When a locksmith talks about key control he doesn’t mean holding the right side up when putting it into a lock.  What the locksmith means talking about key control is that you can choose a kind of lock with a key that can’t be made just anywhere or by just anyone.

Most of us can see the business applications of such keys to protect inventory and property or make sure someone can’t come in after hours because they have a key.  There are important non-business applications for key control too.  Your home for example.

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Years ago the standard size for a cross bore was 1 ½” in diameter.  In order to include baffles and some other features the standard has changed to 2 1/8” in the last few years.  If you are replacing an older lock with a newer one, that can be a problem.  There are also cases where you might want to change the backset from 2 3/8” to 2 ¾” or vice versa.  Making either one of those changes can be problematic if you don’t have an installation jig and those jigs typically have a price tag of hundreds of dollars.

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This is generally encountered if your lock is a mortise lock.  Many mortise locks have something called a split spindle.  A split spindle is what allows the inside to work independent of the outside when it is correctly adjusted.

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