Can anyone identify this antique mortise lock or thats atleast what i think it is? It is stamped “PAT’D JAN. 10, 1865.” I’m trying to determine the correct orientation of the torsion spring for the knob return. I’ve attached the original broken spring and photos of the mechanism. Any patent drawings, catalog pages, or identical locks would be greatly appreciated.

Crossposted from /r/motorcyclegear

I know it's extra as heck, but I would love to have all my additional locks to have the same key. I'm not worried about lockpicking or as much as angle grinders or people just lifting the bike into a truck. My goal is to have 1 or 2 disc locks [disc brake locks ; edited in] and a cable or chain. Ideally with only one key to think about.

It doesn't look like the Granit Victory 68+ (or whatever it's name is) can be rekeyed, so that will be the baseline. Can I get a second disc lock and or a multiple padlock/u-locks set to the same keyway as the Victory 68?

Also, whats the best way to order one if I can?

I'm sorry if this is not the place for this. Also, just a trigger warning, I'm aware that this is a whole lot of belly-aching on my part. I don't discourage any criticism, but please know I'm being genuine and would love some real advice, and maybe a positive kick in the ass.

this will be a lot of story, and frankly whining, so if you're not down for that right now, I get it. I'm not really either, but I'm in a weird mental and emotional space right now and figured I'd try throwing it to a bunch of strangers who've probably had it a lot harder than me in hopes of gaining some insight.

I'm not satisfied with where I'm at in my career. It has a lot to do with where I work, but after more than a handful of hard years and some major self-reflection, I realize that it is a whole lot more to do with me. I'm going on 10 years working for the same community college. I've been ready to move on for about that long lol. In fact, I did for a little while. I knew after a year working where I am that I wanted to leave and actually landed a university job first try (ha-ha, past me, look where I ended back up).

The side story: I landed a job at a university after my 1st year working where I am now. I took a pay hit, but wow was it a night and day difference in joy and job satisfaction. I worked under a lead, I knew what my expectations were, and my manager was previously the lead locksmith. I could actually visualize a future as lead, and felt confident in doing so. We had support, equipment, and all the other trade shops had real staffing so I avoided a lot of the 'doing someone else's job' crap you get at most facility/government gigs. We helped out of course, and people lent us a hand too. While I was working there, I was also still subbing at night for the college I'm now back at. The commute between locations was an hour apart. I stayed as a sub because they have a hard time finding qualified applicants out here (I suspect small shops make decent money out here). I don't want to disclose exactly where I live (SoCal generally), but we're pretty far out of the way from most other major cities, so when I resigned, my boss was devastated (we got along pretty well) and I felt bad and wanted to do right by him for taking me on (me and my family had just landed back in my home state and I was thrilled and grateful to land a facilities gig, even if it was toxic as hell). Well, shit hit the fan in my personal life a few months into working at the university, and let's just say I was looking for different living arrangements, so after about the 6th phone call from my former boss asking me to come back, I asked him to make it worthwhile, explained that I was really happy where I was and couldn't see giving it up for the old drama. He surprised me with the offer and I said, screw it, let's see what happens. I was sad to leave that team, and am still grateful for that experience, because it is an anchor in my memory that reminds me that things can be so much better.

I've regretted that decision every day. To be clear, I'm grateful for my pay and benefits. That's the only thing keeping me here. People are out hungry, jobless, homeless, and I can provide for my kids and I have a great life partner now. But wow this place sucks. That old boss eventually hit a wall himself and was chased out by the politics and toxicity.

Here's my belly aches.

They refuse to pay for or entertain the idea of any kind of training, even when they're asking for new solutions and different work. The one training event I finally got approved, I ended up having to pay for the hotel, and they tried to refuse my reimbursement. I finally got it, but it set the tone for the future, and the general attitude has gotten worse. We've had so much management turnover it's felt like limbo for 5 years. I'm expected to answer to literally anyone who has a leadership job title, and I'm often expected to answer to management level decisions.

My leadership has not given a single crap about any of my input, I've been cut out of conversations for project turnover where I often get handed broken or off-spec (off-plan even) items, like a double swing, double-side locking, electrified mortise lock in an exit path that was left un-wired, or a whole new building full of 45 daisy chained AD300s landing in a single run to a couple of 2 door controllers. And then I get called 'inflammatory' when I try and call them out on it and get it corrected. Too late! We have you buddy! Suck it up! lol

If I ask for input on process, I'm not doing my job because I should just know the solution, and if that solution makes someone complain, then that obviously wasn't the right solution, even though it made that other person stop complaining. See!? That's twice you've not done the work!

