This was easier in Skyrim.

April 22, 2012 7:53 AM

I've lost a key to an old cabinet and I need to get it open, preferably without destroying anything.

I locked some things away in this cabinet before going on a trip and now I can't find the key for the life of me. A friend of mine told me to get a lock picking set which I did, but it seems pretty useless since the lock is not a barrel lock. Does anyone have an idea about how I can get back into this thing short of prying open the door?

posted by metsauce to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

locksmith
posted by pearlybob at 7:58 AM on April 22, 2012

This is one of the things that locksmiths do. When I bought a vintage cabinet (locked) I eventually called a locksmith, and it was not ruinously expensive.

Maybe wait till tomorrow to avoid paying extra for a trip out on Sunday.
posted by purpleclover at 8:00 AM on April 22, 2012

Most of those old furniture locks are very simple, a lock smith probably has a replacement key.
posted by octothorpe at 8:09 AM on April 22, 2012

A locksmith isn't a bad idea. That's known as a lever lock, if you wanted to further research your options through Google or YouTube. Good luck!
posted by empyrean at 8:13 AM on April 22, 2012

You can buy skeleton keys at Home Depot, if it's that the kind of key it was.
posted by kimdog at 8:30 AM on April 22, 2012

That keyhole looks exactly like one on my cabinet, which has an absurdly simple key. It's meant to keep kiddies out, not deter thieves, so I'd bet any key from a similar cabinet would work. If you're in San Francisco, you can borrow mine! Any friends have similar furniture? Maybe a vintage/antique furniture store would rent you a key for an hour?
posted by Quietgal at 9:09 AM on April 22, 2012

did you look in all the pockets of your luggage?...like, did you bring the key with you?
posted by sexyrobot at 10:11 AM on April 22, 2012

Just buy a ton of lockpicks and keep trying til you level up enough....alternatively, call a locksmith.
posted by no bueno at 8:10 PM on April 22, 2012

That's a very basic lock. I suspect that a hardware store might be able to sell you a range of keys that "might" work. They may even accept the return of the ones that don't.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:48 AM on April 23, 2012

Thanks for the responses and those that helped me figure out that it was a key in the losest sense of the term. I went to a vintage furniture store and was given three old keys, one worked.

Cabinet opened, evil locksmith avoided many thanks.
posted by metsauce at 2:10 PM on April 24, 2012