.:: Keypicking :: Anything And Everything For Locksmiths, Hobbyist Lock Pickers, Locksport, Lock Picking, lockpicks, cutaways and Security. Simply The Best Lockpicking Forum Around!

I'd try light taps with a little hammer to re-insert it fully then try to turn.
I would service the lock afterwards.

M.

remove the two screws on the lock plate on the side of the door...you will see the fixing screw for the euro cylinder remove this and turn the thumb turn this will turn the cam in the lock then pull cylinder out....you may have to snap your key off to carry this out.
your attempt of picking the lock in this way would not have worked as the cylinder barrel would just spin freely after being picked the cam as to be pushed in the back of the lock to engage and throw the bolt....this is known as catching the cam.

What ringo said. If the thumbturn still turns the cam, which it should. Instead of breaking the key off though you could take the handle off the thumbturn (its normally a tiny grub screw or 2 keeping it on) and take the lock out in the other direction.

Then once you've got it out you can disassemble the thumbturn half of it and you should be able to make a gap in the rear of the cam (once the 2nd C clip is removed) in order to get something into the back of the lock and push those drivers back.

Can't hurt to tap the key back into the lock a bit deeper , should be able to rotate back to vertical , withdraw and throw in the bin ! , pm me , i'm local , lol

Ok, I guess an update is in order here.

I tried to slide a pick along side the indentation across the side of the key in an effort to mess with the pins. That failed.

Next I tried to tap the cylinder, and push/pull the key in an effort to disturb/bounce the pins in some way. That did work a bit, I couldn't get the key out, or rotate it, but it did give me about 5mm of push pull on the key. It became a lot more free.

I was still stuck then

Next I removed the fixings at the side of the door, and tried to slide the cylinder with the idea of simply replacing it for now. That didnt work, the key wouldn't fit through the hole.

I reinstalled the same lock into the door, merely to improve the wobble.

I tried some of the methods above, that you guys suggested, but at this stage I was seriously questioning my sanity .

I also attempted to knock it with a hammer, in the same way you do as a bump key. I thought that now I had the 5mm of push pull I might be able to re-strike the pins above the line, and get a turn. This failed too.

In the end i just wanted to get the cylinder out and see what the problem was, so I got two sets of pliers, and folded the grip area of the key over so I could pull it through the the cylinder fixing.

After taking it apart I found that (as mentioned by others) the key was in fact only half way in, and that I was kind of in no mans land.
It destroyed my key (this was probably for the best) and I replaced the cylinder with one from another room, leaving an empty room without security.
Since then I have bought a new cylinder and fixed the door.

Thanks for all of your help though guys. The support and knowledge received has been fantastic.

I dunno if this has been covered or not but this is the classic "stuck at 180" scenario which we usually fix by pushing all the drivers out of the keyway to allow it to turn further. This can't be done in your case because the key can't be turned or removed, presumably what's happened here is that it picked open without being fully inserted (common for rake keys)... so at least one driver pin towards the back is stuck in the keyway and the bitting is preventing the key from actually being removed.

Unfortunately you might have to kill your key. The cylinder can be taken out by removing the retaining screw and aligning the cam with the thumbturn but in order to slide it fully out of the door the key will need to be removed. So you're gonna have to cut the key bow off to actually get it out of the door. There might be a small grubscrew in the thumbturn itself which will allow you to remove that so obviously try that first to avoid ruining your key if you can. To get the cylinder out, first remove the face plate by taking out those 2 screws at the top and bottom, then underneath that you will fnd the retaining screw which holds the cylinder in place. Can all be done with a standard star screwdriver.

This is a fucker of a scenario and not one I actually thought of before. Yet another reason to add to my list of why rake keys suck balls.

This is one of many reasons we say never to pick a lock in use (until you really know what you're doing). Live and learn!

Edit: Fuck I'm a dumbass, I really should read through threads before I reply lol. Glad to see you got it sorted!

Solomon,

You really need to learn to say what you mean. Such subtlety can make you seem like you aren't sure what you really think. Try the direct approach.

Gordon

Just out of curiosity, if you'd encountered the door closed and locked with the key in there like that, how would you open it in the least destructive way possible?

Thermite.

I'd try to drill or file away the bottom of the key so I could get pick or something in there to push the drivers back then rotate back to 12 o clock, remove (what's left of) the key.

Unless the door was openable, in which case I'd do what I said in my earlier post because then you could save the rake key and the lock.

metal vapor torch....

quicker than thermite

And sounds like just as much fun.

Gordon

I paid scab a visit and shimmed the underneath of the keyway , rotated it back to closed and extracted the offending half of a key !
pain in the ass , but he can put the lock back in service , lol

Yeah, Nozza sorted it out for me, planning on refitting the lock this afternoon.
Not forgetting to mention that he gave me pointers and a goody bag of bits and pieces to get me started along the right track on SPP.

Many thanks Nozza - heroic endeavour

Good work Nozza! Nice way to do it too. Was it shimmable from the face of the lock or did you have to come from the centre?