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Here is the proximity reader for a Paxton Switch2 access control system we installed recently.  They have many other styles of reader/keypads available.

Switch2 is more suitable for external use than the Compact system. This is because the Switch2 control unit is mounted inside the building, rather than being in the reader/keypad itself as in the Compact. Therefore Compact systems are normally only fitted internally.

If you need audit-trail, time-sheets, anti-passback etc, then look at the Paxton Net2 or 10 systems

Here is an old, badly fitting UPVC door.  It was sagging badly on its hinges and hitting the frame so it wouldn’t close. The hinges were non adjustable, so the the only option was to remove the glass and repack the door panels.  By packing the panels on the diagonal (heel – toeing) it shifts the door back into square with     the frame.

Composite and aluminium doors tend not to sag. If these doors are hitting the frame it’s normally because the hinges have dropped, they weren’t fitted correctly to begin with, or the house itself has settled.

If a UPVC door is not adjusted it frequently leads to the multipoint mechanism breaking. That can leave the door jammed shut or you can’t lock it. That can be much more expensive than getting the door correctly aligned.

I was asked to do a lock change on a commercial premises. It was obvious that a lock had been drilled at some point in the past. Underneath the escutcheon the door was a right mess.

There is sometimes a need to drill a lock if it is broken and there’s no other way to open it, but it shouldn’t look like this mess.

A drilled lock should be replaced with a new lock (otherwise the hole in the hardplate will be a weakness in security). The hole in the door should then be neatly filled and covered.  In a later post I’ll show you another lock that’s been drilled (not by me) and badly repaired.

This 19th century lock is off a Forest of Dean historic church.  It was made by John Moreton & Son, dating from the late 1800s. It had its only key stolen and a replacement was needed. A cast iron blank was initially shaped on a grinder. It was then hand filed to pass the centre warding.