Hello, my name is Sharon. Welcome to my website about lock picking. When I rushed out of my home to chase my dog, the door slammed behind me. I thought nothing of it until I returned, pup in hand, to find my door locked. I spent the better part of the afternoon attempting to pick the lock and then calling on a local locksmith to get me in my house. Since then, I have studied up on lock picking and the services locksmiths can provide, as I find the process fascinating. I hope to inspire you to learn more about this interesting subject.
When a key breaks off in a lock, you have a few available options for retrieving it. However, you must be fairly conservative with your approach, since it's alarmingly easy to force the key fragment further into the lock, which can further complicate the situation.
Find Some Tweezers
Assuming you have another means of gaining entry to your home (like someone else already inside the property), head to your bathroom cabinet and locate a pair of tweezers. Tweezers intended for finer hair (splinter-tweeze or classic pointed) have the best configuration, but typical tweezers may also work. You need to try to grip the broken portion of the key and extract it from the lock in a fluid motion (no upward wrenching).
Too Much Force
Even though you might assume you can substitute pliers for tweezers, this isn't a smart idea. The points of needle nose pliers may be too thick for this operation, and pliers exert more force than tweezers. If you apply too much force, the fatigued metal of the key (which could be the reason it broke in the first place) could break into smaller pieces. This will necessitate the entire removal of your lock so that these broken pieces can be extracted.
Adhesion or Lubrication
You must also refrain from using adhesion or lubrication, even though there's a certain logic to these approaches. Do not apply super glue to the key bow (the part you grasp between your thumb and forefinger while turning the key in the lock). Unless this is done with the utmost precision, excess glue can be pushed into the keyway, rendering the lock unusable. A penetrating oil-based lubricant will not loosen the key either, as it's all too easy to clog the internal lock mechanism. In short, if you're not able to quickly and cleanly extract the broken portion of the key with household tweezers, call a locksmith immediately.
Professional Extraction
A locksmith will use a special extractor tool. It's inserted into the keyway and has a series of small teeth that grip the broken fragment and apply enough leverage to coax the broken key outwards. Once enough of the key is protruding from the lock, a locksmith can use tweezers to complete the removal. Using the broken portion of the key as a template for the correct placement of the key notches, your locksmith can then cut a replacement key on the spot.
Unless you're able to simply extract the broken key with your own tweezers, it's best to call a locksmith when a key snaps off in the lock.
Share15 June 2023
