Mills slot machine locks.

[David Walz]

Here's the set of key's used for the locks.

[David Walz]

This maybe helpful. . I found out about these locks, two different keys are used for Mills locks, they look identical except one is a snot bit wider. This basically means that the lock will not accept certain keys, so what I have done is adjust the lock when it is stripped down to fit the Mills key.

I have both model locks, one is a square lock and one is a round lock.the square lock is the one that a larger Mills key won't fit into, see photos.

[David Walz]

I have discovered another twist in the Mills locks. If you look closely to the #1, #2 photos, you can see the difference between the milling cuts, one is wider than the other. This plays a significant part in the locks. One thing that is constant is the locks, they can use either the small or large tumblers to fit the key. 

[David Walz]

This the tumbler that fits into the key, the arrow points to the "nub" and that can come in two different sizes. The point is that two locks can look exactly the same, except for the wafers and that's another problem with the Mills locks.

Kinda like a Ford and a Lincoln vs Mills and Bell.   

[David Walz]

Interesting fact.
Eagle Lock Company was the parent company of Bell locks. Bell locks were the parent company of Mills locks. That's confusing! 

[David Walz]

Hopefully you can get a basic idea of these locks, how they function, different keys, internal workings of the locks, the difference between the square and round locks. 

[jay]

Do you consider these keys with the grove in them more secure than your typical pin based wiser ?

[David Walz]

Do you consider these keys with the grove in them more secure than your typical pin based wiser ?

Mills is still a great lock, sadly we have people who destroy them by not rekeying them but grinding them to 💩. Rekeying them keeps the integrity of the lock.

For the 1900 era Mills, Yale, Ace, was a great lock. Today with the advancement of locksmithing you can defeat these locks with the correct tools.

[sbmania]

Speaking of which, a huge problem I run into is people selling me their antique Mills slot machine, but they lost the key.  I am a self taught amateur who can often pick or rake simple locks but I am totally lost on how to pick a Mills lock.  Feels like you need six hands and four picks to by-pass it!  I HATE drilling the lock to get into the slot.  Both because it destroys a perfectly good and expensive lock and because it takes an hour of drilling before it finally gives up the ghost.  Can you describe a relatively easy way of picking or by-passing a Mills lock where the key is unavailable?  Thanks!!

[David Walz]

Speaking of which, a huge problem I run into is people selling me their antique Mills slot machine, but they lost the key.  I am a self taught amateur who can often pick or rake simple locks but I am totally lost on how to pick a Mills lock.  Feels like you need six hands and four picks to by-pass it!  I HATE drilling the lock to get into the slot.  Both because it destroys a perfectly good and expensive lock and because it takes an hour of drilling before it finally gives up the ghost.  Can you describe a relatively easy way of picking or by-passing a Mills lock where the key is unavailable?  Thanks!!

Drilling a Mills lock is actually easy. It's brass and you drill down the center slowly, what you want to do is stop at the slide or you will be in a world of 💩. You can gauge the depth with a wire down the center of the lock.
What your goal is to drill the tit off of the cylinder plug, then use a ice pick to slide the bolt down.

[jay]

What are you seeing the antique mills going for ?

[David Walz]

Speaking of which, a huge problem I run into is people selling me their antique Mills slot machine, but they lost the key.  I am a self taught amateur who can often pick or rake simple locks but I am totally lost on how to pick a Mills lock.  Feels like you need six hands and four picks to by-pass it!  I HATE drilling the lock to get into the slot.  Both because it destroys a perfectly good and expensive lock and because it takes an hour of drilling before it finally gives up the ghost.  Can you describe a relatively easy way of picking or by-passing a Mills lock where the key is unavailable?  Thanks!!

Drilling a Mills lock is actually easy. It's soft brass and you drill down the center slowly, what you want to do is stop at the slide or you will be in a world of 💩. You can gauge the depth with a wire down the center of the lock. Look for the tit using a scope, light source.
What your goal is to drill the tit off of the cylinder plug, then use a ice pick to slide the bolt down.

[sbmania]

I think that's my problem.  I drill all the way through the lock and then have to chew away at the cam with bigger and bigger bits until it falls down on its own.  I'll try your suggestion next time.
Is there a "relatively" easy way to pick the lock so that I don't destroy it?  They are starting to get a little harder to find and more expensive!

As far as value on antique Mills machines, that varies greatly depending on model and condition. 

[David Walz]

What are you seeing the antique mills going for ?

Your talking about a lock? If so eBay has the ones that the codes don't match and they are most likely ground up garbage at $75.00.

Ones that are not taken apart, and you can tell by looking at the back, and grungy, are $35.00-$45.00 if you can find them. Then they need to be rekeyed properly. All 4 of my Mills locks are keyed alike correctly. They will be secure as the factory.

Taking them apart has been a real learning experience.

[David Walz]

I think that's my problem.  I drill all the way through the lock and then have to chew away at the cam with bigger and bigger bits until it falls down on its own.  I'll try your suggestion next time.
Is there a "relatively" easy way to pick the lock so that I don't destroy it?  They are starting to get a little harder to find and more expensive!

As far as value on antique Mills machines, that varies greatly depending on model and condition.

Yes it can be picked, 4 to 6 wafers, a really tight tolerance, the wafer tit are on the side, and having a lighted viewer helps a lot. Also if it is dry, that makes it much harder to pick.