What to do if the lock on the front door is jammed or the key is lost? I don’t feel like breaking a door; hiring professionals using master keys is expensive. The easiest and least expensive tool is to drill a lock cylinder, the so-called larva. After this procedure, the lock will open, but will be broken. To restore it, you just need to buy a new cylinder mechanism and install it in its place.
Preparation for work
Before you roll up your sleeves and rush to drill a castle, you need to carefully study it. There are locks quite complex, with a special armor plate. Also, inside the mechanism, manufacturers of good, solid locks insert particles of solid metals. This is a drill protection. From such inclusions, the drill can scatter into small pieces.
If possible, try to find out where the pins are located at the castle, how they are located and what their number is. If you have a simple lock, you may not need to drill it. It will be enough to carefully hit the lock cylinder with a hammer. But if you have an expensive steel lock with special protection, it is better to look for other ways to open the door. You still cannot drill steel.
Necessary tools
Before you drill the castle's larva, prepare everything you need so that you do not run around the neighbors once again with requests.
1. For drilling, you need a drill, preferably powerful and working from the network. It is unlikely that the drill on the battery (portable) can cope with such a task, since the power may not be enough to perform such a procedure.
2. If you and your neighbor don’t have a drill, you’ll have to think about how to drill the door lock cylinder with a screwdriver. If the battery is fully charged, it may well turn out. And the screwdriver must be powerful, otherwise the drill will get stuck in the door and will not be able to complete the task.
3. You will need drills of different diameters. We will use a thin drill, according to the size of the entrance to the slot in the castle, first, then a bit of a larger diameter may be needed. The largest drill should be the size of a cylindrical mechanism.
4. A large flat screwdriver will be needed at the end of the drill in order to open the door.
5. Awl or punch.
Where and how to drill?
Before drilling the lock cylinder, you need to find the point to which we attach the tip of the drill. To do this, calculate which side of the castle pins are located. The inlet of the larva is divided into 4 equal parts. On the side where the pins are, we count out 1/4 of the part and file the measurement with the tip of the drill. This point will be our goal of drilling. In order for the drill to not jump off the cylinder, at this point it is necessary to pierce a small point in depth with the help of an awl or punch.
Next we take the drill with the smallest diameter (3 mm) and get to work. If the lock is simple, then just using this drill will be enough to break all the pins. Their number in the cylinder of the castle varies from 5 to 7 pieces. Although there are locks with more.
To fix the effect, you need to drill a hole again, but with a drill of a larger diameter, for example, 6 mm.
The last step in the work will be to open the lock with a large flat screwdriver. It must be inserted with the sharp part into the resulting hole and turned in the direction in which you usually turned the key. The door should open easily.
Additional measures
There are times when the mechanism does not open after drilling the lock cylinder. Do not despair! There is a more cardinal drilling method. For this, a large drill with a diameter of 19 mm was prepared. This is the standard larva size of all locks. After such work, the castle will be finally broken. If there is a special tubular drill of this diameter, then you can use it.
Tips & Tricks
1. To prevent the drill from breaking during operation, it is necessary to hold the drill perpendicular to the inlet.
2. Drilling at high speed is not recommended.
3. If the advance of the drill is tight, then you need to turn on the reverse (reverse) and try again from the beginning.
4. When the drilling touches the pins, a slight delay in the drill will be felt, but it is impossible to press harder, as it can break. It is necessary to act methodically and smoothly.
5. Before drilling out the lock cylinder, take care of safety glasses. The metal chips flying out from under the drill are hot and can burn your eye or face.
6. The drill also gets hot, so be careful when touching it with your hand. It is better to use gloves or wait a couple of minutes for the drill to cool.
7. In order not to fall into such extreme situations, you need to have several spare keys. If you live alone, you can leave one spare key with your neighbors or at work. But if you have lost the key or scammers stolen it in your transport along with your wallet and documents, it is better to change the lock for your own safety. Especially if your address was listed in the stolen documents.