Mortise Lock or Tubular Lever Lock: Which One for Your Door

Updated 2026-11-09 · RAYEN 雷茵

The question comes up on every door schedule: a tubular lock that drops into two holes, or a mortise lock in a pocket. Both are in our range, as tubular lever locks and as levers for mortise locks in our lever handles.

What is the difference?

• Tubular lever lock: a complete set. Two lever halves on roses, a separate latch in the door edge, and connecting parts through a bored hole in the door. Our tubular locks list a 60-70mm backset, measured from the door edge to the centre of the bore.
• Mortise lever: the lever is one part, the lock case another. The case sits in a deep pocket cut into the door edge. Its code, such as 8550 or 7255, sets where the lever and keyhole sit. See lock case numbers.

Our tubular lever locks

BK801 and BK802 list 30-50mm doors, Ø65mm roses and lever lengths of 106mm and 120mm. BK901 sits on an Ø75mm rose. The BK photos show a slot on the outside of the lever and the ET photos show a keyway, as on ET801. The full sizing is in tubular lever lock backset.

When should you choose a tubular lever lock?

• Standard interior doors in volume, where fitting time matters. Two drilled holes are faster than a routed pocket.
• Doors already bored for this type of lock. Measure the backset: 60mm to 70mm fits our range.
• Thin doors. BK801 lists doors from 30mm.
• A simple choice of function: a slot for a bathroom door, a key for an office.

When should you choose a mortise lever?

• You want a particular lever design. Our mortise lever range is far larger than our tubular range, in zinc alloy, stainless steel and aluminium, on roses, square roses and backplates.
• You want a backplate. Plates such as 58150-704 sit on a mortise case with a fixed centre.
• Thicker doors. Some mortise levers list up to 58mm, against 50mm on our tubular locks; see lever handle door thickness.
• A cylinder lock with a key from both sides, or a project where the lock case is specified separately from the lever.

Can you switch from one to the other?

Going from tubular to mortise on an existing door means cutting a pocket in the edge and usually covering the old bore, which a small rose will not hide. Going from mortise to tubular leaves a pocket that a tubular latch will not fill. On a refurbishment, stay with the type that is already in the door unless the doors are being refinished anyway.

What should you measure?

• On a tubular lock: the backset, and the door thickness.
• On a mortise lock: the centre distance from spindle to keyhole, the backset, and the face plate size.
• On a new door: the door thickness and the stile width, which decide whether a pocket fits.

What to write on your order

For a tubular lock: ET801, keyed, backset 60mm or 70mm, door thickness, finish. For a mortise lever: A5-653, lock case 7255, door 38-50mm, finish. Write the function on every line: privacy, office, passage.

Next step

Send your door schedule to [email protected] with the door thicknesses and functions, and we will propose tubular or mortise door by door. To narrow mortise levers by door thickness and lock case, open the lever handle finder. For samples of both, message the factory owner on WhatsApp from the contact page.

Open the selection tool：Lever Handle Finder by Door Thickness and Lock Case→