Help me think through this furniture hack?

December 30, 2015 7:47 AM

I want a small file cabinet with a numeric keypad or fingerprint lock rather than a key.

Here's the kind of file cabinet I'm picturing. I'm envisioning the lock on top, rather than on the front of a drawer, and it would lock/unlock all three drawers at once.

Can I just bring that cabinet to a locksmith and explain what I want? Has anyone seen something like this / are there locks made for it, or is it a purely custom job? How much should I expect it to cost?

posted by neat graffitist to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Response by poster: (and of course, if such a thing already exists, even better, but couldn't find anything like it)
posted by neat graffitist at 7:53 AM on December 30, 2015

What is the problem you are trying to solve with this lock? Trying to have a biometric or electronic keypad sounds like overkill for the purpose and introduces additional points of failure. Would a mechanical combination lock be fine? Searching for "file cabinet combination lock" will turn up a number of them.
posted by Candleman at 8:27 AM on December 30, 2015

Response by poster: Combo lock takes too long to open. Don't want to carry an extra key around.

Basically I just want something I can treat as a normal filing cabinet, but no one else can open it. Don't want to have to remember whether I locked it or not, it's always locked by default. Like my phone.
posted by neat graffitist at 10:17 AM on December 30, 2015

http://www.nokey.com/elkecalo.html - does that look like what you're after?

It doesn't look like there's a lot of products designed that provide the lock and the cabinet together, so I'd just all a locksmith and see what they recommend.
posted by Candleman at 10:48 AM on December 30, 2015

Fireking makes exactly what you want but they're really expensive, upt to a couple thousand USD new.

Could you just use a large safe, big enough for a filebox with a keypad? They can be had much more cheaply.
posted by bonehead at 11:16 AM on December 30, 2015

A typical example of a document safe, for example (and not an endorsement of that particular model or manufacturer).
posted by bonehead at 11:21 AM on December 30, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks but really don't want a safe or those big Fireking cabinets, I want something that looks more or less like what I linked to. Browsing some more it seems like this or this would get me halfway there, but what kind of internal mechanism do they connect to and where to buy that?
posted by neat graffitist at 11:32 AM on December 30, 2015

Best answer: These cam locks from Lee Valley would do the job. You might need one for each drawer though depending on how the lock bar is configured internally but they are designed to fit the 3/4x5/8 oval lock hole.

Looks like they might be Combi-Cams (Amazon) who also have a electric key pad style.
posted by Mitheral at 7:40 PM on December 30, 2015

Best answer: Installation in a wood cabinet is a simple matter of drilling a hole and possibly screwing on a catch for the cam to engage with. Locksmith or cabinet maker is probably a good bet. Shouldn't take much more than a hour to install even if they need to install three. Or if you know anyone with a drill press (needed for the Forster bit that is the best bet for getting a nice clean hole).
posted by Mitheral at 7:49 PM on December 30, 2015

Best answer: I've done this with a kitchen drawer, and it would be equally easy to do with a cabinet. I used a digital keypad and a 12v cabinet lock. Works perfect. Very reliable and very quick.
posted by dance at 3:12 AM on December 31, 2015 [1 favorite]