Fine Lock Shop – Smart Door Lock & Locksmithing

Category: Uncategorized

  • Digital Door Lock for an iPhone, please?

    Digital Door Lock for an iPhone, please?

    Installed digital lock for a well known premium phone outlet. We really wana give them free lock in exchange for a free phone.  

    But the cheapest phone there, is sold at few times the price of our lock and labour, combined. No hope for us. They rather run to the ATM and pay us hot cash.

    Now, come to think of it, people can afford such an expansive phone. Why then would you want the cheapest lock when come to protecting your family?

    We are quite sure you can’t answer this question:

    • Which part of your house is more important than your door & lock?

    So, the lesson is, don’t go for cheap. Go for quality and safety. 

    For phone, get an iPhone.
    For lock, get from Fine Lock Shop

  • Digital Lock Repair/ Parts Change

    Digital Lock Repair/ Parts Change

    This Samsung mortise is 2 years old. Owner complaint that it feels stuck a bit. 

    Turns out 1 latching gear become quite rough. Perhaps due to continuous friction with the adjacent gear. 

    1. Diassemble
    2. Smoothen out the gear surface
    3. Reassemble
    4. Test
    5. Works like new

    Sounds easy, but really pain in the eye to assemble back all those small parts.

    We changed other parts too depending on the problem. Sometimes just the motor, the sensor, etc. Any parts can be repaired, usually at one-third of the whole component price. 

    Now the question is, do you want save some bucks to repair, or you don’t mind the cost of the whole new component? The call is yours.

    Just Sharing,
    Fine Lock Shop Team

  • A Service Beyond the Lock – Touching Up

    A Service Beyond the Lock – Touching Up

    Most lock installation happens at finished door with painting or wood stain. Paint chips might happen in the process. 

    We touch up using acetate, wood piece, putty, and lastly by painting. We keep a considerable amount of common paint color and wood stain. 

    We want our customer to be happy and satisfied. Some customer do not demand such job, but they surely will not be proud with the paint chips. 

    We try our best to do a perfect job for you. Not just simply install the lock only.

  • Customer Self Destruct His Lock – But still did not unlock

    Customer Self Destruct His Lock – But still did not unlock

    This client self destruct his lock in attempt to unlock. His problem is rather complicated, which is latch jam (happens to many cheap china knob).

    Symptom of latch jam:

    • You have the key, you can turn the knob from outside, but the door still won’t open.

    Latch jam is a very complicated matter. Even for us well trained locksmith, we need one to two hour. We need to total   disassemble the knob to its smallest component. It is very labour intensive.

    If you just lost the key and don’t want to pay for locksmith key, there is still possibility that you can knock the lock and unlock. But if latch jam, don’t even think about it.

    Leave it to us.

  • Mortise Door Lock – Kuching

    Mortise Door Lock – Kuching

    Estremo Lever Handle on Plate

    • Material: Stainless Steel of SUS304 Grade, extra thick, extra durable
    • Work: Change Handleset to Higher Security mortise lock (maintain deadbolt part only)
    • Efect: Double Throw and Double Bolt
  • A Very Impressive Door Lock in Kuching

    A Very Impressive Door Lock in Kuching

    A customer walk in and ask to re-key his 10 years old house lock (one key drop somewhere and could not be found)

    We are very impressed with his lock. We knew he bought it either KL or Singapore, because they did not buy from us. It is EZ Brand, top range. We do sell it but we have never opened in till the key cylinder to rekey it. This is the first time we open all the way into the Key Cylinder.

    From outside looks like a common key cylinder, but inside is all good material and high security feature. Definitely an upper ANSI Grade 2 lock at least. In Kuching majority deadbolt, sorry to say, failed to pass the lowest Grade 3.

    This lock uses pin-within-pin key system, which makes it very hard to pick. Added with anti pick and anti bump top pin, I have to say this lock is simply beyond even my ability to pick it.

    How about drilling? You can see hardened steel pin inserted at the head of the cylinder:

    Which mean you can’t drill it either. 

    This is a very very impressive deadbolt. Worth every ringgit spend. Price: around RM 200 (high security, last very long, and safe)

    Ordinary China deadbolt might cost around RM 30, but they have nothing to compare with this deadbolt.

    Choose wisely.

    Advise from Locksmith.
    The Fine Lock Shop

  • Why Your Key Snap?

    Why Your Key Snap?

    No matter what quality your key is, even the best and thickest silver-nickel alloy, it will still snap if the below situation occurs.

