New to rekeying Schlage locks? You’ve come to the right place. Showing up to the job site with the right locksmith rekeying tools can be incredibly important. Although a general comprehension on how to disassemble the lock, rekey the cylinder, and reassemble is important; being stuck without the necessary or helpful rekeying tools to do the job can be frustrating and time consuming.
Locksmith Tools Required
Rekeying tools needed for Schlage residential and commercial locks will be a clip removal tool, multi-pick tool (this can be done with the rekeying tool aero), lock shims, Schlage rekeying kit or universal pinning kit, and a follower.
Schlage Lock Cylinder Removal
If there are existing keys to the lock, removing the handle or knob is fairly simple. The key is simply turned 90 degrees in either direction and the button, located under a slit or hole in the lock beyond the handle/knob closer to the door, can be depressed using the multi pick tool or the rekeying tool. With pressure on the button and a tug, the handle, lever can be removed. If there are no keys, bumping or picking will be required to turn the cylinder 90 degrees. A good rule of thumb is to keep the keys/picks in the lock when removing a knob to keep the cylinder from dropping inside the knob, causing a few minutes of frustration trying to remove the cylinder from inside.
Once the knob/lever is removed, the cylinder can be taken out. Schlage residential locks can be found with a spring loaded cap that has to be compressed to remove it from a few styles of knobs or levers. Most of the time the cylinder will compress when pushed out of the housing. Other times, a multi pick tool or a rekeying tool will need inserted in to help with the compression while, at the same time, pushing the cylinder out.
Deadbolts are of course a bit different. Remove the screws on the inside part of the door connecting the thumb turn (on single sided deadbolts) or inside housing and cylinder (double sided deadbolts). Schlage offered a deterrent to unwanted intruders removing the lock by a small insert located on the head of the screws of a double sided deadbolt. These can be removed by hitting the multi pick tool with a hammer into the small insert, causing the pick tool to pierce a hole. The insert can then be pried out. Be sure to carry a few extra inserts if possible, as the old ones will be useless.
Take a note of the timing on the deadbolt tailpiece before removing it. The screw on the back of the lock is removed by pressuring the spring loaded pin with the multi pick tool and unscrewing the cap. There is a specialty tool designed to remove these caps quickly and efficiently.
To remove the lock plug from the cylinder, remove the lock plug clip on the back of the cylinder. On deadbolts, this would be the cylinder cap. Insert the key and push the lock plug out with a follower. If there are no keys, shimming the lock, bumping, or picking will be necessary for removal.
Schlage Lock Pinning
Rekeying the cylinder is done by removing the old key and bottom pins, placing the new key in the lock plug, and inserting the correct bottom pins for the new key. Be sure to have your Schlage rekeying kit or universal pinning kit for this part. Other helpful locksmith tools can be utilized during lock pinning such as pinning tweezers, cylinder plug holders, and pinnning mats. These are all available here atCLKSupplies.com.
Reassembly
Reassembly is done by re-inserting the lock plug back into the cylinder. Push the plug through, forcing the follower out. This will keep tension between the two parts so the top pins won’t come shooting out. Also on many Schlage residential cylinders, the end of the plug is oval shaped. If turned, this can cause the top pins to drop out upon removal. This can be alleviated by inserting the plug back into the cylinder with the key inserted, or a shim can be placed between the plug and thefollower to keep the top pins from dropping out. Be sure once the plug and cylinder are connected, to put the plug clip or screw cap back on! One failure to do this will remind anyone of its importance as pins and springs will go everywhere. Everything is put back together the way it came apart, and a fresh rekey is accomplished!