Where to Buy Lever Tumbler Locks?

got a guy, 25 miles from me, sells 'antique' style hardware, he MIGHT have same.. email me.

--Shiva--

Define "Cheap".

Good question! I was mentally reviewing various drawer locks - and the cheap ones have a key post that fits into the hollow in the barrel key and the key's bit is cut so it could either work a warded lock or lift perhaps 3 levers. Since the warded design is probably cheaper to manufacture, my guess is that those aren't warded locks.

Locks operated by a flat key are likely to be lever locks (in my experience) but have more working parts because of the need for a trunion plus levers. So they are likely to be not-CHEAP.

go look at

got a catalog (I do serious wood work for a hobby) and they got some interesting locks in there --Shiva--

Pin or disk tumblers will almost always be cheaper all other things being equal, especially in the US where levers are relatively uncommon to begin with. Best bet for the OP, if it has to be a lever, is to find some used and unwanted safety deposit locks and retrofit them. Try ebay or yahoo auctions.

Even new safety deposit locks aren't horrendously expensive, though they may be more than you want to spend on furnature accessories.

You never really described the application other than "drawer" which is somewhat vague... It is wood, metal, plastic ???

Cheap is also relative... You haven't really defined that yet...

If you MUST have lever tumbler lock: Have you checked out the locks Master makes for locker applications (the built-in ones) they did at one time offer a lever tumbler lock for locker applications Product # 1718 if I remember correctly from the catalog, but that catalog was several YEARS old... I am not positive but I think such locks are considered obsolete by now... But you might want to check with someone from Master Lock to see if that type of lock is still available and could be adapted to your "drawer"...

I would seriously consider using standard cam locks for your "drawers", they are available in many sizes and types: disc tumbler, pin tumbler, tubular "ace" type, and high security versions made by medeco...

Evan, ~~ formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...

Good source for serious woodworking tools/parts. And good people; the folks in the Cambridge store sharpened my plane irons for free because it gave them an excuse to demonstrate the Tormak sharpening system for some other interested customers. (It certainly impressed me; if/when I can afford to spend a few thousand bucks on a real shop, the Tormak's now on the wishlist.)

As far as locks go, I think they're better for special-purpose and "pretty" stuff than for a basic cabinet lock... but they're worth a look, and there's likely to be _something_ in their catalog that you can't live without.

Thanks for your responses. "Cheap" means no more than $3.00. I did manage to find one mailbox lever tumbler lock in a dollar store. It even uses a key that resembles a safe deposit box lock. Unfortunately, there's no more in stock, and the store isn't going to order more. Does anyone where I can find more of these? I need several of them! Thanks,

C.W.

You get what you pay for... If you plan to use these drawer locks frequently your $3 locks will not last very long... FOR another $7 to 8 dollars you can purchase stock cam locks (even keyed alike if you require them) with enough parts in the bag to fit most applications as far as drawers and cabinets go...

Just think of the time you will be investing in installing these $3 locks and consider investing a bit more now to have locks that will last you a bit longer...

Besides that a $3 mailbox lock will only keep out the young children who don't know how to bend paperclips yet... And the honest people who would have a key to use...

Evan, ~~ formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...

I figure the operative word in the OP was probably 'cheap' and that 'cheap' probably means really really really cheap. You can find these things used in qauntity for next to nothing (buck or two each) if you look around. Sure they'll be double keyed which the op probably doesn't need but that can be easily worked around.

In addition to the venues I listed try a local locksmith shop that's been around awhile. Just ask for some used lever locks. That would be your best bet if you only need a couple and they could probably be all keyed the same.

Depends. Most levers I have seen have been well made. You can find old safety deposit locks and others that have been replaced with something else for less than $3 a piece. With moderate use they'll last another 50 years.

FOR another $7 to 8

Probably doesn't want to for some reason or he would have already. Anybody looking for lever locks in the US wants them sprecifically for whatever reason.

The average lever lock with any number of levers in excess of one or two will stop most lock pickers in the US cold since they have no idea what to do with it, or even what it is, especially with regard to how to tension it. If your talking about a lever lock with serrated lever and stump which aren't all that uncommon then forget about it. 90% of them aren't going to open it, add to that double locks like safety deposit and it would jump to 98%+. The UK would probably be a different story. Levers can be VERY pick resistant to the point that even a highly skilled person will not waste the time. Of all the basic modifications to standard lock designs or various types spool pins, anti pick wafers, etc the serrated levers are by far the hardest to overcome. Note I'm not talking about major modifications like adding a sidebar etc.

true, but the catalog showed the post type, and 'some' lever type.. perhaps they are cheap enough for the original person asking. and sharpening on glass is SO much fun... there is a name for it 'scary sharp'....

you dont mess with a good chisel done that way, you get hurt.

--Shiva--

The Lockwood (Australia) 300 series is a surface mounting 6 lever lock which uses a flat key and is widely used in Australia and New Zealand.

Something like this?

6 lever locks are made by Lockwood (Australia) and widely used throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Yes, exactly! Do you know where in the US I can buy them? When I first posted the original message, I needed only three locks for desk drawers. Now I need about a dozen of them because I'm volunteering at a summer camp and will be showing kids how to build wooden candy boxes. The lever tumbler locks from the dollar store (as previously mentioned) would have been perfect for this application, but they (the store) are out-of-stock and will not order any more.

I'm looking for flat-key lever tumbler locks because lever locks are hard to pick, even with just 2 or 3 levers and that flat keys are much easier to carry on a regular key chain than skeleton keys. I already have an antique skeleton house key plus a HUGE (almost 5 inches!) Southern Steel jail key that I keep on my key chain as souvenir items and I don't need another skeleton furniture key to take up all the space in my pocket!

And that's why most prison locks are of the lever type. I have a Folger Adam jail cell lock that I use as a paper weight, and that thing has six big levers inside!

Sorry, I'm in New Zealand. Here you buy them at any hardware shop for around US$8