Rim Locks - Using Skeleton Keys
Added at 12:58 on 07 March 2024
Rim Locks & Skeleton Keys
Rim locks as pictured above are normally found on gates and sheds and you can find similar sytles on internal dors and church doors. These locks where the earlier design of our new Lever Mortice Locks. Theses locks are normally protected by a ward or obstruction in the lock which stops a incorrect key form being used and there have been some lovely patterend church keys designed to fit the wards inside the lock.
However these types of locks are not normally very secure (although you can now get British Standard Lever Rim locks) but they wont have warding in the lock. It was discovered that by designing a thin key or wire the wards could be bypassed in the middle of the lock and it could be opened. These thin keys or wire became known as skeleton keys and thats where the name comes from.