With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Thanks, Rob

In message , Rob
writes
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Thanks, Rob


Angle grinder..........

Seriously an angle grinder with the guard removed and a thin disc, maybe
a shade suicidal but it works well. I removed a window rack bolt this
way only a few weeks ago. If you have 3mm gap you should be able to get
the disc in without damaging the door or frame.

I'm sure some one will come up with less dramatic methods though.

A slightly more sedate method would be to remove the hinge pins if you
can and lift the door out that way,

Failing that a GOOD locksmith should be able to pick it for you in a
couple of minutes.
--
Bill

In article ,
Rob writes:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Can you tap the hinge pins out? (assuming no hinge side deadbolts)

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article , Bill
writes

Angle grinder..........

Seriously an angle grinder with the guard removed and a thin disc, maybe
a shade suicidal but it works well. I removed a window rack bolt this
way only a few weeks ago. If you have 3mm gap you should be able to get
the disc in without damaging the door or frame.

I'm sure some one will come up with less dramatic methods though.

A slightly more sedate method would be to remove the hinge pins if you
can and lift the door out that way,


All good stuff but I don't think there is any reason to remove the
guard, it should rotate when loosened and there should be plenty of
depth with a new 115mm disc.

A thin (1.6mm) disc will certainly make it less of a drama, more
clearance and less metal to cut out. Treat the striker plate as
sacrificial and cut close to it, you'll get a free replacement with the
new lock. If the bolt has (internal) hardened rollers, just keep going,
they'll give in eventually.

IME, the hinge pins are usually masked by the cut into the door but the
o/p may be lucky.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs

On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:29:01 GMT, Rob wrote:

With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

If you have any idea what the lock type, is a locksmith would probly use
something like this and drill a single hole.
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...emplatekit.htm
I suspect that few (current) locksmiths would spend too much time picking a
mortice lock - although the tools to do so are still available.
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...ls2in1pick.htm

--
Geo

On Aug 2, 12:29*pm, Rob wrote:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Thanks, Rob

I suceeded in removing the hinge pins on my daughter's door but it
still wasn't possible to get the door off with it locked.

I used the dreaded angle grinder in the end and fitted a new lock.
This was far quicker than removing the hinge pins.

Geo wrote:
On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:29:01 GMT, Rob
wrote:

With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt'
between the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least
destructive way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

If you have any idea what the lock type, is a locksmith would probly
use something like this and drill a single hole.
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...emplatekit.htm

Problem there is, the makers name only appears on the plate around the bolt.
I don't suppose many people have a clue about what make a lock is.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

fred wrote:
In article , Bill
writes

Angle grinder..........

Seriously an angle grinder with the guard removed and a thin disc,
maybe a shade suicidal but it works well. I removed a window rack
bolt this way only a few weeks ago. If you have 3mm gap you should
be able to get the disc in without damaging the door or frame.

I'm sure some one will come up with less dramatic methods though.

A slightly more sedate method would be to remove the hinge pins if
you can and lift the door out that way,


All good stuff but I don't think there is any reason to remove the
guard, it should rotate when loosened and there should be plenty of
depth with a new 115mm disc.

A thin (1.6mm) disc will certainly make it less of a drama, more
clearance and less metal to cut out. Treat the striker plate as
sacrificial and cut close to it, you'll get a free replacement with
the new lock. If the bolt has (internal) hardened rollers, just keep
going, they'll give in eventually.

SF do them as thin as 0.8mm
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/71334/...22mm-Pack-of-5


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In message , fred writes

All good stuff but I don't think there is any reason to remove the
guard, it should rotate when loosened and there should be plenty of
depth with a new 115mm disc.

Fair enough, I was going on my recent experience, but that was in an
awkward alcove of a shuttered window. Probably slightly safer not to as
well :-)
--
Bill

"Rob" wrote in message
om...
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive way
of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Thanks, Rob

When the mortice lock stuck in our office, I watched a joiner get in by
banging in some wedges between the door and frame. There was enough give
between them to spring the bolt past the striker plate.

On Aug 2, 12:29*pm, Rob wrote:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Thanks, Rob

Have a locksmith pick it open? how many levers does it have?

