British Pattern Door Rack Bolt - Brass - Pack of 2 with 1 Key

Rack lock

This rack lock seems to be a robust, good quality product. My reason for giving only 4 stars is the packaging. Ideally I would have bought one lock with 2 keys. This is because the cupboard I've fitted this lock to is in a holiday home. Therefore multiple keys are needed, one for the owner, one for the cleaner and if possible a spare. In this instance I bought a package that had two locks and one key. As a result I also had to buy a pack of five keys as well.

Rack bolt quality

Really good bolts, nice smooth action. Product let down by the very poor quality screws.

Curate's egg

Rack bolts per se are easy to fit, discrete and very secure. The achilles heel is that most of them use mild steel which is plated. the obvious consequence of this is corrosion and failure due to seizing particularly in the bottom edge of doors where moisture is more likely to be present. The other drawback is that the bolt is made usually of cast zinc and is fairly soft. The consequence of using zinc for the bolt is that the teeth of the rack wear away an the bolt fails through use. Materials selection in manufacture matters and placing price above quality leads to disappointment. I foe one as a carpenter would gladly pay a higher price for better materials.

Too 'cheap and cheerful'. I replaced the ill fitting key with a 'proper' one. It will do, but I would not buy another and would be careful about the quality of other 'non-branded' items from Ironmongery Direct.