The door lock is the standard type in a standard door knob. I don't know what brand; the builder installed it years ago. The door is open so I have access to both sides of the door. I removed one side of the door knob after removing the two screws. The other portion of the knob -- the one that has the "stem" -- is stuck inside what I think is called the spindle. Specifically, the "stem" is properly seated inside the spindle and cannot be removed. The portion of the knob with the stem will not turn. The other side of the knob turned just fine, as did the locking mechanism. The key can be inserted into the knob and turned, but that doesn't move the locking mechanism. The spring-loaded "nubs" that enter the strike plate do not retract. They are jammed.

I've been poking around trying to figure out just what is wrong, but cannot see anything out of place. Also, I looked through several threads in this and other web sites and cannot find anything that addresses this specific problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forums! Maybe you could post a couple of pix of the door, knob, and a closeup of the lock mechanism head on so we can see what you see. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html

 

If you can remove the whole thing just toss it and buy new knob set.
Builders put on the cheapest knobs you can buy. Buy a Schledge brand and never have to mess with it again.

 

Chandler ... Photos will help, I'm sure. I've loaded up four of them, each with some annotation. You can see that it is a pretty standard door knob with lock. This set goes on the door to my garage. I can lock the door from inside the house, and use a key (when needed) on the garage side of the door to let myself into the house. Image A shows the interior side of the knob with the rotating lock lever. Image B shows the garage side of the knob with its key hole. Image C shows the side-on angle of the door and the knob. Center foreground are the two latches (I think that's what they are called) that keep the door shut and locked. Neither of these spring-loaded latches can be pushed into the door, as is normal. Turning the door knob is not possible. The smaller of the two latches feels very loose. It seems to still have a bit of spring, but it feels as if something has broken inside the latch mechanism. I can wiggle the smaller latch quite a bit even though it will not recede into the door. Image D shows the spindle and the latch mechanism from the inside view. That is, I've removed the inside portion of the door knob (Image A). While I can wiggle the outside door knob quite a bit, and push the spindle in a short distance, I cannot pull the spindle out. Somehow it is stuck. I've tried coming at it from a bunch of angles .... used the flat of a screwdriver to try and force the mechanism, etc., ... but to no avail. I can't budge it. Nothing is rusted, and the entire door knob/lock mechanisms appear to be in good working order (except for the fact that they don't work). There is no rust or immediately apparent damage. Hope this extra information can help you help me. Thanks for asking .... and I'll look forward to hearing from you or someone else in the forum.

Here are the photos ...

 

That's the problem, Joe. I cannot remove it. The spindle is stuck, for some reason ... Rather not have to cut it out if I can find a way to clear the spindle. Once I do that, it's straight to the hardware store for a Schledge replacement!

 

Hi, Looks like a Kwickset. I would pull and twist on the knob and at the same time tap the spindle with a hammer. Hold the door from moving with a foot.
Good Luck Woodbutcher

 

Looks like brute force wins the day. I wanted to salvage the mechanism, but once I realized it had gotten bent (probably from messing around with it) and couldn't be saved, I decided to take the subtle approach and use a hammer on it. The hammer won. Out with the old, in with the new!.

Thanks everyone for your help.