AboutLynn Chambers Expertise Any and all questions about general locksmithing. NO SAFE QUESTIONS PLEASE. Commercial and residential hardware experience of 10 years. I cannot answer questions about picking or bumping locks for obvious reasons of security. I do not work on safes,safe deposit boxes or vaults or newer automobiles. Older auto lock questions I can answer.PLEASE if you have a question,be very specific. Give me as much information as you can on your particular problem;include a photo if possible.The more information I have the better I can help you.
Experience Ten years as a locksmith in commercial,residential,auto locks and master-keying systems. Experienced in Interchangeable cores and Medeco locks.Currently working as an Institutional Locksmith.
Question I'm trying to get a stuck door open for my friend. The lock is a Baldwin handleset, looks most like a Blakely model but with a mortise lock body. Neither inside knob will move and the key outside will turn about 150 degrees to either side but the deadbolt does not retract. The bolts don't look to be stuck in the frame of the door, I levered the door up and down and pushed and pulled and that didn't help. The lock cylindar on the outside will turn 10-15 degrees to either side, but not easily. I was able to remove the inside faceplate but couldn't see any way to manually retract the bolt from inside the door. Here are some pictures: http://www.speakeasy.org/~bizwank/lock/
Thanks for the help!
Answer The hole on the top of the photo;the one with the plate removed is going to be the thumb turn hole. Take a small screwdriver, insert it into the hole and turn it away from the door frame. Try picking up on the door as you do this-perhaps a small crow bar will help on the floor under the door-push down on the bar with your foot to lift the door. If it has rained or the door is swollen from weather being cold this may be the cause of the problem;or the hinges are sagging due to the frame sinking.Sounds like this is the problem or the bolt fails to retract due to internal failure of the lock.Either way,you should be able to open the door this way. The screwdriver will make it easier to open it than the thumb turn as it will give you more leverage to turn the bolt.
After the bolt retracts,put the knob back on the spindle and open the door.