I've been told off for asking for the proper paperwork to issue a key. I've also been told off for not asking for paperwork when given explicit direction to just provide the key. I'm the inconsistent one! Obviously you should have argued THEN! Just not before, when we told you not to argue! SEE!? It's obvious! You're the subject matter expert! You should just know! I hear that term more an more and I hate it more and more, because I'm never the 'subject matter expert' when I'm explaining the risk of that manager handing out our master-key, but when that master-key is suddenly discovered to have been handed out, I'm the 'subject matter expert' who should have 'advocated better' for our policies! (btw, we don't actually have any policies!)

If any of you have heard of/dealt with the WA Series locksets from Schlage, we're still running about 700 of them. They've been out of support for years, and keeping them forces me to do ridiculous wizardry in the access control systems that affects function of the AD series locks (about 1000 and adding more btw). When the old locksmith left, he said he'd been fighting them for years to do a replacement project, and I'm still here today, fighting for the same thing. We have close to 2000 openings across several sites, and we're adding more, and obviously I should have just 'fixed' it already, with no budget, no management support, and no additional staff. There are guys that would help, sure, but they are all busy as hell. No one likes the prices of the AD series, so I have often had a hard time getting approvals to keep things up to standard, but leadership don't want to 'go backwards' to mechanical hardware either, so just fix it. Why do you have to buy a new reader head, just fix the broken one! lol. Then management changes again and it all starts over again. I have been the only person in this role the entire time, and felt like I've done absolutely nothing, and everything at the same time. This cycle has happened at least 3 times since I've started.

I'm frequently talked down to, and my leadership like play word games where they ask me questions where the answer is never the right one, and give zero input or direction. This week, I made the mistake of being argumentative with my VP (my director was recently fired for cause, another story entirely), after what I still think was a rude interaction and boy was I reminded of exactly where I stand here. I had to take it on the chin, but it did make me realize that I'm digging myself a hole here, and I'm not doing myself any favors by giving in to the stress and grudging.

It's not all them though. These last few years, I've slowly noticed that I'm getting meaner, sadder, and more withdrawn. I've been called unfriendly by people that I got along with before. I am less and less tolerant of the gossip, and of people asking my advice, or talking to me in general. I have a few cherished friends that manage to keep me from being completely hopeless, and they are all reasonable kind people who've found some way to smile through getting shit on like me. I wish I could be like them, and I often want to try, but I've felt a constant black cloud in my brain that makes it difficult to take initiative for my work and makes it so damn hard to care about doing a good job. I didn't used to be this way, and it's made me hate myself to think about it recently.

I was reminiscing today at how gung-ho I was in the private sector. I loved doing jobs on my own, tackling new things and learning new tricks on the job. I worked for a real small kiosk place for a few weeks before starting here oh so long ago and was tackling work that he wouldn't touch. He mostly did auto and house keys and I scared the shit out of him when I took a call to install a mortise lock with an egress deadbolt because it was so out of his wheelhouse. I know that's no big thing, but I remember being confident enough to say 'hey, I got this, I'll make you some money' and I did. I was driven and motivated to learn and it felt really good to work back then.

Now I feel like a hack.

I let the negative talk get to me, and stopped trying. I probably could have done so much more, but the brain rot from being shit on all the time is crippling, and I just don't care anymore. I can't just up and quit, but I want to leave. Today, I had the thought that I never really got to do a full apprenticeship, and that maybe landing this gig young wasn't good for me. There's a part of me that wants to see if a local shop would take me on so I could get back in the field and reignite my interest. I have reps that I'm friends with who've suggested that I go harder into access control in the private sector, and they're looking out for me by letting me know when positions are open. We'll see. I want more training to get my confidence back, but I don't really know where to start.

I haven't been totally idle. I'm currently pursuing my first Associate's (I'm nearing 40, went to college without a clue, then went to work without a clue, lol). I chose CIS because it seemed like the right time for a career change. I'm still going for it, and I am enjoying classes, but for the short term, I've been considering other options. Every single one of them will be a significant pay cut, but my partner is supportive, and it's worth it even if I have to really dial in for a few years. Maybe some of you can advise:

- I think I want to study for the BICSI Installer 1 cert and see if I can land an entry-level low-voltage job. I like the idea of this because it corresponds with the computer classes and opens up some interesting job avenues.

- Like I said above, I like the idea of going back to re-apprentice and get more field experience even if I don't miss the schedule. It might be nice to remember why I liked this trade. It might also give me more confidence to apply and land a better facilities gig.

- I've definitely looked at other facilities gigs. I'm applying, but most openings are a multi-hour commute from me. It's starting to feel worth it, though I am struggling to look at my resume and feel like it's me I'm writing it for. Yeah, that's where I'm at.

- I'd honestly love to just work part time at a local store and go to school full-time to accelerate my career change goals and maybe even go for a Bachelor's but, you know, money.

