How to Rekey a Lock

The term pin tumbler simply means that there are sets of pins inside the lock, and when all the pins line up to the correct hight, the lock turns, or "tumbles". There are many brands of pin tumbler locks but the most common are Schlage and Kwikset. Those are the locks that I will focus on here.

Kwikset is most popular on Residential doors. They make many low in and high in products but your rarely seem them used in a commercial application. If you look at the teeth of a kwikset key you will notices that there are 5 spaces. Each space on the key corresponds to cylinderical shaped chamber inside the lock housing. When you put the key in to the lock 5 pins are pushed up and rest in the grooves of the key. The grooves of the key can have a depth from 1-7.

Spacing:0.247"0.397"0.547"0.697"0.847"Depth:0.329"0.306"0.283"0.260"0.237"0.214"0.191"

Schlage is a standard for many commerical buildings. They make many high grade leversets and knobsets. They also make many high quality residential hardware models. In Recent years they have made low grade residential sets to compete with kwikset in that market. If you look at the teeth on a schalge key you will notice that there is usually 5 spaces and sometimes 6. the keyblanks with 6 spaces are used when an added measure of security is needed. The "cylinders" of a Schlage lock has 5 to 6 chambers corresponding to the grooves in the key. If when rekeying you find that there are 6 chambers and you have a key that is only 5 spaces long "5 pin", then you can leave the 6 chambers void of any pins and springs.

Spacing: 0.231"0.387"0.543"0.699"0.855"1.011"Depth:0.335"0.320"0.305"0.290"0.275"0.260"0.245"0.230"0.215"0.200"MACS:7

To rekey a basic lockset we will need several speciality tools.

1) Screw drivers and sometimes allen wrenches, to remove the lock from the door.

2) a follower

3) pin tweezers

4) key gage

5) Kwikset cylinder removal tool

6) pin and paper

7) and some new pins to put inside the lock!

Most modern deadbolts and knobsets come out fairly easy. There are two screws on the inside of the door. Unwind the screws and the locks fall off the door into your hand. Some commerical leversets require a special wrench called a castle nut wrench. Many Schlage and imitation locksets don't require you to remove the entire lock from the door to rekey it. They have a spring loaded retainer button that can only be depressed when the key is in the turned position. The button is located on the spindle just behind the knob or lever. See below picture.

Once you have the knob off the door you have to take the cylinder out so if can be rekeyed. On the schalge knobset the lock cylinder will come out the back of the knob with out issue. The Kwikset on the other hand will require a little finesse and special tool just for the purpose of removing the cylinder. The cylinder removal tool is shown below on the left. To use the removal tool to pop out the cylinder you must first remove the spindle from the Kwikset lock. I don't have one on hand but This is what you do.

1) looking at the back of the lock, find the spring loaded slide mounted to the chasis. Depress the spring and the grey spindle will slide out from the lock.

2) take the Kwikset cylinder removal tool and slide in into the back of the knobset with the half moon end facing into the lockset. Once you have put the tool in as far as it can go work the tool back and forth while pushing in against the cylinder. The cylinder should pop out.

Now take the back off the cylinder. On the schlage depress the retainer pin and unscrew the cap. On the Kwickset pry the "e" clip from the back of the cylinder. Careful not to let this piece fly away. It is made of spring steel and is easily launched across the room.

Now, put the old key in the lock and turn the cylinder. Use the follower to push the plug out the front of the housing. Dump the old pin in the trash or recycle them. They are sold brass.

Take your new key and gage the cuts of the key. Write them down. Make certain you have the correct depths for each space on key.

Find the corresponding pins from your keying kit.

With the new key in the lock plug drop the new pins into the chambers. Make sure that none of the pins rise up above the sheer line, nor drop below the sheer line.

Using the plug, push the follower out the back of the cylinder housing. The plug should be in the turned position until it is all the way back in to it's housing.

Turn the lock with the key and verify that your new key tumbles.

Reassemble the tailpiece or e clip. Then, reassemble the knob or deadbolt..