The antique exterior doors in my house have big brass and steel mortise locks in them. I like these units, and the doorknobs and plates that go along with them.
I've been working on two exterior doors these past couple years. The original doors and hardware were just too far gone to save, and I wanted to let more light in through a larger area of glass panes. We had new frames and doors put in (doors from Simpson, frame and assembly at J.C. Adams), with new brass hinges from Rejuvenation. But I had the door place not do anything for lock hardware. When the doors first were installed, I put in a modern deadbolt, both for security and to hold the doors closed while I figured out the lock situation.
On another replacement exterior door I had bought a lovely eastlake style antique entry mortise lock with matching strike and plates. This time I didn't see anything like that on ebay, so I just bought two locks figuring I could buy the plates and strike separately. I'm sure no one will be surprised to find that the knob to lock cylinder distance was not standard and I couldn't find any suitable plates. Bah! I even took the locks to Olde Bostonian and rummaged through their bins without success.
What to do?
They are not fancy, but I just machined some out of brass stock one Friday night at work. Stock was purchased from Onlinemetals. Locks were mortised into the doors with my trusty 'Maul' Tool co. antique mortiser.
