Category: Blog
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Danger Seattlites: Somebody is Stealing Building Keys
In the last week, it has come to my attention that at least 10 buildings have had their entry keys compromised by a person or persons who are targeting the lockboxes outside a building’s front door which contains an entry key and/or a master key capable of opening any door in that building, for use…
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What to do When Your Key Breaks in the Lock
If you are reading this, chances are that you are holding the head of a broken key. Usually when keys break it is because people are either torquing them too hard in the lock because they are turning the lock in the wrong direction, the lock is installed improperly, or the lock needs lubrication. When…
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An Ounce of Prevention = A Pound of Cure
Locks, like other mechanical systems with moving parts, need to be lubricated to increase their lifespan of trouble-free functioning. If you don’t lubricate your lock, it will become fussy after some years. If you have trouble with your lock not turning even though you or your husband or wife has been liberally coating the inside…
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How to Remove a Stuck Key from Your Door
Imagine this: you have just come home from a long day with the groceries and your feet hurt and you need a cup of tea and an easy chair in a bad way. You stick your key in the lock and unlock the door and turn it back to the position for removing the key,…
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Add a Lock to Your Sliding Door
Most sliding doors can be retrofitted with a lock cylinder. If your sliding door doesn’t have a lock on it and you want to be able to enter through this door, check to see if there is a small circular indentation in the middle of the handle on the outside. If there is, this is…
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Download catalogs of products I sell here!
Uscan – http://www.uscanlock.com/pdf/Uscan_US_Hardware_Catalog.pdf Schlage Residential – http://consumer.schlage.com/project%20documents/mr-1701_rescatalog_final.pdf Schlage Commercial – http://consumer.schlage.com/project%20documents/mr1940_retail_brochure.pdf
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Lose your padlock key? Never again!
Get with the times, buy a padlock that will last for sixty years and is rekeyable to your housekey. Getting a decent padlock doesn’t have to break the bank. They only cost $20, and they can be rekeyed for the common keyways like SC1, KW1, Medeco, etc. Minimize the number of keys you have to…
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Magnetic Locks Not Immune to Attack!
This morning I was browsing my usual collection of websites and rss feeds when I came across some really interesting stuff: these guys combined an arduino with some 8 sided magnets to make a decoder for magnetic locks such as the mcs and the miwa. What does this mean? It means that somebody with one…
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Install a Latch Guard!
If you own a warehouse in a bad part of town, people at some point might try to get into it. They usually attempt brute force attacks like hammering the lever or deadbolt off of the wall, or twisting the lever as hard as they can until a small part breaks inside which is why…