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Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:32 am
by danischi24
I live on a farm hours from the nearest town or smith & I lost the single key I have for the house. Boss says it was the only one. He flooded the dyke I think it fell in, so it's a dead loss :-(
I'm using a side door that doesn't lock from the outside, which is a pain (being a woman alone in a remote farm house) & I don't want to break the door or pay time & travel to have it picked, so I figured that I would ask here, as searching didn't do me any good, not knowing what kind of lock it is (apart from ancient). I don't want to buy tools for this once off journey into picking locks, so something I can fashion at home would be swell. Also, the idiots who put the lock on, put it upside down, which makes my life even more miserable, trying to figure out how to get the evil thing open :-(
Please help a Noobie.
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Re: Help-lost key makes a sad dweller.

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:13 am
by Josephus
Let's figure this out together.

1. You lost the only key to a door.
2. You do not want to pay a locksmith.
3. You don't want to buy tools.
4. You want strangers to help you out of this for free.

As a not-so-critical path aside, you appealed to your audience, 'being a woman', being remote, and called the people that installed the lock idiots even though you do not even know what kind it is. As a rhetorical question, how do you know that it is installed wrong if you do not know what it is?

Okay fine. I'll do my most best. See those screws, take them out, take the pate off, and see if you can take the lock out as is. If not, take the door off it's hinges, then take the lock off. Either way I reckon you will not like the next step of replacing the lock given #2 and #3. Alternatively, you could find a chunk of brass in similar size and shape to the key, soot it, and take a file to it in the usual manner of impressing. I will not describe it as I expect you do not want to do that either as it is a long shot for someone doing it the first time and given #4. Likewise, picking it is a long-shot. Finally, why is this a big deal when you are two hours away from anything and the place can be locked up from the inside anyway?

So yeah, I can't find a solution that provides everything you want. The next best is to do nothing, followed by the option of replacing the lock.

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:23 am
by jharveee
Hello.
I see screws. Have you tried to disassemble and remove the lock? My thinking is if you removed the lock it would be easy to take it to a locksmith to have a key made.
Beyond that bit of advice I'd be guessing.

best of luck. :smile:

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:28 am
by xeo
Welcome to Keypicking!

The pictures you posted are quite horrifying. It disturbed what would have been an otherwise peaceful breakfast. What looks like an innocuous door is certaily fraught with demons. All I wanted to do was eat my banana bread breakfast bar in peace and I kept shuddering at the dark evil rusted keyway bottomless pit of hell. Whatever you do, do NOT put one of your eyeballs up close to peer inside. Leave that to a professional locksmithorcist. Josephus seems to have given you solid advice so I would run with that. The only thing I would add in addition is that you acquire a feline device of some kind to sit and stand guard while you sleep.

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:26 am
by Violaetor
You are in a remote area, presumably that doesn't have any nearby or hostile residents, so you probably don't need to lock your door when you are absent. Correct? When you are inside with access from the side door, which you CAN lock from the inside, you would be safe when all the ghouls come out at night. Correct? So aside from waiting until you go into town next or get a handyman to swing by and install a new lock on ANY accessible door, I don't see the need for any urgency.

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:18 am
by MrWizard
Hi

Since you say you are now using a sliding door to get in and out and don't want to pay to have someone come out to pick it clearly this door you lost the key to is LOCKED and cannot take the lock out of the door in order to take it to a locksmith.

What I would do if I was you is go to town and tell the locksmith you have a skeleton key style mortise lock that is locked and would like to try a standard cheap replacement skeleton key to try to get it open. Take the pictures you posted with you if you can.

Luckyline company and others make simple generic master key type replacements skeleton keys sold in sets of 2 usually. They will work on many of these type locks but not all. They are thin and not strong so applying a lot of turning pressure in a lock they will not work on they can break the tip off so care must be taken when trying them.

The thing that is common to happen with these replacement keys is they are thin so they can be able to fit into many different locks which makes them also be able to go all the way through the lock and out the other side. The idea you want to do is insert it and feel for the the middle of the lock by turning it a little until you feel it turn. If it turns only about half way and will not easily turn all the way to unlock the door DO NOT FORCE IT as it will likely break in the lock.

They look like this one on link below here:

http://www.amazon.com/Skeleton-Keys-Notch-Tip-2-pack/dp/B001KACZVQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=100WBJ0GNBJX501FM91X

Generic Skeleton Key.jpg



You can get these simple replacement keys online many places just use google you will find them.

Ebay has a ton of all kinds of skeleton keys but to find one that for sure will work is a crap shoot.

Other option if are capable or you have a man around to help is drive the hinge pins out take the door out of the frame then you can remove the handle with the square spindle so you can remove the lock from the door then take it to the locksmith.

So go get the cheap replacement skeleton keys at the locksmith or buy them online and try them before you do anything else.

Richard

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:45 am
by Josephus
I am sorry for being mean, I just happen to be studying for a philosophy exam and that sort of rigorous mindset is mandatory. I also agree that, regardless of brand, feline security appliances are ideal as no evil eye has ever bested one in a staring contest.

Flinus stareatus.jpg

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 10:47 am
by jones
I think You should call one of the guys who provides free lockout assistance, those guys love to help out and they work for the right price too!

