Showcase locks are display case locks that keep merchandise behind glass secure while letting staff open the case with a key in one motion. Key turns but the glass door will not slide? That is the call we get most. King Locksmith and Doors Inc. replaces, repairs and installs them across the DMV, licensed, insured and bonded for 25 years.
Locksmiths group these under cabinet locks, the family covered by ANSI/BHMA A156.11, the standard that rates case lock strength. A ratchet lock clamps the overlapping panels of a sliding glass door with a toothed steel bar. A plunger lock springs into a frame catch: push to lock, turn the key to open.
The cylinder is a pin tumbler plug, the same pins and springs as a house key, most cut on C415A, the blank CompX National uses, or SC1, the Schlage blank, and they key alike so one key opens every case. Hinged cases take a cam lock through a 3/4 inch hole, which we key into the same set.
You get one key for every case, because sliding cases and hinged cabinets both key alike, and a lost key means one rekey, not a shelf of new locks. A plunger relocks the moment it is pushed home, so a busy clerk cannot leave a tray unlocked.
You keep the cases you own, because a ratchet lock needs no drilling and a cam lock drops into the standard 3/4 inch hole already in the door. Locks falling short? We upgrade them in one visit.
We see these locks on jewelry counters, pharmacy cases, gallery cabinets, sliding cell phone showcases, trophy cases and vape shop towers across Northern Virginia. Anywhere goods sit behind glass that staff open all day, a showcase lock is doing the work.
They are the wrong choice for anything a thief would pry, like a cash drawer, gun case or drug cabinet, which need a lock rated to resist tools. Not sure which lock your case needs? We survey it free.
We pull the failed showcase lock, price a part swap against a new lock on the spot, and finish whichever you choose. Free estimates, 24/7.
5 brands earned space on our trucks by surviving retail counters: sliding ratchets, plungers and cams we stock, key alike and replace the same visit.
CompX National ratchet and plunger locks sit on most counters we visit, and we stock their C415A keyed cylinders, so replacement matches your existing key.
Olympus cabinet locks run on the Schlage SC1 keyway, the blank your building keys likely use, so we key showcases into the office master system.
CCL ratchet locks use a replaceable slide and cylinder, so when a worn ratchet bar stops gripping glass we swap the part, not the lock.
Medeco cabinet locks use a restricted keyway, so no hardware store can cut a copy, which protects a jewelry counter after an employee walks out.
The key turns but the ratchet will not release: the tailpiece, the bar behind the cylinder that lifts the ratchet, has sheared. The cylinder spins in the glass: the retaining nut behind it has backed off. The last key left with a former employee and the case is sealed.
We check the cylinder retainer first, pull the lock to test tailpiece and ratchet, then read the pins in the plug to cut a new key. Locked out? Our mobile units respond 24/7. Call (240) 345-1455 in Maryland or (202) 800-2622 in Washington DC and NOVA.
A sheared tailpiece is a part swap: we carry tailpieces and ratchet slides for CompX National and CCL locks. A spinning cylinder gets its retaining nut reset and locked with thread compound. Lost keys become new keys cut from the pins. Repair loses when ratchet teeth are worn round or no one stocks the cylinder.
Replacement wins after a pry attack, when parts are discontinued, or to put every case on one key. We match ratchet length to your glass overlap, cam length to door thickness and the keyway to your key, then fit, key alike and test every door before we leave. Free estimates.
A display case that will not lock leaves your stock in the open overnight. Call (202) 800-2622 now or request showcase lock service online.
Showcase locks secure jewelry counters, pharmacy cases and galleries, but every door has its match. Browse our lock type resources below to see each function, its applications and our services.
Straight answers from King Locksmith Technicans to on Showcase Locks questions customers ask us most.
(240) 345-1455
Usually yes, since most cases use a common blank. Restricted keyways, blanks sold only to locksmiths on record, stop that, and we install them across Maryland.
Almost always. Ratchets clamp onto sliding glass with no drilling; cams use the 3/4 inch hole in a hinged door.
Look at the lock: a toothed bar on the glass is a ratchet, a push button a plunger, a flat arm a cam.
Yes, where the keyway matches. SC1 cylinders, the Schlage blank, key into the same system, common across Washington DC office suites.