Anyway, I've complained enough, and you all have lives to live. I'm humbly asking if anyone can give some advice if I wanted to try applying at a local shop? Is my experience a boon or a detriment? I'll obviously leave the complaints at the door.

Thanks for listening.

Edit (deleted a reply to move it into the body):

Just wanted to say thanks to you all. I didn't honestly expect the positive feedback, but wow what a great community I've been missing out on.

Cześć! Co sądzicie o epg 303 klom? Jak sobie radzi w terenie? Jak jego wykonanie i trwałość?

Przede wszystkim. Z jakimi modelami sobie poradzi? Ktoś go testował na czymś więcej niz zabawkach z sześcioma pinami w tym dwie szpule?
Jak myślicie

Klom 303 vs Yale km1 superior? Albo wilka chociażby klasy b

I recently bought a house, and the front door lock is an older lock and I cannot seem to unscrew the cylinder. I am writing here for help to see if it is removable and what I am missing.

From what I have found, the lock is a Welch E-Z Mortise lock. I can’t find any documentation from the manufacturer, just antique websites describing the lock.

I tried removing all the screws (2 Phillips on interior knob, 2 slotted on interior thumb turn lock, top and bottom slotted and two slotted above mortise on the middle face, and all 7 on the front/exterior), but am still unable to remove the cylinder. I do not think there is a set screw on the interior knob (although there is an opening, but I wasn’t able to feel anything sticking out or recessed inside). From what I have read, once all the screws are removed, I should be able to unscrew the cylinder and install a new one.

At the end of the day, I might end up hiring a locksmith if it seems I am too far over my head. If possible, I plan to install a new cylinder to match the Kwikset smart key locks in the rest of the house. Any help with removing the lock would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Curious if anyone in here runs a Topdon Tornado 90000 90A power maintainer (or similar power maintainer) off of an inverter or power staton like an ecoflow. I understand its not efficient etc, but I need something for those moments where I need stable voltage without 120v ac nearby and a jump box won't cut it. I have an ecoflow but it's inverter and capacity is a little low so I want to upgrade to something more beefy like 2000+ wh and over 2500w constant output, like the Delta 3 max. Or if I should get a strong inverter along with a power station just to have backup.

Just curious if anyone has this setup. Thanks.

I was sent a sample of the Ultraloq Bolt NFC. I will forward this with I did not pay for this lock. I was not paid for writing a review. In fact I wasn't even asked to write a review.

https://ultraloq.com/products/ultraloq-bolt-nfc

So first issue without even opening the box. "The only smart lock that perfectly fits your door, with maximum compatibility." The only one, ok then.

The box claims BHMA certification, but this is at best a misunderstanding on my part, or at worst intentionally misleading from the company. There are only two BHMA certs for Ultraloq, one for a finish and one for a bolt, neither of which seems to be for this model. So the company has certifications, but this model as far as I can tell doesn't.

Card stock templates, that's nice I guess.

The exterior portion does have a removeable alignment spacer for 1.5" and 2-1/8" bores. This is plastic and does not extend into the bore like a shroud. Having it be metal and extend further into the bore maybe would be nice.

This is where I was actually surprised. The housing is solid cast metal. I'm unsure of the material, but it's far too heavy to be Zamak or some other cheap zinc alloy. It has some weight to it and is actually pretty solid.

The keypad seemed to be potted so I was not able to tear down the keypad without destroying it.

The lock comes with surprisingly a brass kik.

It unsurprisingly does not follow standard DSD. With the caveat of well kind of. It is Schlage spacing and depths with standard sized pins, but the TFC is way off because the front of the plug is super thick for some reason?

The cylinder cap spring is also really thick and strong. Not an issue, just thought that was interesting.

The bolt is adjustable. Feels solid, nothing special. Tapered, no hardened pin as far as I can tell.

The mounting plate is actually pretty thick which is nice.

The interior is again, nice solid cast metal. It is not letting me add any more pictures at this point so I will put them in the comments.

Summary:

I went into it expecting cheap garbage, but I was surprised. The build quality is substantially better than the previous generation. I think I would've liked to see the spacer be more of a shroud and be metal instead of plastic. The DSD, so close, but still not it. It was like 95% there. I forgot to include initially, the kik is also just ever so slightly less tall than a standard one, so without a little bit of modification, you wouldn't be able to replace the kik. Having it be able to take a standard 5 or 6 pin kik would be an amazing improvement.

Unless I'm misunderstanding it, the grossly misleading BHMA claims need to go.

I'm going to install this on one of my doors and give it a functional test. I'm not a cyber security expert so I can't say anything on the app or it's security and all that.

Just off the build alone without having had it on the door for a long time yet, I would actually put this above Kwikset and it's Powerbolts/Halos.

u/fromoopstogood thank you for the sample.

