Wood stuck in lock?

Question

Me and my friend were tring to pick a friend's door lock as a joke. Unfortunately, we got a small bit of wood (from the end of a cocktail umbrella stick) stuck inside the lock. Tweezers and even a straightened out paper clip will not remove the wood and currently we can not get the key more than halfway into the lock. Any suggestions? (Other than a locksmith as we are students and that is a last resort!!)

Answer 1

Squirt lighter fluid in there and set fire to it, not to much mind. if this don't work deny all knowledge of it

Answer 2

Suck it up, & call in a locksmith or you will make things worse by shoving in other foreign objects into the locks key slot.
By trying to force the key into the slot, you have probably packed the small wood bits in even tighter than they were before.

It shouldn't cost too much for a locksmith, & if it turns out to be more than you can afford, then you have learned a valuable lesson.

But I suggest that you get it done right away, because if your friend can't lock up her place because of your prank, & suffers a theft, you could be held liable for her loses, plus the cost for a new lock.

Answer 3

By now you will have jammed the end of the old cocktail stick in so hard that you'll never get it out.
The double sided tape idea sounds a possibility though.
Try feigning innocence and tell the landlord that the crappy old lock has jammed and get him to buy a new one.
Alternatively, if it is a "Yale" type of lock, the barrels are fairly cheap to buy, its the extra keys that might run into money though.

Answer 4

Get some wood glue or similar and glue another cocktail stick onto the one that is stuck in the lock. Leave it for about 30 minutes, then try to pull both sticks out. It might work.

Answer 5

If you can get to the other side of the lock try pushing the blockage out. Don't push it in any further.

If you can get hold of a thing sometimes called a gimlet or bradawl you may be able to screw it out. The device looks like a spike with a threaded bit on the end, or a small corkscrew. Try a habderdashery shop.
If you can't get anything else then try screwing it out with a long thin woodscrew. The threaded end will 'hook' the wood and pull it out.

Answer 6

does the lock have two sides?in other words, can you put a key in from both sides of the door?

You might try to shove the paperclip in from the other side.
Alternately try a spray of wd40 in to the lock and get an air compressor and blow air in at about 100 PSI (wear goggles)

And did you try the old shop vac trick to see if you can suck the thing out?
And a last resort would be to use a tiny drill bit to turn that tiny bit of wood in to shavings and dust before sucking or blowing.

I used to inject glue with an 18 ga needle in to loose joints to repair wood furniture, the needle tips could be bent back to make a sharp hook . . .

Answer 7

Change the knob. You'll probably never get the wood out, so it would be easiest to change the whole thing. Knobs are cheap ($20 or less). Give him $20 and tell him to take it up with the land lord (to make sure he gets an acceptable one).

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

Try this if you have a straight pin try pushing it into the piece of wood lodged in the door knob and pulling it out...

Answer 10

hold the key with plyers and heat it up . this should slowly burn the offending cocktail stick

Answer 11

another cocktail stick with double sided tape on