Differences Between Wafer Locks & Pin Tumbler Locks

Pin Tumbler Lock

• With its origins in ancient Egypt where large, wooden locks were crafted using wooden pins and mechanisms, the pin tumbler lock was perfected for the modern era by Linus Yale in 1861. A round cylinder houses a plug that includes a key slot and five or six aligned, vertically drilled holes. These holes are filled with small, metal pins of different lengths. These pins lock or unlock the cylinder when you introduce the correct key into the tumbler, sliding neatly under the pins above which sit with corresponding spring-loaded driver pins. Within the lock, the point at which the cylinder and the plug meet is called the shear point. When you insert the correct key into the slot, the pins lift until they each align at this shear point, allowing the plug to rotate and unlock the mechanism. If the you do not introduce the corresponding key, some of the pins will not clear the shear point, preventing the plug from turning.

Wafer Lock

• While it’s not as widely used as the pin tumbler lock, the wafer lock comprises at least one-quarter of the locks used to secure doors or drawers. The wafer lock, also known as a wafer tumbler lock, is housed within a cylinder. Rather than using pins as an internal locking and unlocking mechanisms, the wafer lock uses flat, thin, spring-loaded wafers to allow or to prevent access.

Mechanism Differences

• The pin-tumbler lock is assembled from numerous working parts while the wafer tumbler lock is one working mechanism. The keys for a wafer lock are typically shorter and use square cuts to move the wafers, and the pin-tumbler keys are longer and use pointed cuts to move their pins. In addition, wafer locks may have wafers on both sides of the pins, requiring a key that is cut on the top and bottom. Wafer locks are also typically less-expensive than pin-tumbler locks.

Various Uses

• Because of its construction and price point, a pin tumbler lock offers more security than a wafer lock, as the wafer lock’s design allows it to be picked or compromised more easily. Therefore, the wafer lock is used most often to secure filing cabinets, desks, strongboxes, suitcases and even cars, or wherever a mid-level of security is warranted. In commercial settings, such as in an office building, pin tumbler locks may be preferred because they can be manufactured to allow access with a master key, and they offer more key variations than a wafer lock.