Note to self: Don’t let your van slide backwards down a hill into a ditch on a bank holiday. Fortunately shops open again today so could buy myself a winch.
Recovery from a ditch!
Repairing and making a key for a chapel rimlock
This antique rimlock was taken off a chapel undergoing renovation. The key was lost back in the depths of time and the owner wanted to keep as much of the original fabric as possible.
The bolt and the stump needed hammering flat as vandals had damaged it during a break in years ago. The mainspring was completely snapped and needed replacing. A similar era salvaged key was hand filed to work in the lock.
Non destructive entry of a mechanical keypad lock.
This door locked with a mechanical keypad was non destructively opened for a customer. The combination wasn’t passed on when the premises changed hands. Once the door was opened the code was changed so that the customer can now use the door.
Mortice lock for a fire door.
Client needed a mortise deadlock fitting to a double fire door (for use only when the building is unoccupied). To comply with fire regulations the lock was covered with an intumescent seal. Extra smoke and flame seals were subsequently fitted over the strike plate.
Broken lock
Customer’s front door couldn’t be unlocked with the key and the door was jammed shut. We were able to open the door and removed the lock for investigation. The problem was clear. The tail of the bolt that is pulled by the bolt thrower to withdraw the bolt had snapped right off. A replacement lock was fitted.
Repairing car ignition lock
A customer rang with the tip of his Land Rover key snapped off the ignition. It wasn’t possible to extract the broken part in situ. We removed the ignition barrel and steering lock so the customer could drive away and avoid a parking fine.
Later on the ignition was stripped (much more than shown in the photos) to removed the stray part and to cut a new key. (Note: customer was able to provide proof of ownership of the vehicle.
Cold weather and UPVC doors.
As the temperature changes UPVC doors can become difficult to lock/unlock. If it needs excessive force to lift the handle or turn the key then the door needs adjust or the mechanism inside can fail completely. If it fails in the locked position it can be difficult to fix. It’s far cheaper to adjust the door prior to the mechanism breaking.
If the door does become stuck open or closed, give us a ring and see if we can fix it for you.
Skoda Fabia key
A main dealer needed an extra key for a car that was being collected that afternoon. He couldn’t wait the week for a dealer key to arrive, and didn’t want to pay dealer prices either. This era Skoda uses the same keys and transponders as VW, Seat and some Porsche.
There are 4 main ways to provide replacement car keys. Cloning the existing chip. EEPROM programming a new chip into the ECU/IMMO. OBD programming into the ECU/IMMO. Dealer provided keys
We cover Forest of Dean / Ross on Wye areas.
Paxton Compact Easyprox Keypad
Here is an installation of a standalone access control lock. This can be set to either open with a code, or a proximity dongle/card. Users can easily be granted/denied access by the system manager. This type of lock is ideal for small offices/businesses where access needs to be controlled, avoiding the hassle of changing the lock every time a member of staff joins or leaves.
Non destructive entry of commercial premises.
I was asked to do lock changes on a vacant shop. It hadn’t been entered in about 18 months and was covered in dust and grime. 
There were 2 British Standard 5 lever mortice locks on the door.
Both mortice locks were non destructively opened and removed. Interestingly (to me at least) they had both been previously drilled open and not replaced. There was still the hole in the hardplate. Whichever locksmith did it had just poorly replaced the levers inside. Admittedly they’d drilled the hole perfectly.
Normally levers in this model lock are a mix of hi/low lift, they’d certainly be different from each other. When we opened the top locks all the levers were identical which is completely wrong.
