People call me all the time to get keys for their file cabinets. The truth of the matter is that you can usually get replacement keys for these cabinets without too much trouble if there is a small alphanumeric code stamped on the face of the lock. If you have time to wait a few days you can order them online for a very reasonable fee. If you need replacement keys immediately you can go to a locksmith and ask them to codecut a replacement key. They will need the alphanumeric code, so take a picture of the lock face with your phone before you go.
If you don’t want to deal with going to a locksmith I can come to your site and codecut a key for your file cabinet or make a key using traditional methods. I charge
- Service call and tax included in price: $120
- except during Rush Hour (8:00-9am or 4:30-6pm): $95
- or between 7pm-1am: 50% more
- or on the weekend, add $45 to above prices
- Code cut a key on site: $20
- Impression a key for which there is no code or code is too simple: $35-45
Another option is to bolt an Abus File Bar onto the outside of the file cabinet. The nice thing about these is that you can lock any file cabinet with a rekeyable padlock. This means that if your office has a mishmash of different brands of file cabinets you can still lock them all with one key. Even the same key that you lock your office door with if you want. Or you can master key your padlocks so that your masterkey works in all of them but another key only opens one of them; you can compartmentalize your file cabinets’ security.
I charge $36-50 depending on how many drawers your file cabinet has along with $20-30 to install. Then you can either put your own padlocks on the file cabinets or buy padlocks from me.
Down the road this also has the possibility of saving you money if you have to let an employee go, for example. You want to rekey all of your file cabinets? Two options. Either call a locksmith to rekey all the cores or replace them if they aren’t rekeyable, or take all of the padlocks to a locksmith and pay $15 a lock to have them rekeyed.
I can rekey padlocks to match all of the major keyways available today with Schlage, Kwikset, Masterlock, Corbin Russwin, Sargent, etc.