Locksmiths

[bobhdus]

I noticed there are a lot of gunsmiths around the forums so I was wondering if there are any Locksmiths that frequent this site. My current job is is as a Maintenance Mechanic but I do locksmithing for this company as well and I also do it on the side. I have been certified for 15 yrs. Because the applications I work with in the Institutional (non automotive) setting I make a lot of my own tooling and fixturing for doing lock work. I was hoping to find other folks that do the same thing. Let me know. Thanks.

[danlb]

I'm not a certified locksmith, just an amateur. I am self taught, thanks to "Locksmiths Ledger" and many, many books and web sites.

One of the reasons I got into machining was to make tools to help when working on locks and keys. The more you learn about machining the easier it is to work with locks.

One of my projects was a cut away lock to show my niece how a pin tumbler lock works.

Dan

[bobhdus]

Thanks for your reply. I do not worry about being certified so much anymore as there as guys in my Co. that I personally helped to get the Co. to pay for the training and Certification and they lost most of what they learned because they did not maintain their skill-sets. Out of six guys in this employment, only one (besides me) decided to dive in and take on specializing in that type of work. When it comes to the locks and security I personally do all of the hardware installs, maintenance and repairs in our facility, and also I control the Key Control programs. This is on top of my main duties as a Maintenance mechanic. I get offers all the time to help people who lock their keys in their cars in the parking lots as well. I usually pass though as I feel that this is not my company responsibility but some of the other employees that have the training will do these after hours and make more in 5-10 min than they did for one hour of OT. It is a rewarding experience and there is a lot of responsibility. Outside of your personal level of training, the key difference between an amateur and a professional is to follow the "code of ethics" of a Locksmith.

[Highpower]

I'm not a certified locksmith, just an amateur.

Same here. Many years ago I once forgot my keys on my way out the door and locked them inside my apartment. Naturally the building manager was nowhere to be found.....

So I had to call a locksmith to come out and open the door for me, which took all of 4 SECONDS to do!!! I then received a bill for $60.00 for his "service call".

That evening I enrolled in a correspondence course in lock smithing to ensure that never happened again. It is a skill that has proven useful many times since then.

[boslab]

i got paid to break into a bank! really, it was a branch in Swansea [Wales], they had snapped the key in a pair of glass doors at the front, the only keyed door, the police were there too!, 8" angle grinder through the middle of the doors, hardly locksmithing but funny for passers by.
mark

[bollie7]

, the key difference between an amateur and a professional is to follow the "code of ethics" of a Locksmith.

Pun intended? had a laugh about it anyway

regards
bollie7

[jim-locksmith]

The things that locksmiths do the most important part of a locksmiths work in olden times used to be making locks. But that is not the case anymore as the developing of locks is prepared on a large scale by companies who concentrate on them

[Circlip]

So I had to call a locksmith to come out and open the door for me, which took all of 4 SECONDS to do!!! I then received a bill for $60.00 for his "service call".

I wonder if it's just the HSM type fraternities that would jump in to save paying a tradesman for his skills??

I once bought some key blanks and cut new keys for my door locks not to "Save" money, but to use my own SHARP cutters that the "Professional" obviously didn't have when I went to have some cut. Minimal application of a swiss file on the corners and three extra keys for each lock. Did I save any money?? No, the blanks were the same as a cut key, but the frustration of having to take the crap back successive times WAS a saving.

Regards Ian

[Evan]

I've been playing around with locks since I was a kid. I always make my own tools. Back in the 70's when I worked for Xerox the Xerox salesman dropped by to visit and show off his new car. When we went outside to look at it later he discovered he had locked in the keys.

No problem, I got a torque tool and pin runner and had it open in 30 seconds. He was not amused.

Much later when my son was in high school I decided to rekey a bunch of padlocks to cut down on the number of keys we had to deal with. I picked a key that fit them because I already had about half a dozen of that particular key on hand.

My son had one for his own padlock on his locker at school. One day at school for no particular reason he noticed that the school padlocks on the gates were of the same type. He tried his key on one lock and it worked. He was noticed and told to report to the office where the school Principal Administrator demanded to know where he found the key and insisted my son give him the key. The sheet hit the fan when my son refused to give it to him and informed him that it was a key to our own locks. I received a call from the Principal to verify this and explained my son was telling the truth.

This put the Principal and the entire school district in a serious bind as it turned out that the key was the same keying for all exterior padlocks used throughout the district. They had been assured by the padlock manufacturer that the key wasn't available to the public, which was only partly true. The reason I had a bunch is that they were used on the coin-op mechanisms on Xerox public copiers. Customers would lose their key and I always carried replacements. The padlock manufacturer had led the school district buyer to believe that they would be the ONLY customer with that particular keying.

As much as they didn't like it my son retained his key and their security remained compromised.

[old-biker-uk]

Made a few keys over the years, working in a museum there were often keys required for old pieces of furniture that the 'professionals' wouldn't even look at.
The last one was for the local church, they were quoted £100 + VAT from the locksmiths so I (the Churchwarden's Odd Job man) made one.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/OldBik...81324600113986