Adding A Lock To Your Desk Drawer

One of the most secure ways to protect are valuable items is to lock them up. What better way to lock something up than with a lock? A desk can be a place where you store precious business data, personal files, or even other valuable. For this reason, some of those desk drawers should be able to be locked. Most desks usually come with one locking drawer, but maybe yours did not, or you want more locks installed. In either case, here are some tips to get you started.

1. The first step is measuring the drawer you want to install the lock on. You do not want the lock to be too long or too short. Once you have a lock of the right thickness, you will want to measure the base of the unit with the desk drawer.
2. Once you have your measurement for the base of the lock, you can determine where the hole for the lock cylinder will be drilled. Using a wood drill, slowly bore your hole in the drawer. When you have the proper hole, insert your lock and screw it into place.
3. Depending on your setup, you may also need to bore out a little hole for the locking bar to fit into.

This is just a general scenario; your setup may be quite different. There are a few different kinds of desk locks. The steps above are for the usual standard desk lock. If you are unsure about installing a lock, contact a locksmith.

Some Keyless Door Lock Choices

When you mention door locks, most people just think about keyed locks like deadbolts and locking doorknobs. But there is a whole second layer of locking devices that home owners have to ad to their door way.

A list of some possible anti-burglary door locking devices:

1. The Chain Lock—A good unit for when you want to peak out at who is at the door, but not completely let the door open. The set consists of a base with a chain that is attached to your doorframe or the closest wall stud. Then the chain receiver will be attached to your door. At the end of the chain will be a little catch that will slide into the receiver.
2. The Flip Lock—Keeps your door from being opened by adding some resistance. This unit is a hinged metal device. The base is installed in your doorframe, while the hinged metal piece is free to slide against the door. When it is in position it slides down into the metal slots and is in its locked state.
3. The Door Guard—This is the solid metal version of the chain lock. The set is a metal post with a ball tip that is covered with a metal loop. Like the chain lock, this set is good for when you want to partially open your door.
4. The Barrel Bolt—Like the name implies, this locking mechanism’s action is similar to a bolt-action rifle. There is a barrel with a handle on it that is lifted from a resting slot and slid over to a locking slot. When inserted in the locking slot the barrel will be in the housing for the barrel. Installation of this device can be done either horizontally or vertically.

These choices would be great additions to your front door, back door, or doors to other rooms in your house.

Remember “The Door Club”

When it comes to home invasion prevention devices for your door, the first items to come to mind are locks, deadbolts, and chains. Throughout the nineteen nineties, “The Club” was one of the leading car theft deterrents. To gain entry into the home defense market, the makers of “The Club” released “The Door Club”. The purpose of “The Door Club” is to reinforce the door from brute force break-in attacks on the doors of your home.

 “The Door Club” functions by resistance. It employs a bar to resist force applied to the door. For this to work, you must have the holder for the resistance bar installed into your flooring. If you’re handy you can install it yourself, or you can hire a locksmith to do it for you. Once the floor plate holder is in place, you have done the bulk of the installation. The other pieces to install are a kick plate for the door and a holder to hang the resistance bar on when you are not using it.

When properly installed, “The Door Club” is advertised to be able to resist two tons of force. The marketing chose to target traditional locks and deadbolts, claiming that they were no match for a brute force attack on your door.

Here is an early ad for “The Door Club”.

A Look At The Biometric Deadbolt

The future is now or almost here. Yes it is a little cliché. The locks that operated on retina scans and fingerprints that we always saw in movies are getting closer and closer to public use. In this case the fingerprint scanner. The quality and accuracy of each of these locks most likely varies with the price of the fixture. The biometric deadbolt available from various lock companies range from the moderately priced to the expensive. And as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”

The lock units are still not biometric alone, most still use standard keys as a backup system. While others also include a numbered keypad for a code system. The flaw in keypads and biometric scanners is that they run on batteries, so if the battery dies then you are stuck. That is the reasoning for the inclusion of a keyed lock. The batteries are replaceable, but are still a drawback. The highlight of the systems is the number of fingerprints you can store on the unit and the specialized uses of them. You can set fingerprints for your family that have unlimited access, you can set more limited access for service workers that come by every other day, or you can even set a one time access for a technician or whomever needs to work in your home.

There are still potential security problems. Many of the units include a keyed lock, which can be picked. And there is still the fact that someone just needs your finger to gain access to your home and family.

This is a video showing the biometric deadbolt.

This is a style of pin and tumblers locks that you often see on bicycle locks, computer cases, freezers, vending machines, and some safes. Instead of using a traditional key, this lock uses a series of pins set up in the form of a circle. The Tubular lock is also known as the ace lock, radial lock, and axial lock. The lock cylinder is comprised of six to eight pins that push towards the front of the lock. The key to the locks has a series of indentations that correspond to the pins in the lock. When the key is inserted, the driver pins and key pins line up with the shear line allowing the lock cylinder to turn.

