Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with locks

Pick my lock, please

Thorzdad — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:31:27 -0800

Help me tear-apart, clean and reset my combination lock. I have a slightly older version of this Master lock. It's a type where you can open it up and set the combination to whatever you want. Over the years, it has become very...sticky...in its operation. So much so that it sometimes takes quite a bit of force to make it work. So, I'd like to clean the works.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the instructions on how to disassemble and re-set the combination for this lock. MasterLock's website is a marvel of non-information for this, unfortunately. I know the end cap without the hasp can be pulled-off, but I'm not about to dive into dissection until I know how to set the combination.

Anyone have good lock-fu tonight?

Lost Combination for Rather Expensive Luggage Lock

whitewall — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:59:28 -0800

I have inadvertently spun the dial and reset the combination for this lock while it was open and the shank spun out. Now I can't get it to close without the unknown new combination. Any suggestions? I've tried listening for tell-tale "clicks" to no avail; that's about where my lock breaking skills currently end.

Locking the side-door in a VW Transporter panel van?

knapah — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:33:22 -0800

Is the sliding side-door lockable on the Volkswagen Transporter? I've just rented a VW Transporter (Short wheel base panel van). Is it possible to have the side-door locked while driving the vehicle? There's no keyhole on the outside, no visible lock on the inside, and no lock button in the cab - as far as I can tell anyway.

Dealer or DIY?

longsleeves — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:18:27 -0800

What happed to the doorlock my 2003 Dodge neon? The driver's side lock just turns when I try to unlock or lock it with the the key. The key slides in as usual and will rotate a half turn either way, also as usual, but that's all. This is a purely mechanical lock with no remote. The toggle button inside will still lock/unlock the door.

What little I could google talked about a tumbler possibly being the issue and that it would only be available through a dealer. Is the dealer the only option? I'll take it in if I have to but I would prefer avoid that if possible because they tend to grossly overcharge for repair jobs of any kind.

What are some films with scenes involving locks?

emflr — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:06:03 -0800

Can you think of films with scenes in which a lock (or locker, safe, handcuffs, etc.) is prominent and integral to the plot? I am helping compile a montage of scenes involving locks (like Dial M for Murder key hiding, or Gaslight desk lock opening). Heist films, people getting out of handcuffs, locks being picked -- these things would all be helpful.

Click. Click.

Skyanth — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:25:00 -0800

What is the use of double locks? Not two separate lock, just the kind of lock that you can turn once (which locks the door) and then another time, in the same direction (which locks the door... more?). If the door is only safely locked with two turns of the key, why would you offer the option to turn it only once? And if the door is just as safely locked with only one turn of they key, why offer the option for a second turn?

I've been thinking about his for some time. The only explanation I can come up with is that one turn is not enough to push the bolt far enough to really lock the door. But that would mean that all non-double locking doors are actually not safe? Surely that's not true.

Flying the Freak Flag

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:09:10 -0800

BDSMFilter: Is a minimal amount of bondagewear acceptable in public? I'm exploring the darker side of my personality and want to be more open with myself and others. I'm considering wearing padlocked leather cuffs out and about during non-working hours (though, as my company recently underwent a lawsuit from a harassed male-to-female TG, I probably could get away with it there, too). No chain between them, just the cuffs. The rest of my dress would be my regular clothing, so this wouldn't be mistaken as a goth accessory.

I don't think anyone in LA gets fazed by anything, but is it crossing the line exposing this to the world? The ultimate goal is to meet likeminded folks without resorting to bondage.com, and I'm far to intimidated to reach out to the local BDSM meetup group. I'm 28, male, living in Los Angeles, single, and never talked with previous ladyfriends about my sub tendencies, so I've never played with others. Just keys frozen in ice.

I know the irony of posting anon about wearing gear in public, but my mom is crafty with her Google-fu. When I don't tell her enough about my life, she tries to find it out herself. But that's a whole 'nother AskMe.

Throwaway at raisingthefreakflag at gmail dot com.

Is that really necessary?

mpls2 — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:24:36 -0800

Should I take it personally if a female friend of mine locks the door whenever she uses my bathroom (and we're the only ones in my apt)? I mean, the only reason to do it would be as a precaution against me doing something nefarious, no? We've known each other for 2 years.

