# Securing Sliding Glass Door Locks?



## saximus (Jan 14, 2014)

I’m obviously a big fan of the homemade coat hanger type and one of the reasons I went away from the lockable type was that no matter how tight you screw the little thing on the back, they never seem that secure and eventually they start getting wobbly and/or fall off. Unfortunately I have to use the lockable ones for my elapid cages though. So I’m just after some tips on how people secure their glass sliding door locks in place? I was thinking of maybe adding some silicon in the part that attaches to the door but I don’t know how neat that would look. 
Or, better yet, is there a better style/brand I should try that is easy to attach and stays in place?


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## andynic07 (Jan 14, 2014)

Could you make a u shaped piece of metal that screws to the timber and your coat hanger type latch lands into and then you could place a padlock through two holes stopping your latch from being lifted out of its resting place?

Not sure if you will get the picture from my description or not but if you don't I would be happy to post either a picture or model to better illustrate what I mean.


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## Senator358 (Jan 14, 2014)

Only thing I can think of that would be completely secure is to get the glass cut and fix a lock permanantely that way. I know a few elapid keepers that have done this to meet reg's


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2014)

Araldite does it no problems..


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2014)

araldite the back screw to the glass and the U edge that touches the glass.


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## Lawra (Jan 14, 2014)

andynic07 said:


> Could you make a u shaped piece of metal that screws to the timber and your coat hanger type latch lands into and then you could place a padlock through two holes stopping your latch from being lifted out of its resting place?
> 
> Not sure if you will get the picture from my description or not but if you don't I would be happy to post either a picture or model to better illustrate what I mean.



Love this idea! Might have to steal it


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2014)

By law we have to lock olive pythons (In WA).. I have to keep a small python under a meter behind locked glass... It's absurd!!!!!!


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## saximus (Jan 14, 2014)

Great ideas everyone. Thanks a lot. 

Snowman that's absurd haha


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## andynic07 (Jan 14, 2014)

Make sure you let us know who the winner is or if we all lose. Lol


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## saximus (Jan 14, 2014)

The araldite idea is closest to what was had in my head but I’m definitely fond of my coat hanger locks so I’ll probably go with yours Andy. I’ll make a trip to Bunnings and see what will be the most aesthetically pleasing though.

The silly thing about it is that, either way, the “locked” doors can simply be lifted out of the tracks and removed completely. Nobody tell the department about that though...


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## andynic07 (Jan 14, 2014)

If they really want to get into your snakes they will smash the glass anyway. It is like "securing" single insulated cables. It is ok if you need a tool to access the area like in a switchboard with the little nut holding the hinged panel closed technically you need a spanner to undo it but most are only finger tight. As for my acceptance speech I will start to work on it. Make sure you post some pictures when you are done.


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2014)

I think we all know araldite is the clear winner... I've araldited handles onto my sliding glass doors and its still there 5 years later..


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## andynic07 (Jan 14, 2014)

"Clear winner" a pun will not increase your chances of winning Snowman. Lol


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## cement (Jan 14, 2014)

Also guys, if you run the glass track vertically down the sides of where the door closes (ie fully around the perimeter of the opening) it closes into the track, which effectively takes care of any chance of a gap if the glass or the enclosure isnt quite square, and means you can't lift the door out if it is locked.


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2014)

andynic07 said:


> "Clear winner" a pun will not increase your chances of winning Snowman. Lol


I love a good pun  (or pin for the kiwis)


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## getarealdog (Jan 14, 2014)

could put dowling in the tracks, also handy when you give the glass cutter the wrong measurement and your glass doors are 3mm too short!


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## saximus (Jan 16, 2014)

Here you go [MENTION=34534]andynic07[/MENTION]. I think it looks really neat. Thanks for the suggestion.

PS Don't mind the chipped melamine. That's what you get for using the wrong table saw blade.


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## Snowman (Jan 16, 2014)

Damn it! You used Andy's idea :-/ 
*strips off and runs around the pool table twice.


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## andynic07 (Jan 16, 2014)

[MENTION=21544]saximus[/MENTION] [MENTION=16366]Snowman[/MENTION] , this is similar to my idea but not exactly what I was thinking but think that it looks awesome so we will say that hobby wins with Saximus's design. I still think that Snowman needs to do the nudie run because Saximus was the winning engineer.lol


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