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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.