tubular lock varieties?
G. Howe
What's the difference between center-style and offset-style tubular
locks? Can I tell whether a tubular lock is center, offset-left, or
offset-right by looking at it? Can I tell how many pins a tubular lock
has by looking at it? -thanks
Billy B. Edwards Jr.
The difference is a physical one that can be easily determined with the
naked eye. In such tubular locks there is a notch cut into the plug and
the shell, (the plug is visible as the smaller round metal part of the
lock face, the shell is the larger round part of the lock face and the
two are separated by air), and the 'nib' on the key passes through this
notch and allows the key to make contact with the pins. If you look
into the face of the lock until you can see the pins, you can see if
this notch is centered between two of the pins, or ofset toward one on
the left or right. You can also use this opportunity to count the
pins. In a lock with this notch there will usually be seven. If the
lock doesn't have this notch, it usually has eight pins.
Some locks with the notch have ten pins because some of the pins have
another pin inside of it. This will be the UL Listed version and your
tubular pick most likely won't work on it unless you have a _very_
expensive one designed to defeat that version.
BBE.
aa-2@deltanet.com@deltanet.com
In <32F64F...@mail.idt.net>, "G. Howe" <gho...@mail.idt.net> writes:
>What's the difference between center-style and offset-style tubular
>locks? Can I tell whether a tubular lock is center, offset-left, or
>offset-right by looking at it? Can I tell how many pins a tubular lock
>has by looking at it? -thanks
I don't want to hit this too hard, but if you've ever once in your life
LOOKED at a tubular lock, you'd know how many pins it has. Go to
the nearest vending machine and have a look.
Lee Most
On Mon, 03 Feb 1997 15:49:56 -0500, "G. Howe" <gho...@mail.idt.net>
wrote:
>What's the difference between center-style and offset-style tubular
>locks? Can I tell whether a tubular lock is center, offset-left, or
>offset-right by looking at it? Can I tell how many pins a tubular lock
>has by looking at it? -thanks
Last question first: yes.
Other questions you asked: The center-style ones are the ones with the
notch for the key's nib in the center, and there's no pin under the
notch. When you see the notch closer to the pins on one side than the
other, then you've found one of the rare offset locks. Sometimes the
offset ones have 8 pins instead of the usual 7.
For completeness, answers to questions you did not ask: If you look at
the pins and see concentric circles instead of the plain top of the
pin, then you've come across the dreaded "pin-within-a-pin" higher
security kind, and if a standard tubular key (you must have collected
at least one by now!) will not even enter the keyhole, then you have
one of the over-sized or under-sized varieties.