Where do I find multiple locks keyed to one key?

jimmyhutch — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:59:39 -0800

How or where can I obtain lock sets for doors (the handle and deadbolt combination, can't be one whole unit) that all rely on one key? We have four doors on our rental duplex currently, and we have one key that works on one of the doors. Our landlord is being very cool about retrofitting the doors with one key, but since I am home improvement savvy and he said he would pay for it, I told him I would check on prices to purchase the locks and just install them myself.

The problem is that I cannot find a set of locks - handle and deadbolt - together that all work on one key. I've looked into Kwikset's SmartKey locks, but they are WAY overpriced.

Is there a place I should be looking, or some excellent lock shop that I could order what I need? I'm in the Denver area. Perhaps I am looking for something that is unattainable - what should I be asking for?

Thanks!

How to Covert inactive locksets into active locksets?

tickettrader — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:18:44 -0800

How difficult is it to convert an 'inactive' lockset to an active lockset. I have a set of double doors that has an 'inactive lockset'. Basically it's got two sets of doorknobs that don't do anything. How difficult is it to convert these doors to an active lockset so I can close and lock these doors? They don't need to be secured like Fort Knox but it would be nice if they could be closed and locked if need be. I realize this will involve some drilling/boring as the doors are not bored for a lockset like typical doors.

Keyless door locks

BoscosMom — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:57:22 -0800

Does anyone have those door locks that use a combination instead of a key? Do you like them? Any problems? I'm considering putting touchpad front and back door locks on a rental house that I own so I'm not out $150 everytime I need to re-key the locks. Good idea or no? Any suggestions on brands or features, either to get or avoid? Do any of you have them on a rental?
I'll get one that comes with a key too so I can have access if needed but the tenants would just have the keypad.
Here's an example of what I'm looking at.
http://www.smarthome.com/5184ob.html
This seems like such a good idea for both me and my tenants, I'm hoping someone can steer me to a good one.
Thanks for your help.

What's a "decent" lock for a 13" MacBook?

vertigo25 — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:19:56 -0800

What's a "decent" lock for a 13" MacBook under around $20.00? I just bought a nice little refurbed 13" MacBook, and am in love with it. The only problem is, that if I go to the local coffee house with it and my daughter, I'm bound to have to accompany her to the potty. Last night that meant taking the laptop with us. Which meant losing my internet connection (no wifi in the potty, apparently). Which meant the stuff I was downloading got al screwed up for awhile. Granted, it's a small price to pay for keeping both kid and computer in view.

I've spent a few days researching notebook locks, and have come to realize that they are only a deterrent to thieves of opportunity. Anyone who regularly boosts laptops is going to be able to get through just about any lock you put on the thing in one way or another.

I've also come to realize that a great many of the locks out there that don't *completely* suck, don't fit properly on MacBooks. Reviews often complain of warping of the case or just out and out incompatibility.

Taking all of this into account, I've decide that I don't want to spend more than, say $20; I don't particularly want to use a keyed (especially the round keys) lock as they seem to be a little too easily picked; and I want to avoid certain combo models because they break randomly and set their combination to something other than what the user originally set.

I do, eventually plan on buying and setting up Undercover (http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/), but I don't see it a s an actual deterrent.

So... given all of this, what's my best option, here? I turn to you, Ask MeFi. You're my only help.

How to find replacement skeleton keys for old locks?

scblackman — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:56:43 -0800

How would I find skeleton keys for all of the old locks in my house? We recently purchased a 100 year-old home in Philadelphia and there are dozens of doors (bedrooms, closets, cabinets) with skeleton-key locks. Of course there are no keys, just locks. Having keys for some of these doors would be handy, but I have no idea where to start (other than calling a locksmith). Any suggestions (besides just buying a ton of old keys and hoping to get lucky)?

What to do after losing keys to safe?

suddenfrisson — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:14:54 -0800

What do I do when I lose the key to my Honeywell safe? I recently lost the keys to my own safe. It is a small Honeywell safe which requires both keypad and keys to open. All the pertinent information regarding the safe is actually inside the safe (Oh no!) Does anyone know what to do? Would a locksmith be able to open it if I have the correct passcode?

How to secure a bike on a porch?

justkevin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:43:19 -0800

How to cheaply secure a bike on an unlocked porch? My girlfriend is considering moving into an apartment where the only place to store her bike is on the back porch. The porch can't be locked (because other residents need to use it). There aren't any secure structures on the porch that the bike can be locked to.

