Deadbolt Modification

As a locksmith technician, every now and then, I find myself in a situation where I have to improvise in order to find a solution for job. Most jobs will be straight forward where everything that needs to be done is well documented, or have been passed on through training. However, there will times where I would go to do a job and run into a situation where I would have to come up with a solution that obviously was not cover in any of the training I got as a beginner locksmith technician.

I got a call the other day from a customer who just moved into a new house and wanted to add a standard single cylinder deadbolt to the front and back door of the place. Thinking it would be just another standard job, I took the customer's information and headed to his place. Once I got to the house, I noticed that the front door seemed thicker than the usual. Figuring I may have an issue with the tailpiece not being long enough, I decided to start the work anyway.

Getting all the necessary tools and the new deadbolt parts from my service vehicle, I started making the hole in the door, so I could install the new deadbolt. After I was done with making the hole, I first took the tailpiece, so I could confirm fitment before moving on and I noticed it was too short. At that point, I didn't want to stall too much trying to figure out a solution on my own and decided to call for another Portland locksmith friend of mine for advice.

Once I got my technician friend on the phone, he suggested that I would cut the tailpiece in the middle and use a square stock to extend the tailpiece length. Thinking it was a great idea, I ruched into my van to look for a square stock in the pile of old lock parts I have and continued with cutting the tailpiece. after I cut the tailpiece in half I shoved the square stock in between and stated adjusting it  to the right length I needed. Even though it seem to be a tight fit, I did not want to take any chances and used a special metal glued to bond the tailpiece with the square stock as a percussion. After I was done making the custom tailpiece, I finished installing the deadbolt on the door and tested it with success.