Anyone know how to assemble a lock?

SugarShane88

Hi there,

Basically, I have removed the lock on my front door because it was giving me gyp. However, I got a little too screwdriver-friendly and screwed open Pandora's box as I cannot re-assemble the lock.

It's quite important I get this sorted because, as it stands, my house is a mecca for every knacker in Dublin if they were to know my home was this vulnerable to burglaries.

I now realise what a great, yet underrated this invention is, because the mechanics of it are extremely tricky.

Any help at all would be great. Thanks.

rickmoister

To be honest the looking at the picture it looks like some of the parts are worn:(. You would be better off getting a new lock,:( sorry.

dodzy

The middle part lookd fecked. That said, there are only 3 pieces. It looks easy enough. Better off replacing it.

mathepac

I vote "Replace" too.

JustAThought

mathepac wrote: »

I vote "Replace" too.

I was asking about replacing the barrel of my lock the other day - my local friendly key cutting guy knew all about them . Try taking it to one of them & asking - he should be able to help. Hopefully you have someone to gaurd the house while you're down asking!

SugarShane88

I took it to Woodies and the bloke picked out a suitable, Union lock with identical dimensions - but it cost €85, so f*ck that.

I managed to get it semi-working. I mean, nobody can get it in, but if you want to leave house with nobody inside you'll have to stand on a second-storey windowsill and absail down the wall because the front door won't close from the outside.

Nobody knows how to assemble it properly; I took it to a key-cutter and owners of separate hardware shops and they were nonplussed by the mechanics of it. I'll take it to a lock smith to put it together properly because it's not broken so no point spending nearly €100 quid on replacing it.

martinr5232

SugarShane88 wrote: »

I took it to Woodies and the bloke picked out a suitable, Union lock with identical dimensions - but it cost €85, so f*ck that.

I managed to get it semi-working. I mean, nobody can get it in, but if you want to leave house with nobody inside you'll have to stand on a second-storey windowsill and absail down the wall because the front door won't close from the outside.

Nobody knows how to assemble it properly; I took it to a key-cutter and owners of separate hardware shops and they were nonplussed by the mechanics of it. I'll take it to a lock smith to put it together properly because it's not broken so no point spending nearly €100 quid on replacing it.

Looks fairly broken to me :-)

A locksmith is not going to be too cheap to put it together either and will probobly try and sell you a lock anyway.

Try a hardware store other than woodies you would pick one up cheaper.

Gosub

That should go together easily enough. The middle bit needs to have the bar pulled back against the spring. Then it goes over the T shaped bit in the left picture, which makes it slide back when turned. The rest should be fairly obvious from there.

If I had it in my hand it would be back together in 2 minutes, but I'm 1500 miles away.

SugarShane88

I have to add pictures because I don't know the terminology, but yes I got that far with the middle bit from the first pic.

In this picture, the part to the left of the black yoke twists and the metal bit to the right moves in and out, enabling me to open and close the front door.

However, the part on the left twists irregularly. You have to close the front door and then twist it to lock it. I couldn't, for example, slam the front door if I was angry about something. I suppose if I got that far, which was a big improvement, I can continue playing around with it before I take it to a lock smith in a bid to see if I can get it right again.

Gosub

SugarShane88 wrote: »

I have to add pictures because I don't know the terminology, but yes I got that far with the middle bit from the first pic.

In this picture, the part to the left of the black yoke twists and the metal bit to the right moves in and out, enabling me to open and close the front door.

However, the part on the left twists irregularly. You have to close the front door and then twist it to lock it. I couldn't, for example, slam the front door if I was angry about something. I suppose if I got that far, which was a big improvement, I can continue playing around with it before I take it to a lock smith in a bid to see if I can get it right again.

OK from that picture, you've got the T thingy wrong way round. Turn the whole thing 180. Make sure the bit with the spring on it is the right way round too. It needs the angled face towards the outside, assuming that the door opens inward.

When assembled correctly, the bit with the spring should slide in and out smoothly when pushed. It should also slide in and out when you turn the handle.

dhog4n

Once you have it correctly assembled, grease the mechanism or lubricate it with a bit of oil. You'll be amazed how much that will free it up.

You can pick up a night latch for anything from 25 quid up but a perfect match to yours will be around the price you were quoted. A cheaper one will fit the lock but may need a but of effort to get sitting right on the door.

biko

Bring it in to a local locksmith, they'll assemble it cheap for you.