I’ve always wondered this. If every lock in the building is different, how is the master/ skeleton key made to be able to open all of the doors?
In: Engineering
Where’s the Lockpicking Lawyer when you need him??
Without getting too into how locks are made; most locks are made with 1-5 pins. If your key matches each pin, it opens the lock.
You can then make a skeleton key that exactly matches a specific combo, lets say 1,2,3,4,5, with a gradient upward to 2,3,4,5,5 or even 3,4,5,5,5.
This gives you dozens of possible combinations between 1,2,3,4,5 and 3,4,5,5,5, plenty enough for your very precise skeleton key to open every door in the building. Your key is shaped in such a way that it precisely matches 1,2,3,4,5, but has a gradient upward to fill in spaces between 1,2,3,4,5 and 3,4,5,5,5, and it works about the same way as picking a lock.
Skeleton keys aren’t very popular anymore because we can make locks much more precisely and gradients don’t work anymore (generally speaking).
Edit: The gradient upward from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, etc allows you to “match” the lock position “well enough” to convince the lock you have the right key. You have a very thick “1” position and a thinner “2” position, so the lock doesn’t even register that you have a “1” and instead just takes your “2”. Again, this only works on locks that are very weak and not precisely machined.
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