Russwin Adjustable Mortise Cylinder

[DIY Dave]

Hey guys, here's a lock I worked on earlier today. It has a screw in the back that makes it longer/shorter and is used to take it apart for rekeying. A google search turned up a discussion on lp101 about an adjustable Yale mortise cylinder, but no luck finding info on these. Is the adjustment just so it can be used on both thick and thin doors? If so, why doesn't any company currently make an adjustable cylinder? How old do you think this is?

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[xeo]

Nice pictures. I've had a few of those. They had some interesting spools and ball bearing keypins in them IIRC.

[mastersmith]

These are designed for adjusting the cylinder to accommodate different door thicknesses. They were more common when "standard" door thickness was not so standard. Usually I would find these on upper price range houses in older neighborhoods. The front doors were often fabricated for that house only.

[jeffmoss26]

I think I have one in my vast pile of Russwins. Very cool locks.

[oldbiscuit]

I just rekeyed one of those I had in my junk bin for my son's mother in law. She had a locksmith come out to remove a broken key in the cylinder and he proceeded to completely destroy the lock cylinder. He actually peeled the face off the housing and tried drilling the screw out of the back, IDIOT!!. Then after all that, he told her that it was just junk and he'd have to remove the mortise lock, slug the door and install a Kwikset, all to the tune of $600. Luckily she was mad enough that she asked him to leave and my son called me to come fix this idiots fuckup. The door was very ornate and heavy with a beautiful handle on the outside. I wish I would have had my phone or camera with me at the time to capture his mess, it was a classic.

[magician59]

I have one of those, by KEIL, NOS.

[Oldfast]

I just rekeyed one of those I had in my junk bin for my son's mother in law. She had a locksmith come out to remove a broken key in the cylinder and he proceeded to completely destroy the lock cylinder. He actually peeled the face off the housing and tried drilling the screw out of the back, IDIOT!!. Then after all that, he told her that it was just junk and he'd have to remove the mortise lock, slug the door and install a Kwikset, all to the tune of $600. Luckily she was mad enough that she asked him to leave and my son called me to come fix this idiots fuckup. The door was very ornate and heavy with a beautiful handle on the outside. I wish I would have had my phone or camera with me at the time to capture his mess, it was a classic.

Holy shit Wow, that's dis-heartening. And $600?!?! HA!

[oldbiscuit]

Oldfast, he sent her a bill for a service call for $300. She asked me if she should pay it. I told her to call him and ask him just what the $300 was for ?, being as how after destroying the lock he still never removed the broken key, which is what she called him for in the first place. Last I heard, she told him to call her lawyer or go take a hike. Oh and by the way, when I picked up the cylinder, I stuck in my broken key extractor and pulled out the leftover key as easy as could be, she about crapped!!

[Oldfast]

Haha! Geez, that's crazy. I'm not a locksmith, and I'll tell ya what...
In three years, I'll bet I've only pulled three broken keys outta locks for people.
One of them was just a couple days ago - friend broke off the key in the door of his old fire engine truck.
Point being, EVEN I CAN DO IT, lol. That guy's a joke. A real disgrace to the profession of locksmithing.

Anyway, I know we're getting a little off topic... but I couldn't help but be amazed by that horrific story.

...that'll be.... mmmm.... $600



[EDIT] Ok, ok.... I'll give ya 1/2 off - $300. Hows that sound?

[flywheel]

I've never dealt with a broken key. How are they removed?

[coldrake]

I've never dealt with a broken key. How are they removed?

There are two types, one that looks like a little harpoon and one that's essentially a wired that's been threaded. The harpoon type goes in and wedges between the pins and the broken key, allowing you to catch the key from above (North America) and yank it out. The other kind you pretty much just stuff past the pins, and go in and out until the key comes out. Not a whole lot of finesse, but it gets things out in a jiffy.

[mastersmith]

Oldbiscuit it sounds like she called one of the many scammers this industry is battling right now. I bet if you look in the phone book and go look for his "shop", it doesn't even exist. Some of these guys have even figured out how to intercept calls to legitimate locksmiths! These idiots don't know a thing about the work, so he probably couldn't remove the key. Unfortunately this is a recurring theme these days, giving the real professionals a bad name. The story is the same for a lock out, destroy the lock and over-charge for a replacement.

[jones]

I've never dealt with a broken key. How are they removed?

There are two types, one that looks like a little harpoon and one that's essentially a wired that's been threaded. The harpoon type goes in and wedges between the pins and the broken key, allowing you to catch the key from above (North America) and yank it out. The other kind you pretty much just stuff past the pins, and go in and out until the key comes out. Not a whole lot of finesse, but it gets things out in a jiffy.

While the wire type key extractor may work in the way you have illustrated, it was also designed to slide down into the millings of the key (cuts on one or both sides) and help to grasp the broken piece. As far as "not a whole lot of finesse" goes, please speak of your own key fishing exploits. The finesse part of retracting a broken key is what saves me from having to constantly replace my key extractors. Sometimes you can slide a wire type extractor into the millings on both sides of the broken key, then twist the extractors together and find a way to pull all three pieces at once. Many times I have had a clint who will break a key off in the ignition of their vehicle and then continue using that vehicle for years--That can sometimes become difficult to impossible to remove.

[escher7]

Re bad locksmith, keep the damaged cylinder in case you need to go to small claims court.

Re removal of broken keys - if the break is near the front you can often just grab it with a hemostat and pull it out.