Mortise lock have been in existence for many years now. And, like most things in life, they have evolved over time. In this blog post, we will be going through the history of the mortise lock and explain some key concepts about these locks that you might not know about.
1) The original design was called a “biscuit” because it could be shaped by force from both sides with a chisel and mallet similar to shaping biscuits with cooking utensils.
2) Mortise lockset used to be very heavy, and they required a strong strike plate for a sturdy hold. The strike plate for mortise locks was usually double the thickness of the door.
3) Mortises could be bored with wooden chisels and mallets or they could be squared off by using an auger (a drill for boring holes).
4) Mortise locks are shallow enough to allow a lock strike to be mounted on the edge of the door stile. This makes mortise locks easy to use when space is limited, such as in a small house or apartment. They are also much easier to install than cylinder-style doorknobs. Their shallow depth also makes mortise locks less susceptible to damage from rough handling.
5) The first mortises were box-shaped, and they provided security by setting the