by altort » Fri Dec 11, 2015 10:51 pm
Well you have gotten many different opinions on how to get in to your slot, ultimately it's up to you to decide the way you want to go, just one last bit of advice on the different ways that have been recommend to you, as far as drilling the lock, that should be your last option as once you drill it there is no going back, yes there usually is locks available, most have been re keyed and even though there is nothing wrong with that if it's done properly there are quite a few bad locks out there that have been butchered to work with an other key, also if every one that had a missing key drilled out their locks eventually these locks will be harder to find as the supply will eventually dwindle to nothing, I never have and never will drill out an original lock, but if you do decide to drill out the lock use a sleeve around the drill bit, you may need to walk your drill around to hog out the lock and a sleeve will keep you from damaging the opening on the the door for the key.
An other one of your options was to break the escalator glass to get to the lock plate screws, this option would work but most likely there is a security plate covering the screws, but if you try this way a couple of things you should do first is to use a glass cutter to score the glass in a couple of places to promote more of a controlled beak, then put tape over the glass to keep the pieces of glass together, use an automatic center punch were you scored the glass with the glass cutter wile the slot is tilted forwards, than carefully remove the pieces of broken glass, now if you have a borescope you can look inside real easy other wise use a small flash light,
An other option was to crack the base, this could be tricky, if you get a nice clean break the repair would be easy, but wood is un predictable on how the grain runs and it could splinter or break along different paths making the repair more difficult, if might require the removal of the base from the cabinet and you might also need to refinish the base to hide the repair.
An other option was to grind/drill out the two carriage bolts that hold the bonnet latches in place, with masking tape tape up around the head of the bolt to help protect the wood, don't tape over any of the decals as the tape might lift them off up on removal but use heavy paper to cover the side of the cabinet to protect it from scratching, using a dremel or like tool to grind the round head of the carriage bolt flat so your drill is less likely to walk, use an automatic center punch and mark the head of the bolt, use nice quality drill bits
and you will go through the top of the carriage bolt in no time, you might want to use a 1/8'' bit for a pilot hole than switch to a 1/4'', you only need to go deep enough through the square of the bolt than use a punch to drive the remainder of the bolt through in to the cabinet, check your progress wile you are drilling so you don't drill further in than you need to, use a drop of cutting oil to keep your bit cool and cutting smooth but don't use to much oil so it runs on to the cabinet as it could stain the wood.
Ultimately getting the lock picked is the best way, they are tricky locks to pick, I have not been able to pick one but I have a friend that can pick the mills locks so I have never really tried to hard, have you actually taken your slot to a lock smith or just called them? An old school lock smith if you can find one in your area
should be able to pick that lock.
Well good luck and let us know how you make out.