Rape of the Lock(s)

So many locks, so little time.

As I mentioned in this post, I'm trying scrounge up enough working, salvaged hardware to put proper doorknobs et cetera on the Devil Queen's doors. Again, here is the space I'm trying to fill.


If I can find locks and knobs that match this profile, I will save my self a ton of work. No modifications or additional work should be needed. I can simply (what a misleading word!) install the new hardware and voila.

Here is our first contender, a hardware set salvage from the Davis House in Atkins.

This set was immediately disqualified for use in the hallway because it is the wrong size. It isn't wide enough and it is too tall. However, since we used doors salvaged from the Davis House for the master bathroom, laundry room, pantry, and my son's closet, I thought we might be able to use it in one of those locations. I decided to look at its guts which is simple enough. Only one screw holds these locks together, and it is easy remove. Here is what I found after I cleaned out the dead Brown Recluse spiders.

Here is the lock with the dead bolt removed.

And, a closer look reveals that the spring (a band of tempered iron or steel) is broken in half. You might be able to make a replacement spring. I vaguely remember an eighth grade science experiment where we tempered a soft strip of steel (similar in size and shape to this spring) in a Bunsen Burner. You'd super-heat the steel in the burner flame and then plunge it into cold water. The rapid cooling changed the physical properties of the steel and made it stronger. This meant that if bent it would spring back to its original position.

In any case, the set can still be used for a door that you do not want locked, the pantry or closet perhaps?

And here are two photos of the latch. I was going to go into how to reverse the latch to accommodate either left or right opening doors. However, this latch can only face in one direct, so that tangent will have to wait until later. In case you're wondering locks two and three can be reversed, but that will be a different post perhaps.

Our second lock is this one.

This lock is from my mother-in-law's stash. I was very excited with this one because it is same size as our missing locks. However, I was disappointed to find that the deadbolt mechanism is broken. I'm not sure if it is missing a piece or the deadbolt is bent or misaligned. When I opened the lock, the deadbolt was shoved all the way into the lock. Once I freed the bolt from its jammed position, I encountered a second problem; the "tab" on the underside of the deadbolt, which catches on the key to lock/unlock the bolt, hangs down into the key hole. It is positioned in such a way that you can't fit a key into the hole. No amount of fumbling with the bolt solved the problem. Either it was jammed into place or it blocked the hole.

I suppose I can still use this lockset for the living room if I cram the bolt back into the jammed position. I mean, I can't think of any particular reason I'd need to lock myself in my living room. Unless the Gestapo is after me. And, if they were, do you think a rim lock is going to stop them? Doubt it.

So, this lock is rated as a maybe. Not my first choice, but I'll use it if I must.

And, here is the third lock.

Again, this lock is a perfect match to our missing ones.

To make it even sweeter, this poor lock's ugly face conceals a fully functional mechanism. And, in addition to the key operated deadbolt, it has a second, smaller deadbolt that is manually operated with a switch on the lock's underside. So, if you really want to be left alone, this is the lock for you. No sneaky rat-bastard is going to get in just because he can pick your lock. He'll have kick the damn door down. Needless to say, this lock is going on the master bedroom door. I like my privacy.

They only thing that I don't like about this lock is that it has the same spring-strip mechanisms that the first, broken lock had. I'm afraid that with use, this lock will break too.

At this point in the evening, I was running out of time so our misadventure must come to an end for now. Besides, how many rim locks do you really want to see disassembled?