    1. Lock not smooth/ stuck/ grinding/ badly installed. Usually sign is like the left photo, key twisted.

    • This might happens if the lock is of bad quality, some really cheap locks usually made in China. Or,
    • Badly installed locks, causes the bolt/ latch can’t really fit perfectly into the strike hole. So when lock or unlock, the bolt is actually grinding the strike. Or,
    • Still badly installed locks, the external and internal is not in the same horizontal or vertical line. The lock will not works smoothly and you need more force to turn the key

    2. The user used unnecessary excessive force on the key. The sign for this is bent key, not twisted.

    • Sometimes user use the key to pull the door while the key is inside the lock. The key becomes like a pull handle. 
    • If your door do not have a pull handle, install one. Must not use the key to substitute the pull handle

      Advise from Locksmith,
      www.finelockshop.com

    • Barrel Bolt, Hidden Type

      Barrel Bolt, Hidden Type

      This item is getting popular nowadays in Kuching. We have seen a lot in our client door (asking for repair)

      It is marketed as an additional locks for a wooden door. Same functions as a surface mounted barrel/tower bolt below:

      Standard Barrel Bolt

      Yes same function as above, but concealed into the door, not on surface.

      Under some circumstances, we might recommend this concealed barrel bolt, like special location, rarely opened door, etc. 

      However, as a standard guidelines, we say, avoid using this. Why? If you notice the top photo, there is a gear-shape key. There is also a gear inside the lock body. After repeated use, bolt-in, bolt-out (using the gear), what will happen to the gears? Both become rounded and later flatten. So you can’t bolt-out/ bolt-in anymore (actually can, if you use a sharp item and slowly hook the bolt in, but you will not want to do it everyday). No more gear teeth, so to speak. It might happen to the key, or to the gear inside the lock. 

      The problem lies in the material used. Those gears are usually made of Zinc Alloy, a relatively soft metal. 

      The photo that you saw on top, that bolt is sold by us, a highee quality type, full stainless steel lock body, yet the key is still Zinc Alloy. So it will last longer than those Zinc-body concealed bolt, but not too long. One day the key will still become flatten, although the gear inside the bolt part won’t.

      We will continue to search for a manufacturer that produce full stainless steel bolt with stainless steel key. Stainless steel gear-key will last much longer, but we still need to test it first in order to not distribute a problematic items. 

      Meanwhile we will say, stay away from this concealed barrel bolt, unless under a rare circumstances that make it a no-choice.

      Use those surface mounted type. Old fashioned, but time tested.


      Advise From Locksmith,
      The Fine Lock Shop Team

    • Door Sometimes Just Get Swollen

      Door Sometimes Just Get Swollen

      Swollen Door

      This door expands. It keeps on expanding so after a while, it is quite bad. So once you push it to close, it is hard to open. This customer ask someone from outside to help kick to door open. And the door cracks. (UPDATES: After checking on the client’s door, just the surface laminate layer crack actually, not the whole wood wall. Inside still solid)

      Wooden door is quite hard to predict. Some expand, some shrink, some twist. And some happen to new door (can claim warranty), some happen after 1 year, some happen after 2 years, etc. 

      We are fully focused on locks, so door knowledge is somehow limited to experience only. From experience, we can guess what type of door will expand, what type of door shrinks, etc. But why? We can only guess, can’t be sure.

      We have worked with some door seller. Some just sell. Some is a contractor carpenter. They are almost the same like us, they can explain what happen to the door but is a pure guess on experience. 

      But there are a few, who are really  specialised door maker. He knows what’s wrong with the door once he sees and touches it. The differences with common carpenter is he can explain to us the technical and scientific reason behind it. Just like a teacher explaining in details.
      So for door problem sometimes we need a skillful and experienced carpenter’s advise or if better a specialised door maker’s advise. We always keep their number with us. Called them up so often that we have become friends.

      Here we list a common door-cannot-close problem:

      1. Hinge problem. It might be the hinge screw worn out or loosen, or the hinge is a bad quality type. Change the hinge (cost more than installing new door, as the workmanship involved is actually removing, and reinstalling door again, so is a “double work”)
      2. Door expand: need to plan the door or grind it
      3. Door shrink: causes the door to unable to latch. In this case the strike plate needs some extra padding to thicken it so that it can catch the door latch.
      4. Door twist: can opt to readjust strike plate, or readjust hinge alignment 
      5. Door joint problem : the door spine/ bone joint is no longer strong, causes the door to drop in shape. Need special angle steel plate to lift and strengthen the joint.

      Advise from locksmith,
      www.finelockshop.com

    • Great Alternative To Sliding Door Lock

      Great Alternative To Sliding Door Lock

      Usually a sliding door, be it wooden or aluminium (steel sliding is rare), will need 4 items to work:

      1. A hook lock mortise
      2. A Key Cylinder
      3. An escutcheon (or common people call, key cylinder cover)
      4. A door pull

      But there are some other alternatives like the above photo. The all-in-one sliding hook lockset. 

      There are many China brand, they break easily. 

      But there are also good one, although not easy to find. Still using Zinc Alloy material, but is thick and heavy, and good mortise mechanism.

      If you have budget, however, should just stick with the 4-piece hook lock. Priced higher, but so long lasting and so reliable. Stronger, piece of mind, and made of stainless steel material.

      Advise from Locksmith,
      www.finelockshop.com/blog