[miamicuse]

I understand you can take multiple entrance locks to your locksmith and as long as they are from the same "keyway" you can create a master key to work on all those locks.

Now can you take multiple keys to your locksmith to create a master key? In other words, key A for lock A, key B for lock B, key C for lock C, can I take key A, B, C to a locksmith and cut a master key? Or do I have to take down and bring the respective locks? All of them are Schlage if that makes a difference.

 

[jproffer]

Not really. Mastered locks have 2 sets of pins. A set of main pins, and a set of master pins. If you need 3 locks with tenant keys and a master key, just let your LS know what you want to do and he'll/she'll set you up.

OR....

Watch videos and figure out how to rekey and master locks yourself...which is what I did. It's not terribly difficult...hardest part (for my fat fingers) is picking up...and dropping........and picking up and dropping 4 more times............those little pins.

 

[joed]

The locks would need to have been setup for master key before hand.
Even if they were it is not likely the locksmith could cut a master from the separate keys.

 

[danpik]

Your best bet to get this done right is to have new locks made up from the locksmith. Old, used locks from one brand or at least from the same keypath can be used but the cylinders may be worn enough to not work too well. When I was helping a friend who is a locksmith a few years ago, I found out that some new consumer level locks (bigbox store) are not too easy to re-key as the cylinders are not made to be dis-assembled. As Jproffer said, get ahold of some of the tools needed to do your own and learn how. It is quite interesting to do. when I help my friend do them it is usually when he has to set up a large institution (hospital, school, bank, Etc) and sometimes the key levels can get to be 6 or 7 levels of pass keys deep. In other words, some keys will only open one or two doors, others may go three or 4 deep while some have to be able to open all of them

 

[jproffer]

That's something I've never tried. I wouldn't even know how to set it up (set up the numbers). I know it's possible and I've sort of read a very little bit about it, but when they got to "master key, grand master key, super grand master key, great grand master" etc....or whatever the names are, I forget now...I just clicked away, figuring that it would just confuse me on what I know how to do, which is single level master/tenant pinning.