between
the walls and the battons.

Put a length of batton on top of the first one and sit the second on
that to give you the height separation. Then work out from the centre.

Jobsa goodun.

7 mm masonry bits for brown plugs. You might want to try the 6 mm (for
red ones normally) if the going is that soft and use browns in them
if/as they made/make the hole/s overlarge.