Tubular locks are harder to pick than traditional locks, but it can be done. The sloppy destructive way is to try and drill out the center of the tube. To prevent this the central part of the lock may be made of hardened steel or contain ball bearings. The easier way would be to get a lock-picking tool made specifically for picking tubular locks. You can try to straight out pick the lock by traditional means, but as you turn the locks each any pin you set will reset itself in the next pin’s hole. So you will need something to hold the pins once you’ve set them. Here is a video to give you a better picture of the lock.

Businesses often don’t want to deal with a lot of building keys. Keys always pose a security risk, since over time they might disappear or someone managers to make some copies of them. The cost of replacing lost keys and replacing or rekeying door locks gets expensive as well. That is why most hotels and motels feature key card door locks. Having key cards help a company avoid the risks that come with traditional keys.

The key cards are just like credit cards. They use magnetic strips or Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) chips to hold a combination code that unlocks the door. The combinations can be changed at will by the company by just changing the code on the card and the door lock. There is no need to worry about who has a key to the door, as it is always a different lock.

The cards are great for companies, since they are just plastic and easily replaceable. And if a hotel guest does lose or keep one, no one will be able to do anything with it. The cards can also be personalized to the company and have images of products and/or company logos printed on them.

These locks would be an interesting technology to learn more about, but there isn’t a lot of information available online. And rightly so, since they would just be another threat to security.

Install a Wall Safe.

I’ve always liked safes, especially when they are hidden. I’ve tried to find some detailed instructions of choosing a wall safe, but nothing really comes up. I did find a couple of pages on installing a wall safe. The outline they give is pretty straightforward, but they ignore how they chose the safe

Basically you just:

1. Choose the safe. If it is going into the wall it can’t be too wide.
2. Locate the studs on the wall you want to put the safe in. You want the safe to fit between two studs, since the safe will be anchored to them.
3. After locating the studs, measure out an opening large enough for the safe. After you’ve drawn out your opening, you can begin to cut it out with a dry wall saw.
4. Watch out for electrical wiring when cutting out the opening. If the wires will be in the way, you must reroute or otherwise move them aside.
5. If your opening leaves a gap from the studs and the drywall, re-enforce it with some extra wood shims. This also depends on how your safe mounts. Your safe may mount with screws from inside the safe or it may have some mounting bolts on the outside.
6. Once your safe is in and secure, you can begin any cosmetic wall repair you need to do.

Options for a Keyless Door Entry System.

You’ve seen the new reports on lock bumping, and the numerous amount of lock picking videos online. Seeing all of this information leads you to believe that key locks are ineffective and can be picked far too easily. Whether you own a company or a house, chances are there are a number of copies to your locks floating around. And having to repeatedly get your locks replaced or re-keyed will get expensive fast. That being said, you may be considering getting a keyless door unit.

Your first choice is the Keypad lock. There is no need to worry about finding your keys or who has a key. You just have to remember a number combination. By chance, somebody may guess your combination. But that would be a rare event. Just make sure your code is random and not your birthday or something else identifiable to you. The other downside is that if the lock runs on electricity a power outage could leave you locked out. On the other hand they usually have battery backup.

Biometric locks are also making their way into more domestic use. With this style of lock you won’t need to have a key or remember a combination. You just need to scan your fingertip. These units will also require energy and might leave you locked out in a power failure, unless there is a battery backup.

Another type of lock you may want to employ in your home or business is the buzzer lock. This is they type of lock you see in apartments for tenants to allow guest entry into the complex. Many companies use it as well, for the same purpose. This system usually requires that someone is there to operate the button.

KABA experT Cylinders Bump Proof Locks

Another interesting entry in the category of Bump proof locks comes from the Australian company KABA. Their addition is the KABA eperT lock series. This series of locks really goes all out. This lock comes with 22-pins that are divided into four rows. So imagine trying to pick that many pins. The pins in the lock are not held by springs, but are magnetized to the key. The key is specially designed with four rows of teeth to access the 22-pin lock. The keys are not common, so they cannot be copied at any key shop. You will have to get extra keys from the company itself, or one of its sponsored lock dealers. Each key is unique and identified, so the company knows exactly what keys are out on the market. And for your convenience the keys are each color coated.

The cylinder unit is modular and can be installed in many types of locks. Such as Mortice Cylinders, Bible Cylinders, Euro Cylinders, Switch Cylinders, Rim Cylinders, Furniture locks, Padlocks, and Cam Locks.

Due to the innovations in this lock series, the locks are more resistant to bumping, picking, raking, and other forms of manipulation.