How to Put Rim Locks Back Together
If you are ever in the awkward situation of taking an old Victorian brass rim lock, or a lock from any other period for that matter, off your door and then not being able to properly piece it back together again, rest assured that you are not the only one that has happened to. It can be very frustrating to finally manage to get a rim lock off only to find when it is time to put it back together again that you cannot remember how to do so.
To begin with, it is often a feat in itself to get to a rim lock that has been painted over for centuries. The screws are usually totally covered with paint, paint remover seldom helps if there are multiple layers of paint and then once you finally have scraped the paint of you may well find that the screws are smaller and you do not have a screwdriver that fits. If you manage to make it through all of these obstacles without damaging either the door or the lock, you are doing well!
But what to do if you simply cannot remember how to put the lock back together again? Well, unless you are able to find detailed how-to instructions online, complete with illustrations, that you can follow you may need to revert to some other solution. If you have similar locks on other doors you could always very carefully take the other rim lock off as well, only this time making careful notes as to how the rim lock is put together. Follow the same pattern, and you should have your rim lock back together again in no time. If you do not have any other similar locks, or if you are apprehensive about taking out yet another rim lock, the simplest solution is probably to take the lock to your local locksmith. They should be able to have it back together again in no time, and it is unlikely that they would charge you very much for it.
If all else fails, you could also look for a replacement rim lock, either an original or a replica model, and purchase that instead. It would probably be cheaper to have the lock put back together by a locksmith, of course, but if you feel it is time for a new lock then that is also a viable option.