Here’s a shot of a lock destroyed by snapping. Not the usual, it came off an aluminium door, and this photo shows the way the lock case has pretty much exploded under the force of the attack.
The ‘locksmith’ who did this should be prosecuted. They left the two locks on the door broken! This one was totally inoperable, the other one throws the bolt about 10mm out the lock, and it can be pushed back trivially, and so the door could be opened with barely any force or effort, despite appearing secured.
Further, after snapping the cylinders, they were replaced by a pair of massively over-sized cylinders that stuck out over 30mm on each side of the door!
Whether you are a locksmith or not, you should not be snapping locks without great care. (Also, you will start running into anti-snap locks. Because us good locksmiths fit them!)
Hi Nigel, i feel this lock snapping is getting out of hand. I often get called to building sites where brand new locking mechanism’s are not working. After examination the lock cases are found to be damaged from snapping. This can only be the work of the builders themselves after losing keys and taking it on themselves to snap the locks out. The sooner the door manufacturers switch to antisnap as a standard, the better for everyone don’t you think?
It’s an infuriating issue and one which I’m encountering with increasingly alarming regularity. People often think just snapping it is the way to go, then let someone else fix it. It’s extremely annoying. Have you been seeing an increase in cases of snapped locks too would you say Nigel?
disgusting if left by a real locky however I suspect a handyman work… these odd job blokes charge peanuts and you know the saying.
You would of thought that a nice expensive Union lock would have survived this attack?
Where are all the inner workings of the lock that’s unbelievable! Where possible I always try to pick but when all else fails drilling or snapping as a last resort. Almost looks like they tried to lever the lock out of the door.
I can only agree with Sheffield locksmith that this was done by a handy man.
Brisant secure make some nice antisnap locks at a very reasonable price.
Stop odd job men attempting the work of real locksmiths when antisnaps are commonplace
That’s why we just can’t trust any locksmiths out there. Our security lies on their hands, and we should be more careful on who we entrust our safety.
The best way to get rid of these unreliable locksmiths is to make our own research and consider background check.
Fit anti snaps. this will soon sort the men from the boys.
They will have to walk away after realising they are useless and cant by it.
Ive seen builders use slide hammers to snap cylinders, its the most brutal entry ive ever seen.
It costs more when the slide hammer has destroyed the locking mechanism too. Of course, that might be their plan…
Hi Nigel,
Great post. 5 years on from your original post and I would say that any decent locksmith would now fit an anti snap as standard the only time they wouldn’t is if the customer wanted to save money and have a budget cylinder fitted.