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Master padlock and American padlock Lock pins can catch you off guard if you're not familiar with rekeying. So, here is the information that you need to know. You know what to do next time you have a customer who wants to have a M1 key or a M3 key keyed up.
THE BASICS
American padlock and master padlock are by far the biggest brands in padlocks today. They're everywhere. M1 keyway is not only the most popular padlock key but also the most knocked off padlock key. If you rekey locks for residential or commercial, at some point, you're going to have a customer that's going to ask you, "Hey, I had this padlock key here. Is there any way I can get another padlock key to this to put it on this gate or this storage unit or whatever it might be?" But it turns out that the lock pins for the American padlock and Master padlock are entirely different than your standard pins. And so let's talk about it a little bit, and there are a couple of little fun facts that I think you'll enjoy.
1 – PIN SIZES
When it comes to your standard Kwikset or Schlage lock, the pin diameter will be .115 inches. The American and Master Padlock pins are going to be a .093. They're going to be much smaller. For a bit of reference, an SFIC pin is .108; it's even smaller than that. There are little guides as far as the pin goes.
In other words, you need to make sure to get a separate kit. It's impossible to use your existing standard lock pins in the padlocks, which makes sense - the keys are smaller; everything's a lot more condensed.
2 – BOTTOM PINS
If you look at the image below, you'll see that the bottom pins for both the American padlock and Master padlock have the same diameter; it's just that the numbers are different. You can see that the Master padlock number 1 bottom pin is the same as a number 2 American padlock pin.
In other words, you can use the same bottom pins for all of the Master padlocks and American padlocks.
Now when you look at the Master pins, for example, there's a little difference there, but the bulk of them are the same. So, if you do master key, you have to be a little smart in your system design if you want to just use your Master padlock kit.
But the big moral of the story is that if you have a pinning kit for Master padlock or American padlock, you can use them interchangeably without a problem.
3 – EXTRA TIP
If you're not into the rekeying of padlocks yet, and this is something new, I want to show you this image. It is the bottom pins for a master padlock or American padlock. A lot of them are going to be serrated. So many of us, if you come from rekeying residential or commercial locks, you might be used to the serrated top pin, but the bottom pins you can get serrated. Pretty cool, huh?
That's everything you need to know about the differences between the Master padlock and the American padlock lock pins. I hope you found this information helpful. Check the link to see our products. I'd love to know what you think. Comment them on our YouTube video and make sure you include the #LockBoss to automatically get entered into one of five free prizes we give away each week on YouTube. Thanks, and I will see you next time.
