Installing Chest Lock
2014.01.04
I bought a traditional lock for the chest. It’s mostly for show, and to keep the lid closed. This is the first time I’ve installed a mortise lock, so I was a little nervous.
To begin the mortise, I drilled some holes with the drilling guide and cordless drill. Then with two or three chisels I chopped out the waste between and pared the sides.
A lot of tweaking was required until the lock finally slipped down inside. As I got closer, I had the foresight to turn the key until the catch was extended, giving me a leverage point to pull on to extract the lock. After the main body slipped down, I marked around the selvedge and then made a larger but shallow mortise for that. Pretty ugly inside, but gets the job done.
I used a forstner bit to drill a clearance hole for the key through the front of the chest. But when I put the lock in and tried the key, the hole was too far down. See if I ever follow the instructions again, hmph! A little work with a round file solved the problem.
After a similar process on the lid, I had the strike installed as well.
Milk Paint