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Cam Lock Trick, Use to get the Job Done!

Cam locks and keyways or keyways and cam locks? For the most part, almost everything is a Y11 keyway. However, you' will find applications and situations where you need a different keyway to fit a camlock. At that point, you have three options:

  1. Find the correct keyway camlock;
  2. Turn customer away; or
  3. Use what you have.

And that's what we're going to be talking about.

Let's face it, if you work with locks and keys, you will find yourself in all sorts of weird situations with all sorts of weird keys, and it's your job to make them all work. So what we're going to do is to take a standard Y11 Compact Camlock, and modify it to fit a Y13 key. Let's have some fun.

THE TRICK

The Y11 key that comes with the Y11 compact camlock and a Y13 key have opposite keyways. So, if we try to put the Y13 to the cylinder, it won’t fit. It is not going to work.

 Y11 and Y13 keyways

To fix that issue, the first thing we need to do is take out all of the wafers from the cylinder. Once all of the wafers out, you’ll see these little tabs. These tabs make the Y11 work while the Y13 will not.

 Removing wafers from lock cylinder

To get rid of those tabs, you have to hit them with a screwdriver. They will pop out because they're just a little pop metal. Make sure to make good contact to get rid of them.

 Removing tabs from cylinder

After that, any key at that point is going to work. As you can see, look Y13 goes in now, and, of course, the Y11.

 Y13 key in cylinder

Y11 key in cyliner

It's that simple, just hammer those little pieces out and you're good to go.

 lock cylinder

It's shockingly simple to know what allows a Y11 key to go in and not a Y13. Is this tip-in method perfect for all applications? Well, not. However, you might find yourself in a situation where this is the best option available; that's when you should use it when it. Thank you, and we'll see you next time.

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