Replacing an old Hope Chest Lock – Part 2

After fine-tuning the quirks with the new replacement lock and its brass catch plate, I turned my attention to the cedar hope chest’s half-mortise. I measured and compared the existing depth and width of the half-mortise with the dimensions of the new lock, determining that I needed to route the walls of the mortise to accommodate the lock’s central encasement.

To tackle this, I opted for a small cordless router, but the base was too narrow and could easily plunge into the mortise. To prevent this, I temporarily affixed an auxiliary base to the router using double-sided tape. Once the setup was secure, I placed the new lock inside the routed mortise and traced the screw holes onto the chest’s side.

Unfortunately, the screws’ positions were too close to the mortise edges, raising concerns that they wouldn’t have enough purchase in the soft cedar wood. To address this, I decided to add two flanking strips of hardwood to reinforce the mortise’s sides, ensuring the screws would have a stronger footing.

I mixed epoxy with fine sawdust and applied it to the wood strips and the mortise edges. To keep the strips securely in place while the epoxy cured, I improvised a wedge-shaped clamping device. Using plywood, I cut two trapezoid shapes that, when slid against each other, expanded to press firmly against the wood strips.

After the adhesive cured, I removed the clamp and trimmed the excess epoxy. I then inspected the shallow recess in the lid where the catch plate would sit, discovering a long crack. To fix this, I poured super glue into the crack and clamped it tight.

However, when I tested the new key, it couldn’t fit through the old keyhole, so I used a Japanese keyhole saw to enlarge the hole to the correct size.

Next time, I’ll show how I finished installing the lock and added a safety rope to prevent the lid from crashing open toward the back of the chest.