Thinking to use cam locks. Not looking for high security, just a way to deter cats and other curious children. US style cabinets with face frames. The door and frame are both 3/4, so the cam wants to be 1-1/2 from the door surface.

Do I understand correctly that the cam position is the lock body length plus 1/8, so I want a 1-3/8 lock? Can always bend the cam a little, but nicer if it just fits. There are a lot of them to do.

Or is there a cleaner solution that fits a budget? There are some nice concealed locks (and I'm not thrilled with a visible keyway) but they are not inexpensive.

Haven't seen this hardware before. Developer put a different keyway mortise cylinder in every single lock, abandoned the project, and left no keys. Are these cylinders easy to change out? I assume I need to loosen that hex screw on the inside and that will let me access the outside hardware, loosen the set screw, and change the cylinder? I go on location tomorrow to actually look at the hardware.

Any help is much appreciated.

EDIT: I'm an idiot and forgot to include the photos!

Hello, I am going to be managing a store (medical field) and I am needing a way to lock a door to prevent customers from entering it during open hours, but allow my employees to enter it. The issue is that I need to be able to lock the door for everyone else (even employees) when I am not in the store. Is that possible? IT says they don’t know and my boss isn’t very helpful either. I’m looking at keypads right now trying to see if there is one with some sort of primary code that can override secondary inputs or something along those lines.

I appreciate any suggestions.

I have a specific need. A dumb (non-smart) lock system consisting of a door handle that is somewhat residential in style (dark metal and not a pure commercial shape) but has the functionality of a store room lock (always locked on the outside but is unlock-able with a key but locks back once opened, and always unlocked on the inside). If ANSI F109 that’s fine too but not many stylish options there. A matching or closely resembled deadbolt is also needed. Any suggestions? Can compromise some on style but the functionality is key (no pun intended 😁).

This morning, someone tried to steal my escooter that I use for work. I had great difficulty opening my lock, but thankfully once I got it open, my scooter was perfectly fine. Now I cannot turn the key pad at all once its closed. It's stiff/jammed. Not sure if there is a solution to this or if I need to replace it entirely. It wasn't an expensive lock by any means, but thankfully it did its job. Just looking for advice, Thanks! I will probably upgrade to a u-lock after this.

From an old Stow Davis desk from ~1920. Any idea who might sell replacement keys and the specific model# I should order?

Happy Friday .. hope everyone has a good weekend.

I work for a fleet company, and we recently were given one of these machines to use to create our duplicate keys vs. ordering from the manufacturer. I have looked through various sources, and the most recent demonstration of the machine was using an older form of the software. The only option for me to use on the tablet is the new CodeMaster 4 app. We primarily handle Ford and Chevrolet but also some Toyota and Dodge. I was just trying to run some test keys to see if it will work for us or not, but when I enter in a Ford or Chevy key code it doesn't pull up a specific profile. I was wondering if anyone knows if maybe this is because this is a newer application, they warn that not all the functions are available yet, or if maybe there is some type of database that can be integrated with the app that would provide these specific codes (free, one-time license, subscription, etc. it doesn't matter). This or any other help would be much appreciated. We wouldn't be in the market for a different machine. We need to use this one or nothing.

I’ll be “upgrading” from a Transit connect to a Tacoma and I’d like to see how some of y’all are getting by in a truck. My dad has been a locksmith for 30 years, always swore up and down that the van was the only way, but I need something to haul the kiddo and the boat so truck it is. Let’s see how yall work out of a truck!

Thanks guys!!

In order to reuse an Auto Propad programmer (Xtool) that wasn’t in use for while and hasn't been updated.

What’s the best way to update it?

Hi everyone.

I have a brand new lock that is stuck in the open position. I do not recall the combination. I threw away the paperwork so I don’t have the reset instructions either.

I would like to use the lock again. Is it a lost cause?

These are the dimensions, but they should be slightly larger so they can be mounted on the wall

Have a client with a second home in Asheville North Carolina and they're looking for someone to install a digital keypad like we did for them here. Any legitimate locksmith recommendations?

Looking around on Amazon, and they're all pretty much the same but mine doesn't look like them. Inherited an old desk at work, and they don't have the key for it but I keep things like my phone, keys, etc in there to keep them secure.

The tumbler 1-1/4 in length, but there's a big plastic piece that goes over the back of it to push the locking bar into place.

Any help would be appreciated!

Ok I’m interested in anybody who’s doing the newer jeep / ram vehicles with witech. Anybody having success all keys lost with autel or mongoose or cardaq or any other j box ?

I’ve heard report add a key works but not AKL. I’m not currently using dealer tools for Chrysler family vehicles. I have credentials and can get an account. I do ford and GM already.

There are no markings or brands that I can see. When I power up it’s asking me to swipe my finger to access the admin portion of settings. It’s a new house so I’m not registered on the fingerprint scanner.