Medeco high security locks

​Last month, we touched upon the multiple benefits of installing a restricted key system within your home or business. At the end, we briefly mentioned the brand name Medeco. Medeco is a world renowned high security lock manufacturer. Implemented in 1968 from the success of a trial lock made by the Mechanical Developmental Company (hence the name Medeco), the Medeco lock is entrusted with securing some of the world’s top doors, like at The White House. The design principle consists of not only vertically lifting pin tumblers, like any conventional door lock, these pins also rotate to a certain angle to expose a channel for a ‘sidebar‘, making picking the lock open an extreme for most, and impossible for some, to say the least.  They are so pick resistant, in fact, that when the lock first came out in the 1960’s, the company offered a $50,000 reward to anybody that could pick it. One man, a New York City detective, succeeded once, but only once. ‘Bumping’ a Medeco lock is also out of the question. If a lock can’t be picked or bumped, then what’s a burglar‘s next plan of attack? If you thought drilling a Medeco lock would be easy, you’re wrong. Medeco locks have hardened steel pin and plate inserts surrounding all of the lock’s vital components. There are four pins within the lock plug itself, a ball bearing on the face of the sidebar element, and the mortise and rim variants of Medeco locks have two hardened steel plates in the 12 and 3 o’clock positions. Even the tumbler pins are made of steel, with hardened steel inserts! Medeco branded deadbolts also have this protection, however with the addition of two more ball bearings in the ends of the mounting screw chambers. Good luck, thieves. As we mentioned earlier, the pins (which are chisel-tipped) on Medeco locks also rotate. And for this to happen, the cuts on the keys need to be cut at very specific angles. This also means that someone trying to have a duplicate key made for your home or business will not have an easy time doing so. Medeco keys can only be cut on special machines, in which the cutting wheel oscillates (to create the angles). Each key is an origination, and not a duplicate, meaning they can’t be cut on traditional side-by-side key duplicators, like at the big box hardware stores. Only a trained locksmith will be able to service your Medeco lock and cut keys for it. Besides that, you need to supply the locksmith with a special card that only you have. Without it, no keys. Medeco also offers restricted keys. While all Medeco keys require a special machine that almost all locksmiths will have, there are multiple levels of key control within Medeco locks. Some keys can only be cut by a specific locksmith, and others can only be cut at the Medeco factory in Virginia. The standard ‘commercial’ line of Medeco hardware can generally be sold and serviced by all professional locksmiths. While no lock is undefeatable, Medeco locks are the industry standard high security brand, built to the highest quality, and a classic, go to name for locksmiths throughout the country. They come in all cylinder styles, finishes, and keying arrangements. They can be master keyed, or keyed individually like a standard lock. We like them so much, we even have them on our own shop doors. Next month, we’ll discuss more about the feature’s of other high security lock brands, and why you should install them on your home or business.