What are the different varieties of Mortice lock?
Mortice Locks are far more common in the UK and Europe and the Lever Mortice lock is the most commonly used. Mortice locks are widely used on wooden doors rather than uPVC doors. In the UK the Mortice Lock is sometimes known as a ‘Chubb’ lock. This is simply down to Chubb being a brand leader for over the last twenty years or so. As well as the Lever Mortice lock, the other common form is the Cylinder Mortice lock.
Lever Mortice Locks
Out of the two most commonly used variants of Mortice lock, the most widely used for domestic properties is the Lever Mortice lock. The basic workings of Lever Mortice lock is essentially the same principle. Basically when the key is turned in the lock, the action will lift the levers to the correct height. This action ensures that the bolt will be unlocked or locked.
The main variation with Mortice Lever locks is the number of levers that they have. In simplistic terms, the more levers the lock has, the more security it has. The general rule is that it is harder for a key to open a door with 5 levers than it is for a door with just the 1 lever. The number of levers can be anything from 1 to 5.
Cylinder Mortice Locks
The less commonly used version of the Mortice lock is the Cylinder Mortice lock. The main difference between the two is that a cylinder is used to throw the bolt rather than inserting a key with Cylinder Mortice locks. The other difference is that Cylinder Mortice locks are more commonly used in commercial properties. this is because they offer more flexibility with master suites and restricted keys.