When Do I Need to Make a Lock from a Key?
After living in your house so many years, losing your keys a few times along the way, you might worry that some stranger might have gotten ahold of a copy of your key. You could change the locks on your house, solving the problem once and for all. However, your current locks are stylish and effective – you don’t want to lose them. When you’re in this situation, what you need is re-keying. This process lets a locksmith change the combination of pins inside your lock to accept a different key. This process is commonly used as an alternative to changing locks but can also make a lock from a key when doing new installations. If you have the same key for multiple doors and have to replace one, re-keying is the way to go to get a replacement lock that still works with your key.
How Does Re-Keying Work?
Inside of your lock is a series of pins and the springs holding them in place. When you insert the key to that lock, the grooves in the key push each pin to the proper depth. At this depth, the gap between the two halves of each pin all line up with the shear line of the lock, allowing you to turn the key and open the lock. To make a lock from a key, the residential locksmith disassembles the lock cylinder and removes the pins. The locksmith then selects the correct size pins to match the desired key and places them inside the lock in the right order. They reassemble the lock, and it’s good as new.
Vehicle and Commercial Re-Keying
The lock on your home is reliable and effective, but simple in comparison to vehicle and business locks. Compare a house key with a car key, and you’ll understand. You’ll want to make sure the locksmith you hire has experience as an automotive locksmith or commercial locksmith, as these jobs are often very different from house re-keying. A vehicle will require need re-keying both for the ignition and the door lock. Commercial locks vary widely in their levels of security – some high-end locks could require specialized tools and certainly specialized knowledge to re-key.
