Keys~

I have been having issues finding proper keys for some of my mortise locks. My locksmith (the one near me at least) carries a few different universal keys, and he also has a huge key-ring of antique keys I can pick through, but it's still often hard to find ones that work. Sometimes the blade is just a hair short, or the blade is too wide, and often, the old keys have been re-cut or otherwise butchered.

The other problem I'm having is sheer cost. Skeleton keys aren't THAT expensive, but at 7$ per key, they add up quickly. I don't need a ton of them, but I thought I would try a Google search in hopes of finding cheap suppliers. Well, as it turns out, blank skeleton keys are nearly impossible to find. There are numerous sets of ugly, cheaply made repro keys from places like House of Antique Hardware, Historic Houseparts, Van Dykes Restorers, and even on Amazon, but none of those were what I wanted. The majority of them are also brass. NO traditional skeleton keys are brass. The only brass keys I've ever seen are clock keys, or occasionally very elaborate door lock keys on something likes a china cabinet.

I decided to try eBay and Etsy. I got two lucky finds (which you can see below), but they are still very hard to come by. I would have thought that blank skeleton keys would be fairly ubiquitous, but I guess not. I said these were lucky finds, because they were well priced. Several sellers have keys at around 4$ or 5$ (choice + shipping), but that's a pain in the rear if you're looking for a certain style of key. When you factor in that shipping on one key is around 4$, it's just not worth it. Other sellers have huge lots of 50+ keys, but they're asking over 100$. That's rather pointless.

I should have enough of these 6 keys for pretty much the whole house, and they ended up costing around 4$ to 5$ each including shipping.





As a bit of a side note, cutting these keys to a custom design is actually extremely simple. When you open on of these locks you can clearly see where the notch needs to be. All you need is a few files and a bit of patience. Optionally, a bench grinder can be used to remove more material.

Quickie Update

Not much going on lately. I'm still working on the porch door (I need to go pick up some glass for it), and I'll hopefully be getting fabric for the Master Bedroom curtains thanks to a friend of mine who lives in Ottawa (she knows who she is, and she rocks!) The fabric is from Ikea and it's called "Stockholm" in the beige tint. Basically it's a leaf and berry pattern (line work) in white on a beige background.

Also, I've tested out my aniline dyes (samples) that I was thinking of using for the vanity and I wasn't that thrilled about how they turned out (considering all the extra work involved), so instead, I'll be using a regular oil based stain in a dark mahogany (reddish brown). The colour is a special mix called "Cherry on Maple" (I note this here mainly for my own references).

The only other bit of news that I don't think I mentioned yet is that last Friday I picked up some keys. I had the Yale "night" lock re-keyed on the antique door (the salvaged one that was complete and in good shape), and had 3 keys cut for it, and I also got an antique style (but generic) skeleton key fitted to the lock for the porch door. This was super fun, and since it's a universal key, it also happens to fit 3 more similar Corbin locks in my inventory. It almost works on several others, but not quite. They did have other styles/shapes of these universal keys available, so depending which locks I end up using, I can get keys for them.