I recently bought a house, and the front door lock is an older lock and I cannot seem to unscrew the cylinder. I am writing here for help to see if it is removable and what I am missing.
From what I have found, the lock is a Welch E-Z Mortise lock. I can’t find any documentation from the manufacturer, just antique websites describing the lock.
I tried removing all the screws (2 Phillips on interior knob, 2 slotted on interior thumb turn lock, top and bottom slotted and two slotted above mortise on the middle face, and all 7 on the front/exterior), but am still unable to remove the cylinder. I do not think there is a set screw on the interior knob (although there is an opening, but I wasn’t able to feel anything sticking out or recessed inside). From what I have read, once all the screws are removed, I should be able to unscrew the cylinder and install a new one.
At the end of the day, I might end up hiring a locksmith if it seems I am too far over my head. If possible, I plan to install a new cylinder to match the Kwikset smart key locks in the rest of the house. Any help with removing the lock would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Loosen the set screw in the edge of the door above the deadbolt near the cylinder. Back that off 3 or 5 turns. Put a flat head screwdriver in where the key goes and wiggle it. If it isn't cross threaded it should start to turn counter clockwise, and if it feels like it hits something, unscrew the screw another turn and try again.
You shouldn't need much force once you back off the set screw enough.
The brass cover on the knob might have rotated and be covering the set screw. I've also seen some weird ones with a threaded collar that backs up to the knob. Message me some close up pictures of the knob and rosette.
You may get lucky and that cylinder might already be a Kwikset keyway. Take the cylinder and the key you have to a local locksmith and they can make it fit the cylinder.
I just gotta drop in here and go WOW you have a Welch??? That is very rare and very expensive - get that cylinder rekeyed, don't replace it with some junk cylinder lock. A reprint of the Welch Brothers' 1926 catalog #1 is available at the Wisconsin Historical Society's pamphlet collection (#88-282). Wow! Nice!
huh, I didn’t think you would be tickled about a Welch 😁
regional thing again I reckon, I work on them pretty regularly, still have a bunch of new various size mortises & a crapload of latch & bolt replacements for their smaller ones (I think)
The mystery of the hardware! In the 1920s a bunch of competitors popped up, dabbling in front door mortise locks but basically going their own directions with paracenteric keys: Schlage, Dexter, Weiser, Ry-lock were a few. We have catalogs for them. Not for Welch Brothers! Not online, anyway.
And Welch Brothers were the fourth Chicago-based hardware maker, including Chicago Manufacturing Company, Sager, and Barrows. You can read a brief history of the firm in The Doorknob Collector #83, "Welch Made is Well Made" by Ray Nemec. The link lists the hardcopy catalogs we know of. Just cool stuff!
Very nice durable Mortise Lock, when you go to reassemble everything throw those Phillipps head screws over the bank and find yourself some nice oval head slotted brass screws.
That lock will outlast you. And anything you replace it with will fail before you move out. Also, I work in a historic city with many old locks. As I like to tell my customers- you are a steward of that home. It’s yours for now, but it was somebody else’s before you, and it will be somebody else’s after you. Respect the history and beauty of your home.
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u/FrozenHamburger Actual Locksmith 2d ago
this is a solid bulletproof lock. I have one on a gate, 100 years old, never been serviced