Thumb-latches and mortise locks - continued discussion


In the previous post we used a photograph of a mortise lock to identify and name the locks components which we will describe here in more detail.
The turn piece, deadbolt, and keyed cylinder act together to lock the door. When the key is turned inside the cylinder one clockwise turn will unlock and retract the deadbolt and conversely one anti-clockwise turn will throw the bolt. The key can also be used to retract the latch and open the door by being turned one more click clockwise. This sophisticated mechanism is useful when you have a bag of groceries as you can unlock and open the door with the key and simply pull the door open all with just one hand.
The turn piece has one function only to release or throw the deadbolt and if you are on the inside of the door with that same bag of groceries you will definitely need another hand to press down on the thumb latch or lever to open the door by retracting the latch.

In a similar way the thumb latch on the outside of the door and the corresponding thumb latch or lever on the inside of the door act together with the latch mechanism to open and close the door. Our Hedgerow entry sets are available either as thumb latch to lever sets or thumb latch to thumb latch and Accurate makes specific models for each configuration.

We use the Accurate mortise lock because it is a superior lock and made in the US. We also like the custom configurations that Accurate offer such as their disk insert mortise which is better suited to our more fluid and artistic trim designs. Our Willow and Hedgerow levers have branches and leaves that curve upwards bringing the lever closer to the turn piece. To prevent ones knuckles from colliding with the turn piece Accurate make a disk insert that allows the turn piece to be installed higher in the lock body.

Note How The Disk Insert Creates an Alternative Higher Positioned Port For The Turn Piece

Note How The Disk Insert Creates an Alternative Higher Positioned Port For The Turn Piece