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:51 pm
by danischi24
Thanks for the advice guys. It's not urgent, it's already been 2 weeks since it happened & I have a dog to guard. It would just be nice to be able to access the front of the house again as the side door is rather awkward. The front lock looks to have been installed by a farmer-the entire thing is upside down & one has to turn it locked to open it & unlocked to lock it. There are a few shifty characters floating around here every so often & I worry for my laptop etc when I'm not home. It's 3 hours to the nearest small town so it's not practical to hire a smith & buying expensive lock picking tools for one job seems overkill. The door is locked, so as far as I know, I can't take the lock out, though I did take the plate off one side as seen in the pic. Thanks for being so helpful MrWizard. I shall certainly try that first!

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:14 pm
by Deadlock
jones wrote:I think You should call one of the guys who provides free lockout assistance, those guys love to help out and they work for the right price too!



Now that actually DID make me laugh out loud!

danischi24 - forget about picking the lock. That would be hard enough if you had the original key to measure and a cutaway lock of the same make to look at.

I reckon that's a second-hand door that was originally fitted somewhere else.

Do you know the name of the lock? Was there a name on the key you remember? It would be very helpful if you could find out if it's a two or three lever lock.



Following on from what MrWizard said, there are also things called try-out keys. They come in sets for two or three lever locks. They're also made of thin metal, but they're not expensive. Might be your best bet.

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:45 pm
by danischi24
I have no idea of which kind of lever lock it is unfortunately, and there was nothing on the key. It was an old rounded unmarked one. Some of you guys have annoyed me enough to get me interested in lock picking, just to shut your condescending mouths! Is it hard to pick a lock like this? I would have thought that an old one would have been a piece of cake compared to these new security locks they have today. I have time & patience, just not much knowledge yet & this is a skill I've idly considered picking up on occasion.

After my nice reply at 5am when I crawled out of bed & checked the forum, I feel the need to clarify some things. I lost the only key to every door in the house (except the side deadlock door, which I then accessed through a window). I'm a cowgirl in Australia & I was clearing branches from the irrigation dykes, with my key & phone in my one pocket as the other one had a hole. My boss called a few times & I must have pulled the key out with the phone when I answered. We then flooded the ditches & when I went home for lunch, realized what had happened. There is no locksmith within feasible range. So I came onto a forum after looking fruitlessly online for the kind of the lock & how to pick it. Yes, I expected free advice on a forum. I'm asking for advice from people who are already on my thread, not asking someone to come and do it for free.
I should surely just resign myself to using an awkward side door for the rest of my life & getting a cat (seriously, what the heck)??!!

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:56 pm
by Riyame
If it is the only key to every door in the house why not get a new one made? Yes, you could learn to pick it but it requires specific tools and you need to know what you are doing. Just going in blindly maybe just end up causing damage to the lock forcing you to pay even more to replace it and possibly have a locksmith to come and remove it if it is broken with the door still locked.

danischi24 wrote: I lost the only key to every door in the house (except the side deadlock door, which I then accessed through a window).


If other doors in the house open with the same key you could try to remove one to take into a locksmith to have a key fitted. That is honestly the best answer. Taking the time to learn how to make the proper tools and then learn to use them could take weeks at a bare minimum, all the while you would have to use the side door which you seem to have to go through a window to get to. Then if you did that you would end up with having one door picked but still no key to lock up after you leave. If it is too far to drive then send the lock in the mail and have the locksmith return it the same way.

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:04 pm
by Farmerfreak
I'm not at the door to tell you if this is a good idea or a bad idea.
Since you have access to the inside of the door. Look at the hinges, can the hinge pins be knocked up and out? If so, then you may be able to open the door that way. Yes it will fall over and you may need a second person when you want to put the door back up..

Now, if the door is really tight in the frame and or the bolt on the lock is really long. The lock bolt could get bent, or the jam could get messed up. Which is why this could be a terrible idea. But if it doesn't look like any of that would happen then it could be a good idea.

Once the door is off, the lock should be able to be unscrewed or put the entire door in the back of a pickup and drive it to a locksmith to take a look.

Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:56 pm
by danischi24
I'll have to reclarify. Every door in the house was locked. There are 4 or 5 outer doors, as it's an ancient house. According to the boss, they all use the same key, although I never tried any but the front door. I originally forced a wondow to access the house, but now use a deadbolted side door that can't be set in unlock, so I have to leave it ajar when I go out & therefore have to cover the entrance with an armchair so the dog doesn't get out. It's a pain.
Here are pics of the hinges. Not sure if they're easy to knock out, as I've never done this before. The door seems badly set, so there's a decent gap for the latch to move in.


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Re: Help-lost key makes a sad woman!

PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 7:34 pm
by mylockisbetter
I have removed a few doors and those hinges may have sealed pins- not good. If not you can catch the top edge of the pin with a small chisel and a hammer tapping at an upward angle to remove. The pins will bend but they can be straightened back. It would almost be better to damage the latch side by prying the door open and then repair with a good kick plate and some long screws. that would need some wood repair to get the door working right again after you re-hang it.
The real issue is how are you going to keep the dog in with the front door missing?

For a real solution you could cut the bold and install a new lock above the old one. not pretty but it would get the job done.