Rekeying Mills lock

[treefrog]

Did a very basic guide to rekey Mills locks as came up on a Facebook group and I sat down and did 8, so am now locked out... Saves throwing them away.

Any criticism welcome.



I remember about 8 years ago someone selling a snake key cutting machine, around 1000 blanks and books and guides on all key examples... I was so tempted, weren’t expensive either.

[brigham]

Love the music!

[pennymachines]

Thanks for the guide. With original Mills locks costing upwards of £50 on ebay, this should be useful.

The back door on a Mills machine I have is locked. I've made some half-hearted but unsuccessful attempts to open it with my lock pick set. Any advice would be gratefully received.

[badpenny]

[treefrog]

Something I have never owned until now and only seen once before, is a snake key lock from Sega with Sega serial numbers. I acquired a machine recently that had two locks with matching keys with Sega style codes on both snake type. Must have been only used on their very early machines before the ace style locks took over....

[13rebel]

Don't know how I missed this thread. Never mind the locks, just groove to the Chicago Deep House music!

[richardfarber]

If i have used that guide earlier i would save money from calling rochdale locksmith near me for re keying.

[pennymachines]

...it ain't easy picking a Mills lock. They are pretty high security for being from back in the old days. It took me about an hour and a half. You have to be gentle and "feel" the pins. You need to move the TOP pins DOWN from the very top of the keyway and the BOTTOM pins UP from the very BOTTOM of the keyway. Look at a Mills key to get a feel for it. There are eight pins you have to compromise at the same time. Two to the upper right, two to the upper left, two to the lower right and two to the lower left. It is still a difficult task for the average person. I got lucky. Shouldn't have to force it.

You need to apply the proper pressure to the torque handle to rotate the cylinder at the same time you are picking at the pins.

https://coinopcollectorforum.com/viewto ... f=6&t=2277

[elliotm]

It's much easier to call a locksmith north west london. Honestly I've been looking at this tutorial a couple of times, and I still do not understand what and how should I do. A good locksmith will do this much faster and the price for a service of that kind won't be as much as we think

[treefrog]

Please do share your success with the locksmith as I doubt they will have ever come across one of these locks… If you're struggling with the instructions, just ask a question.