New Jersey Locksmith Services | Statewide
We remove the fragment. We don't drill unless there is truly no other way.
New Jersey Locksmith Guidance
We use hook picks and extractor tools sized to your cylinder to pull the broken key out without touching the internal pins.
Once the key is out, we test the lock to confirm the cylinder wasn't damaged by the break before we close up the job.
We cut a fresh key to the lock from a blank after extraction so you have a working key in hand before we leave.
If the cylinder is cracked or the lock is worn beyond safe use, we tell you clearly and give you options and pricing before proceeding.
The break almost always happens at the bow, the part you grip, or near the first cut closest to the bow. That’s where the torque is highest and where a worn key is thinnest.
When the key snaps, the blade is inside the cylinder. The plug, which is the rotating part the key turns, may have rotated partly, which means the break point is no longer aligned with the keyway slot. Getting the fragment out requires moving it back into alignment with the keyway opening, then pulling it straight out along the path the key originally entered.
Extraction tools are thin, stiff metal hooks with teeth or barbs designed to grip the edge of a key blade. A skilled technician slides the tool in alongside the fragment, hooks an edge, and draws it back out. Done cleanly, the cylinder’s pins are never touched and the lock is unaffected.
The job sounds simple. It takes the right tools, sized correctly for the specific keyway, and some patience. What makes it go wrong is pushing the fragment instead of pulling it: anything rounded, anything smooth, anything that applies forward pressure. Stop at the break, keep the door in whatever position it’s in, and call.
We use non-destructive extraction tools first on every call. Drilling is a last resort, and we explain exactly why before we ever touch a drill.
Once the fragment is out, we don’t just hand it to you and leave. We run a test of the lock. We insert a working key and cycle the bolt several times. We check that the plug turns smoothly without grinding. We confirm the bolt throws fully and retracts cleanly.
If a pin was sheared or knocked out of alignment during the break, the lock will either be stiff or won’t key correctly. That’s obvious on the test. We tell you what we find. A single damaged pin stack can sometimes be rebuilt without replacing the whole cylinder. Full cylinder damage means replacement, and we give you the cost of that before we do any additional work.
A key breaks because of force on a thin cross-section. That force usually comes from a stiff lock. A cylinder that needs excessive turning effort is wearing the key down faster than normal use would, and eventually the key gives out instead of the lock.
If your lock has been getting stiffer over time, that’s worth addressing. Graphite lubricant in the keyway (not WD-40, which attracts grit) usually helps. If the cylinder is worn inside, rekeying with new pins can restore smooth operation. If the lock body itself is the problem, replacement is the correct answer.
We look at all of this during the extraction appointment and tell you what we see. You decide what to do with that information. Request a locksmith for a flat quote. We serve all 21 NJ counties, including same-day appointments on most residential extraction calls.
Locksmith Questions Answered
Most residential broken key extractions run $65 to $120 for labor. A new key cut on site adds $10 to $20. If the cylinder is damaged and needs replacement, we quote that separately before doing any additional work. The extraction price is confirmed before we dispatch.
In most cases, yes. Standard pin-tumbler cylinders in residential locks give enough clearance for extraction tools to reach the fragment. Deeply seated breaks, sheared keys that entered the cylinder in pieces, or very small mortise cylinders can be harder. If we arrive and determine that drilling is necessary, we tell you before we do it.
No. Thin metal objects like bobby pins or knife blades push the fragment deeper into the cylinder and can shear a pin stack. Superglue on a stick sometimes bonds to the cylinder instead of the key. Stop after the break and call. The fragment is much easier to extract before it gets moved.
If the key broke without damaging the pins or the cylinder housing, the lock functions normally. We test it fully after extraction. If there's pin damage, we let you know what the repair or replacement options are.
Usually one of three causes: the key was already worn thin from years of copying from copies, the lock is stiff and required more turning force than the key could take, or the key blank was low-quality metal. A stiff lock is worth fixing at the same appointment so the same thing doesn't happen to the new key.
Yes. Once the cylinder is clear, we can impression the lock or decode the existing pin stack to cut a new key to code. We carry key blanks for most standard residential locks.
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