Specifications
The Biaxial control key has cuts in
the third and fourth positions which
are exactly three depths shallower
than the operating key. That seems to
sound exactly like original Medeco.
Well it is and it isn’t.
Medeco Biaxial has a .025” incre-
ment, while original Medeco has a
.030” increment. When it comes to the
rule of three, both versions are
computed in the same way. The
dimension of the thickness at the top
of the control sleeve is different.
Three times .030” made the original
Medeco control sleeve .090” thick.
Three times .025” makes the Biaxial
control sleeve .075” thick. There is a
.015” variation in thickness between
the two different control sleeves.
In Photograph 8, the six pin
regular Medeco style core and
housing is on the left, and the five
pin Biaxial core and housing is on
the right. These cores are not
interchangeable between the two
different housings, but it is core
length not Biaxial or original
Medeco which causes
incompatibility. The side view of the
loose cores shown in Photograph 9,
makes that obvious.
The Dome Face Plug
Photograph 10, shows a mortise
Biaxial cylinder with what is known
as a dome face plug. This is not an
IC cylinder, but some 6 pin I-Cores
are available with this style plug
face. It is not available for 5 pin
cores.
The purpose of the dome face
plug is to reduce the likelihood of
key breakage, by placing most of
the stress during key rotation on the
key shoulder rather than the key
blade. Photograph 11, shows the key
shoulder engaged in that slot in the
face of the plug.
The dome face plug is
recommended for cylinders used in
detention facilities and other
applications where accidental key
breakage may put the key user at
some risk. It is available for a
variety of Medeco lock cylinders,
including the 6 pin interchangeable
cores.
Best Interchangeable Core-
Corrections
Earlier in the year, Best-style IC
was explained in a three part series
of articles. In part 2 (April 1996) the
first paragraph incorrectly identifies
the pin diameter. It was listed as
August 1996 • 23
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