bruce Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 On a similar theme to the "fish keys" post in Electical & Power... I'm looking for a "key" - don't know what it's proper name is. The guys at work refer to it as a "budgie key"... Imagine a standard door lock, without the handles and square bar fitted. Just the latch bit. You can get a T-shaped "key", about 100mm long, with a slightly-tapered square-section bar to open these. Often used for riser cupboards, and internal doors in trains. But what are they called? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampcats Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 you mean a (railway) carriage key.... the tapered ones (as seen on the combo key) AFAIK were introduced when the metric system started taking over... http://www.longleat.co.uk/shop-railway.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 That combo key looks very similar to what I'm looking for... We couldn't find a supplier, so got a dozen of them machined up in a friendly mechanical workshop - a good training exercise for an apprentice :) However, all have now been lent out, and have gone missing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 you mean a (railway) carriage key.... the tapered ones (as seen on the combo key) AFAIK were introduced when the metric system started taking over... http://www.longleat.co.uk/shop-railway.htmlSeeing as that site seems to want to charge 19 quid for an orange hi-viz vest that's available at umpteen other places on the web for a fraction of that cost, I'm not sure that they'd be the most cost effective place from which to purchase your tapered T-key! Keys of that sort (not necessarily the same pattern as the one that Longleat seem to want to rob charge you £12.50 for, but which will perform the same function) regularly appear on Ebay for under a fiver. Search for "carriage key" or "T key". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampcats Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 I was already watching the ones on ebay to find out what the end price is - admittedly the hi-vis are stupidly expensive, but it appears that the keys are something you either buy at that price or go without / wait for ebay... I've seen no canford / cpc / rs number for them, and doubt that railtrack etc. will start selling them to joe public soon... taking your example of the hi-vis as a marker, I can get one in my local 99p store... about 5 percent of the price at longleat - at the moment, the ebay keys are running at an extortionate 20% for a used one... with 6 days to go.... maybe they are the ones robbing?? if you find some new ones cheaper pray tell... (tongue in cheek... but only a bit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 if you find some new ones cheaper pray tell...You could try Ebay item numbers 7608817370, 7244612014, 6633311976, 6633291050 or 6633027334 for starters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampcats Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 crawls out from under a pile of one new £5 key and 4 still to end, of which 3 are second hand, including the 2 referred to above and one true 'budgie key', the name of which apparently comes from the buses, shakes it out of his hair and moves to another post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 The guys at work refer to it as a "budgie key"... But what are they called?What a fantastic mis-hearing. They are known in the building trade as 'budget' locks. Budget Locks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
london sound Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Some times also known as coffin keys/locks. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammie300 Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Why would anyone want to get into a coffin or to get out of a coffin :) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 What a fantastic mis-hearing. They are known in the building trade as 'budget' locks.Budget Locks That's the one! And at 2.99 for the T-bar key, it's a bit more realistic than the railway place :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampcats Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 not when you include vat and postage unless you buy a few...best find a local trade centre.. but you still won't be able to alter the destination board on the front of the train... choo choo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SceneMaster Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Isn’t it quite bad that the general public have access to these keys quite easily? I mean one (on south west trains) you can access the door controls in every carriage (but I guess these are probably under master control by the driver). You can access the guards office type thing where they keep there stuff… and you could probably access loads of other stuff on the trains. Surely this is quite serious? I know if you really wanted to you could make these keys but to have them so easily available is a bit stupid isn’t it or am I missing something obvious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 but to have them so easily available is a bit stupid isn’t it or am I missing something obvious? It's not a "key" as such - just a bit of square bar with a handle. If you don't have one, a large flat screwdriver does the job equally well. Like many security products, it's just a deterrent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Isn’t it quite bad that the general public have access to these keys quite easily? Not really. You can get keys that open even more things than the square ones quite easily. This one, for example:http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.js...=36270&id=61168 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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