Robert

On Aug 2, 4:14*pm, Geo wrote:
On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:29:01 GMT, Rob wrote:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

If you have any idea what the lock type, is a locksmith would probly use
something like this and drill a single hole.http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...emplatekit.htm


how very interesting. I remember, as a child, that a neighbour's
house was damaged while they were away. Somebody had drilled 8 holes
near the lock. I now realise they must have been working their way
through all the positions on a template like that.

Robert

On 2 Aug, 12:29, Rob wrote:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Angle grinder!

Thinnest cutting disk you can get (Aldi's stainless steel ones are
great for this) and go through the bolt, leaving the lock body
unharmed. You can even swap the bolt afterwards to repair it and leave
the keying unchanged.

If the bolt is just brass, not with hardened rollers, then a Fein
Mutleymaster will do it too.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 2 Aug, 12:29, Rob wrote:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Angle grinder!

Thinnest cutting disk you can get (Aldi's stainless steel ones are
great for this) and go through the bolt, leaving the lock body
unharmed. You can even swap the bolt afterwards to repair it and leave
the keying unchanged.

If the bolt is just brass, not with hardened rollers, then a Fein
Mutleymaster will do it too.

Many thanks all - plenty to go on. it's actually a mate's front door -
been that way for over 10 years. I've volunteered to sort it out for
him. He has no money so a locksmith's out, not sure of the levers or
rollers. Hinge pins look very awkward - sort of recessed.

I had hoped for something less than an angle grinder but it seems it
going that way. Scary things ;-)

Rob

On Aug 3, 4:40*pm, Rob wrote:
Andy Dingley wrote:
On 2 Aug, 12:29, Rob wrote:
With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

Angle grinder!

Thinnest cutting disk you can get (Aldi's stainless steel ones are
great for this) and go through the bolt, leaving the lock body
unharmed. You can even swap the bolt afterwards to repair it and leave
the keying unchanged.

If the bolt is just brass, not with hardened rollers, then a Fein
Mutleymaster will do it too.

Many thanks all - plenty to go on. it's actually a mate's front door -
been that way for over 10 years. I've volunteered to sort it out for
him. He has no money so a locksmith's out, not sure of the levers or
rollers. Hinge pins look very awkward - sort of recessed.

I had hoped for something less than an angle grinder but it seems it
going that way. Scary things ;-)

Rob

If the lock's a good one it'd be cheaper to cut the hinges, with the
door out the lock can be removed and new keys cut for it.


NT

On 3 Aug, 19:15, NT wrote:

If the lock's a good one it'd be cheaper to cut the hinges, with the
door out the lock can be removed and new keys cut for it.

What's top price on a mortice lock, even the best?

Now a good auto-deadlocking rimlock is 50 quid plus, but I can't think
of any reason to spend more than 20 on a 5 lever mortice

On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:27:16 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Geo wrote:
If you have any idea what the lock type, is a locksmith would probly
use something like this and drill a single hole.
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...emplatekit.htm

Problem there is, the makers name only appears on the plate around the bolt.
I don't suppose many people have a clue about what make a lock is.

Agreed - but if it is the original door/lock the a bit of social engineering
with the neighbours should find a similar type.
If it is a simple 3 lever lock then these /might/ solve the opening problem:-
http://walkerlocksmiths.co.uk/toolsm...tryoutkeys.htm


--
Geo

Geo writes:

On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:29:01 GMT, Rob wrote:

With access from the inside, and about a 3mm view of the 'bolt' between
the striking plate and the door, what's the best and least destructive
way of removing this (lost key) external door lock?

If you have any idea what the lock type, is a locksmith would probly use
something like this and drill a single hole.
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...emplatekit.htm

Interesting issue the if one assumes that the information sheet in
the packet is A4, could one reconstruct the template from the image
accurately enough to be useful?

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2009-01-31)

On Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:36:52 +0100, Jon Fairbairn
wrote:

Geo writes:
If you have any idea what the lock type, is a locksmith would probly use
something like this and drill a single hole.
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksm...emplatekit.htm

Interesting issue the if one assumes that the information sheet in
the packet is A4, could one reconstruct the template from the image
accurately enough to be useful?

These are credit-card size and there is a short video at the bottom right of the
page showing roughly what you achieve - you still have to use a crude pick to
withdraw the bolt but the levers no longer stop the movement:-
http://www.locksrusuk.co.uk/drill_templates.html

--
Geo