I imagine that if we could get something sturdy onto the porch that is too unwieldy for one person to carry, we could lock it to that with a good bike lock, but I'm not sure what this object would be or where to find it (this is in Boston).

Any suggestions?

You can pick your nose, and you can pick your locks, but you can't possess lock picks in DC

ostranenie — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:26:55 -0800

Possession of lock picking tools in Washington, D.C. - for recreational purposes. Honest! I'd like to pick locks recreationally (because it's fascinating), but I'm going to Washington, D.C. where apparently even possession is considered an OMG FELONY!!1 - is there some double-secret organization I can join or a method of becoming licensed by the Locksmiths Association of America as an amateur or something? What can I show to a police officer (assuming I'm in the extremely unlikely situation of being searched) that will make him disregard my tools? Something that says: "It's okay, I'm in training!"

Or should I give up my dream? :-(

Help me protect my stuff

martinX's bellbottoms — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:35:16 -0800

How can I convince my roommate (college dorm room) in a non-awkward way that we need to lock the door? My roommate never locks the door (not when the room is empty and not when we're both asleep) and she doesn't usually carry a key, meaning that she gets locked out and annoyed with me when I try to lock the door. She seems to be convinced that no one on campus has any bad intentions ever and that locking the door and carrying a key are some huge hassle. I on the other hand, imagine and constantly worry about my laptop getting stolen and being totally fucked. I also worry (less often though) about someone creepy and/or intoxicated wandering in while I'm sleeping and being weird. I'd like to bring it up this weekend because I'm going out of town and leaving my laptop here and I don't want to be constantly wondering about it. What's something I can say to her that doesn't sound paranoid or lecturing that will convince her to start locking the door and carrying a key so I don't lock her out? (yes I've considered locking her out until she gets the message but that's passive aggressive and kind of mean)

Deadbolt lock question

sweetkid — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:53:30 -0800

My deadbolt won't lock, only sometimes, when I lock the bottom lock on the door. Can you help me troubleshoot? I tried looking at the inside of the lock where the bolt catches, but I don't really know what I am looking for in there. What happens is, I pull the bottom door shut, lock the bottom lock, and then lock the deadbolt, but it doesn't turn all the way and so the deadbolt doesn't lock. However, this only happens about half the time when I try to lock it. What could the problem be? Or am I just not thinking right? The brand appears to be kwikset. I could ask the landlord for help, but I would rather try to figure it out myself.

How do I remove a lock from a file cabinet

kanemano — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:06:27 -0800

Is there an easy way to permanently remove the locks from a steel case filing cabinet? Yesterday a fling cabinet with a missing key somehow got locked, and I was forced to spend 2 hours with Hammer, screwdriver and drill getting it open again. (calling a lock smith would have been too simple, and the price would have gone up after the first 20 minuites of me trying) This particular cabinet will never be locked again, but I can see the same scenario happening again to some other just as important cabinet.

Help me unlock my armored door

paul! — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 07:09:01 -0800

Help me get back into my apartment! Today just is not my day. I'm quite sick, I got woken up early by renovations in the apartment upstairs, and now I've managed to get locked out of my place. Here's hoping somebody can help me sort out how to get back in without spending a huge amount of cash. Please bear with me, this is a bit tricky to explain.

My apartment has what's known here in France as a "porte blindée" - literally, "armored door." It's made of metal; on the inside by the bolt there's a monster of a lock, which is attached to two long rods that push into slots in the top and bottom of the doorframe when you lock it, for extra security. On the outside of the door the only protrusion is a little circular panel with a hole for the key; there's no handle of any kind. Also, the edges of the door are blocked off to prevent wedging things in there to get leverage.

When I locked the door as I was leaving this morning, it took extra force to do that. I realized this was worrisome and I tried to reopen it, which proved to be impossible. I'm pretty sure that what happened is this: the door's taken on a slight bend/angle toward the inside, and as a result the two rods are pressed heavily against the sides of the slots, creating a resistance that prevents the key from sliding them back out. Of course normally the solution would be to pull on the door while unlocking it, but because there is just nothing to hold on to, and no way to get leverage at the sides, this isn't going to happen.

If I call a locksmith to fix this, it will certainly cost hundreds of euros, especially if he decides the lock needs replacing. This would no doubt be paid back, but I don't really have the cash and would like to avoid the hassle.

