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Removing broken mortice lock

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Dave Baker

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Oct 14, 2009, 5:01:29 PM10/14/09
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The mortice lock in the front door has just decided to freeze in the locked
position. The mortice moves with the key about 2mm and then goes solid so I
guess something must be broken in the lock mechanism.

There's just enough gap to get a hacksaw blade in to the mortice but it's
pretty slow going and I think there are steel bars inside the bronze because
I've already hit something the blade doesn't seem to want to go through.
Getting an angle grinder in would bugger the door and frame unless there are
such things as cutting disks no more than a mm or so thick. Mine are at
least 1/8".

Any bright ideas short of ripping half the door frame out?
--
Dave Baker


Dave Baker

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Oct 14, 2009, 5:08:39 PM10/14/09
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"Dave Baker" <Nu...@null.com> wrote in message
news:hb5e7h$5eq$1...@news.datemas.de...

Ha! Might just have answered my own question on the Googles.

http://www.rightlines.ltd.uk/Thin-Metal-Stainless-Steel-Inox-Cutting-Slitting-Discs.aspx

1.2mm thick metal cutting discs to fit most angle grinders.
--
Dave Baker


Ash

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Oct 14, 2009, 5:16:17 PM10/14/09
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The Medway Handyman

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Oct 14, 2009, 5:30:25 PM10/14/09
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SF do 1mm cutting discs
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/45203/Abrasives/Metal-Cutting-Grinding/Metal-Cutting-Discs/Erbauer-Thin-Metal-Cutting-Discs-115-x-1-x-22-2mm-Pack-of-10

Can you get to the hinges? Sometimes you can knock/drill/cut out the pin.
Failing that, get a pry bar into the gap & use the AG.


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


Roger Mills

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Oct 14, 2009, 6:29:01 PM10/14/09
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In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Dave Baker <Nu...@null.com> wrote:

What sort of door/lock is it? Is is also a latch, with handles and plates
either side? If so, can you see any of the guts if you remove the handles
and plates?

I recently had exactly these symptoms with a Eurolock-based latch/lock
mechanism in an aluminium door between my house and conservatory. A bit had
broken inside the lock which meant that turning the key no longer lifted the
interlocks out of the way of the bolt, with the result that the bolt
couldn't move more than a mm or so. By removing the handles and plates, I
was able to poke around with a screwdriver and lift the offending interlock
manually - enabling the key to unlock the bolt.

[If it's of any interest, the whole thing is covered in a thread "Any lock
experts out there?" which I started back in April/May this year].
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
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Frank Erskine

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Oct 14, 2009, 6:44:23 PM10/14/09
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On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:01:29 +0100, "Dave Baker" <Nu...@null.com> had
this to say:

>The mortice lock in the front door has just decided to freeze in the locked
>position. The mortice moves with the key about 2mm and then goes solid so I
>guess something must be broken in the lock mechanism.
>
>There's just enough gap to get a hacksaw blade in to the mortice but it's
>pretty slow going and I think there are steel bars inside the bronze because
>I've already hit something the blade doesn't seem to want to go through.
>Getting an angle grinder in would bugger the door and frame unless there are
>such things as cutting disks no more than a mm or so thick. Mine are at
>least 1/8".

If you _could_ get a 1/25" cutting disk for an angle grinder it would
be so fragile that you'd have to use some sort of a jig to guide it
without any twisting.


>
>Any bright ideas short of ripping half the door frame out?

WD-40 would seem to be the answer to all your prayers, if you can
believe a few posters in here....

It's not a Yale lock, is it (lubricated with the above as recommended
by Yale)?

--
Frank Erskine

The Medway Handyman

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Oct 14, 2009, 7:32:26 PM10/14/09
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It wouldn't have jammed had it been lubricated according to the
manufacturers instructions e.g. with WD40.


--
Dave - WD40 Liberation Front.


Andy Dingley

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Oct 14, 2009, 7:35:58 PM10/14/09
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On 14 Oct, 22:01, "Dave Baker" <N...@null.com> wrote:
> Getting an angle grinder in would bugger the door and frame unless there are
> such things as cutting disks no more than a mm or so thick.

"Stainless steel cutting disks" (Screwfix, and Aldi, et al)

Extra thin, bit brittle and the wear rate is high, but they're great
for mortice bolts.

Dave Baker

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Oct 14, 2009, 8:33:07 PM10/14/09
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"Roger Mills" <watt....@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:7jn1l4F...@mid.individual.net...

> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Dave Baker <Nu...@null.com> wrote:
>
>> The mortice lock in the front door has just decided to freeze in the
>> locked position. The mortice moves with the key about 2mm and then
>> goes solid so I guess something must be broken in the lock mechanism.
>>
>> There's just enough gap to get a hacksaw blade in to the mortice but
>> it's pretty slow going and I think there are steel bars inside the
>> bronze because I've already hit something the blade doesn't seem to
>> want to go through. Getting an angle grinder in would bugger the door
>> and frame unless there are such things as cutting disks no more than
>> a mm or so thick. Mine are at least 1/8".
>>
>> Any bright ideas short of ripping half the door frame out?
>
> What sort of door/lock is it? Is is also a latch, with handles and plates
> either side? If so, can you see any of the guts if you remove the handles
> and plates?

First thing I tried but all that's behind the plates is a little hole in the
wood for the key to go through and then the keyhole in the lock itself.
Nothing further to dismantle unfortunately. A thin grinding disk seems to be
the way to go now I know they exist. Should be a piece of cake once I get
some to fit my grinder.
--
Dave Baker


R

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Oct 15, 2009, 1:34:29 AM10/15/09
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"Dave Baker" <Nu...@null.com> wrote in message
news:hb5el0$5so$1...@news.datemas.de...

Got around 50 in the back of my van for a 5" AG.
Cut like lasers they do


d...@gglz.com

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Oct 15, 2009, 1:43:06 AM10/15/09
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The locksmith's method I've seen is to drill through the door, into
the lock body, at the right point (say a 6mm hole) to lift the
tumblers with a wire or thin screwdriver, and then to use a timber
plug or dowel to patch the hole.

You would need to dismantle an identical lock to figure out where to
drill.

Thomas Prufer

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Oct 15, 2009, 3:48:59 AM10/15/09
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On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:08:39 +0100, "Dave Baker" <Nu...@null.com> wrote:

>1.2mm thick metal cutting discs to fit most angle grinders.

... and the thinnest are 0.8 mm.

You may want to scrounge around for a very worn disc as a shim and support --
the thin discs come with a bit cardboard, but an old disc is better.


Thomas Prufer

Dave Baker

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Oct 15, 2009, 5:20:04 AM10/15/09
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<d...@gglz.com> wrote in message
news:3b5493a8-46a5-4698...@f16g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...

The handle plates are pretty big, 2" wide or so and I'm now thinking I could
chisel out the wood under one side to about 1" wide behind where the mortice
goes, get in there with my cylinder head porting gear and carbide burrs and
rip the lock open and just destroy everything behind the mortice until the
lock's an empty shell. Once the plate's back on it'll all be hidden. Might
take a while but given I have this gear and not the cutting discs it sounds
like a plan.
--
Dave Baker


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