Drilling mortice locks

I'm refurbishing an old door, which is fairly good condition, but has a poorly-repaired hole (~6mm-ish) drilled in itjust above the keyhole (well north by noth east of it). Apparently this was caused by drilling the mortice lock to get past it at some stage.

Fixing it won't be hard, with a bit of 2-part filler, paint etc, but I was wondering if I should do anything else. For example, BS locks are supposed to be 'drill-resistant', but the one that was in this door presumably wasn't (!), so perhaps there's a case for putting something into or across the hole to make any future drilling attempts more difficult.

I've no idea what the outcome is of drilling a lock: Presumably it releases the levers or something. Would that mean that drilling has to be done in exactly the right place, or would making this one more difficult to access just allow it to be drilled in a different position?

Of course, there could be a benefit in having a drillable lock, if all the keys were lost/locked inside, but this is probably outweighed by day to day security, and I do have a way into the house for that eventuality anyway.

Any thoughts chaps?

Reply to
GMM
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Easier to buy a drill resistant lock. Last mortice lock I bought had a spring steel "clip/shroud" that fitted around the body of the lock. I assume that this was the "drill resistant" part.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

I shall have to have a look at what's available. The current lock (which I fitted because the previous looked a bit lightweight) is claimed to be drill resistant and is a BS security etc etc Era model, but didn't have any extraneous shield.

Reply to
GMM

I wonder how worthwhile "drill resistant" is these days, since a cordless angle grinder with a 3AH battery will presumably take out any mortise lock. I realise that "bank vault" bolts are designed with pins that spin to add a bit of resistance, but I guess a few judicious plunge cuts with a 125 mm angle grinder are probably going to defeat most things.

Reply to
newshound

I'm sure you're right, although if they want to get in that much, you may as well leave it all unlocked and save having to clear up the damage. I would have thought the average casual housebreaker would see a cordless angle grinder as far too much of an investment though, and would be able to think of better excuses for carrying a drill.

When I managed to get locked out of the house, all it took was a thin-bladed filler knife. The joy of sliding sashes!

Of course, anyone going to a lot of trouble to break into my place would be in for quite a disappointment when they see how little there is to nick...

Reply to
GMM

All I can say is, if anyone is that determined to come with a drill then I'd suggest they really really want to get in and short of an electrified fence and patrolling dogs they are gonna get in whatever you do. There is security and there is paranoia. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

Hole position is specific to the mortice lock. Templates are available anywhere e.g.

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"This template kit is designed for use with a 4mm drill bit, but larger bits can be used. It contains the drill points for 67 mortice locks, including the new British Standard locks such as the BS Securefast, the Walsall, the Chubb 114e and the ERA Fortress."

Reply to
Geo

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