A UK letter box tool.

[Magic1]

In UK we used to have a combined letter box and lock plate and thousands of them are still fitted to front doors. The last time someone in my street locked themselves out they also have one of these letterbox/lock plates. So I thought I would make a tool especially for them, from off the shelf fittings. To make it easier for me to work out what was needed I first decided to make a mock letterbox / lock plate, out of MDF and to the exact size of the original. The original plates are made of brass. The letter box is 35.0 mm wide and 130.0mm tall. The task is to work around the flap.

[HallisChalmers]

Very ingenious....I like the time and effort that went into building this tool.

[the lockpickkid]

I always wondered what a UK letterbox actually looked like, I had no idea it was directly under the lock itself! Very good design on your tool. Looks to be functional, but heavy, but one thing about it, it's durable enough to throw in the back of a car or truck, it isn't going to get broke!

[bouncer965]

Handy bit of work there Magic1. Just out of curiosity are them types of letterbox locks pretty much standard in fitting distances, from the bottom of the letterbox to the position of the lock? I know all around the south there still hundreds of them on front doors. Classed i believe as a "period" feature in some respects.

Nice stuff. Is this going to find its way into the bedroom tonight too

[Magic1]

I have seen this type in two basic forms, the brass 'Georgian' and a chrome plated plain version. I have only had the opportunity to measure the brass one, which I also have on my front door, but I think they are about the same. There is latitude in positioning the tool in the letterbox opening. I don't think anyone makes them any more. One of the problems was that people often fitted night latch mechanism's fitted with a lever. With that version it is easy to make up a wire tool to operate the lever through the letterbox. Below is a bent wire tool that does it. Of the other two versions of night latch, one has an oval knob and the other a round knob (hence the shape of the gripper, which can also handle lever knobs too) . So the tool is really only required for the last two types.

In those cases where the letterbox is remote (up to 1.5 metres) from the lock, a variable length design is required. Some Euro's have an internal lever which are very easy to open from the letterbox, if they have a thumb turn or a key, then something along the same lines is required, but not using the chain idea. I have done a design for one that does not require mirrors or CCTV, just another thing on my list of things to do !.

[the lockpickkid]

I have a handheld camera for such things when I need to see behind a door, that would work for these letterbox openings as well. For the lever opening tool I sometimes find it difficult to grab the lever, I can push the camera under the door, sometimes aided by an air wedge, then I can manipulate it to where I can see what is going on with the lever. On the letterbox It would be easy for me to reach in and view the lock with it while manipulating the lock to open the door I would think.

[Magic1]

My thinking was as follows .... Let's assume the letter box and the lock are roughly a metre apart , with the letter box either on the door or near it. Considering the problem from inside the house, the tool must be adjusted to the exact distance between the center of the letter box and the center of the night latch release knob.

From outside of the house we can see both the center of the letter box and the lock key way on the front of the door and we can measure this exact distance, or set our tool up exactly to this measurement, against these two reference points, even before we insert it into the letter box, so setting the right distance from the center of the letterbox to the exact center of the release knob is no problem at all .

From the front of the door, with a protractor scale we can measure the exact angle of the lock key way, from the center of the letterbox. When the tool is inserted through the letterbox all we need to do is rotate the tool to the required angle and the gripper will automatically be in the right place to grip the knob, so there is no need for CCTV cameras , mirrors etc. The tool can in fact be operated blindfolded, once set up. I was tempted to put a mirror onto the tool I described earlier, but there really is no need for a simple lockout, as the night latch nib is not set. We also have brush type draught excluders fitted to the back of many letterboxes fitted in hallways here, and that tends to screw up clear vision for mirrors etc..

The last thing, is to get rid of the cord type devices used to rotate the release knob, switch the nib, turn the key, turn the thumb turn, manipulate the lever etc..

Hopefully if they have a hall table, then the telescopic fishing rod will probably solve the problem anyway

[bouncer965]

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Hopefully if they have a hall table, then the telescopic fishing rod will probably solve the problem anyway [/quote]

Im not even going to ask where you got that idea from !!!!!! What was your previous job???

[elbowmacaroni]

Nice work there Magic1! I like the mockup, that was a good way to solve a problem.

[loki]

Nicely done model and prototype.

It is truly amazing, how once you start building a test unit, the design and concept takes on a life of its own.

[uklockpicker]

Ha HA , this is brilliant it really is - this tools cost in the region of £150 +
And you just built one out of copper pipes ! another brilliant idea

This should be file'd as a sticky - i like alot