Thank you both for the comments. You've both been incredibly generous with your time and knowledge! The deadbolts we carry are Emtek brand. I'm not sure if you've heard of them? But interestingly, they do not come with ball bearings to insert into the bolt/screw holes. We have a few down in the shop so were fooling with one today. We have a lathe and could make the screws if necessary but will scour the internet for some lengths to save the trouble. Luckily the deadbolt sample we have takes a 10/32" thread which seems pretty common. If we're offering the extension kits in 1/4" increments it would be really nice to have stock on hand and not have to make them. Emtek's using an Allen head on theirs...not sure if it's for security or looks.
The deadbolt that's been asked about over and over this year is the stainless one we have. So the screws need to be at least 18-8 stainless, if not a higher grade. That, of course, makes it more difficult. Here's the link for it if you want to look:
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The majority of folks want single cylinder, so I think that's what we'll focus on right now. I know we'll need to monkey around with the innards of a double cylinder when we eventually tackle it.
I think where we're hung up is dealing with the tail. My concern is that at a 5" thickness the current tail material is too flimsy and will get all twisty and potentially break or bend inside. Plus they have their own style/profile at the end of the tail that fits into the knob-side, and we'd need to match that profile. Do you think if we just make longer tails in essentially the same material and size (except for length) that they would withstand the pressure of turning? It would be inserted through the bolt, so theoretically midway through the 5" it would have some support. Any thoughts on this would be really appreciated!
Jana