Apparently, the flat section at the opposite end of a key to the portion that goes in the lock is called a key bow. I’d assumed it was a “key fob” but I think that is used more to describe an additional bit of material held on the key ring to make it easy to identify. Whether I’m right or wrong in that identification, the need for a new one became apparent when I came home after choir practise this evening and found I’d left the shank of the key in the front door!
You can see the original key bow in the back and my attempts to repair it with binding wire when the stiffness of the lock popped the metal shank out. That first happened a year or two ago, so the repair has held up fairly well but it has been getting loose this week. However, now I don’t have to rely on trying to get wire to hold round a curved surface: I can design and print my own replacement.
In this one, I paused the print part way up, put in the shank and carried on printing. Between the old and new one, you can see the support I also designed to keep the shank level. I’ve engineered a slot so I can add some binding wire but it feels pretty solid so that may not be necessary. I’ll also have to judge whether a less rectangular shape works better although it has substantial rounding on the corners.
Anyway, job done for now.