A friend cleverly suggested getting something with suction to pull on the door while turning the key; the question then is, what kind of tool is available to create strong enough suction to pull on this (more or less smooth metal) door while turning the key in the lock? Or is there some other solution I'm not seeing?

A lock that provided intermittent and limited access?

Sevenupcan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:54:18 -0800

Access Control & Electronic Lock Filter: I'm working on a project that requires a method of controlling intermittent access to a small container, can you help? I have a project that I am working on which requires a method of controlling intermittent and limited access to a small container. Its strength doesn't have to be that great, so long as it stays intact and is enough to withstand general tampering, if it breaks due to excessive force (ie a mallet or hammer) that would be ok.

In theory it's quite simple. All I need is a small pad like lock which can accept large key codes that expire after a certain number of hours after first entering the code. However making or finding a type of lock that does this is another matter.

For anyone that has experience in locks and access control could you suggest how I might go about making, or finding a lock that fits these requirements?

- - -

I'm hoping that if I could make or buy such a device I could give certain people the key code to open the device, and once they have used it for the first time it would expire after an hour or so.

I should also note that I only need one of these locks, so making a batch of locks at a cheaper price is not really an option for me.

Thank you for your time,
Kind regards,
Gavin

locked out

dydecker — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:29:41 -0800

We locked ourselves out of an apartment hotel room and the owner had to get a locksmith to open the door. Who should pay? The key was left in the door inside the room which made it impossible to open from outside so they had to get a locksmith in. The owner wants to charge us 87 euro for this but to my way of thinking it's not our responsibility, they should have a system in place which makes it impossible to lock yourself out, i.e hotel locks.

We were also trapped in the lobby for an hour waiting for someone to come and open the front door - of course we didn't have the key to get out of the building.

The girl who showed us the room didn't explain the system either. So what do you think?

Swipe locks

edgeways — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 21:55:40 -0800

Hotel keys and their locks. So I've been staying in a lot of hotels lately and everyone uses these swipe cards now. I know they are time sensistive somehow and I guess I am just seeking an overview of how the system works for curiousity sake and perhaps sercuity sake.

1. Are there internal clocks in the reciver (door mounted unit)? If so, they run on batteries?
2. Would it be hard to crack such a system. (I know it would be very unlikely to happen, but from a Noob POV it seems like only a moderatly safe system)
3. Would it be hard to disable the door lock alltogeather using a strong magnet or othe device?

Considering the level of security these places have on their WiFi I wonder about this aspect of secuity as well.

This is a question only about those locks for curiosity, I am well aware to use the secondary locks at night, and to store anything truely valuable in a different location during the day. also, this is not a question to gain knoledge to be used neferiously.

How do you get a "do not copy" key copied?

spacewrench — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 22:37:01 -0800

I live in a condo complex with a pool, and there's a key to get into the pool. Naturally, I've lost the key. The condo management wants $150 for a new one, which seems a little excessive. Unfortunately, it's a Medeco key, and from Googling around, it looks like they've done a good job of locking up the market so that people like my condo manager can jack you up. I'm sure the $150 fee discourages people from getting extra copies to give to their non-resident friends, but really, it's not like the facilities are worth driving across town to use.
Does anybody have a source for Medeco key blanks? Right now, I'm willing to try filing my own key (I can borrow one to copy).

Stupid House-sitting Mistake

lychee — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:04:23 -0800

Stupid House-sitting mistake: I've locked myself out of my friends' house that I'm looking after for the next two weeks. I think I've exhausted all avenues of possible help and am planning on going in through a window tonight. Is there anything I can do today to prepare or any precautions I need to take, in regards to safety, lawfulness, property damage, etc.? (MI) I feel horrible about this, as I can't help but think that I've let these people down, but there's no point in beating myself up about it til I'm back inside the house. The couple and their family are abroad and/or unreachable, and none of their friends in town have any information that can help. Calls to the locksmith, alarm company, and non-emergency police have been fruitless, as I need written proof that I can access their house, which I do not have. There are pets inside the house, as well as ALL my ID, cash, and keys. I'm going to go in through a back window tonight, but is there anything I'm overlooking today? What should I expect if the cops are called? I'm planning on explaining the situation to the neighbors before I do anything, but who knows if they'll believe me.