Front Door Lock lift mod

[wrkey]

I was working on a Pachislo for a friend and one of the problems is that they did not have the tubular key for the front door. This left me/them with a few options, 'break the lock' so any key would fit, get a new lock and slide bar system and replace the whole thing, get a locksmith to pick it and make a key or make some sort of device to open the door with out a key. We chose the later and here's what I did.

I decided to use a standard cabinet knob and choose a brass one that I had in my shop. I purchased a longer 8x83 bolt that fit the knob. I then used two pieces of 'bracket' metal that I had to create the lift system. First I created a long [ shaped bracket. Then I created a smaller L shaped bracket. I drilled a hole in the top of the [ bracket and a slot in the lower part. In the L bracket I drilled two holes on the vertical side and created a slot in the horizontal side. I placed the [ Bracket inside the machine so the slot would fit around the security bar the door latches to. Holding it in place I marked the spot on the top of the cabinet to drill a hole for the knob bolt. Covering the internal components I drilled a hole through the top just large enough for the knob bolt to fit through. I then 'assembled' the Knob and [ bracket with the long knob bolt with the bolt passing through the new cabinet top hole and the slot in the [ brack around the security bar. I think positioned the L bracket so it was just below the top of the security bar and marked my two holes in the [ bracket for the correct location.

I then assembed all the pieces and used a 'locking nut' on the [ bracket and the knob location to insure these points did not move and stiffened it up a bit. In the first photo you can see how the box looks with the cabinet closed. The second photo shows the bracket in the lifted or opened position. In the third photo you can see how the release bracket sits in it's 'at rest' or closed position.

With this system I am able to open the cabinet by lifting on the knob and pulling on the door. This whole thing cost me $.49 cents and a few pieces of junk I had laying around the shop. Quick, dirty and cheap.

Should this be called a hack instead of a mod?