I'm a locksmith and safe technician: Ask me anything.

[SlimJimmy]

I'm a certified professional locksmith and GSA certified safe technician. Without giving away any trade secrets, I will answer any questions you might have.

[msongs]

1. how many brown tree snakes live on guam? nt

[SlimJimmy]

11. Three. But they use Quickset locks.

[Pinback]

2. What's the best way to secure an entry door

against break-ins?

[SlimJimmy]

9. Use a deadbolt and then add a handle cover.

This will help to keep a would be thief from shimming open the lock or using a pry tool. Nothing is perfect, but this will help. Never rely on a latch alone, use a deadbolt.

[Journeyman]

15. Interesting. Thanks for the info. Any suggestions for making a patio slider door more secure . . .

Presently, I have a lock with a pincer movement, two arms grab the frame from top and bottom. We could put a rod in the track, but are there better ways to secure it?

[SlimJimmy]

19. The pincher mechanism is pretty good.

In the old days, we would drill a small hole where the door met the frame and put a metal dowel to secure it from the inside.

[Tetrachloride]

3. Circular keys ?

Icebreaker:

A friend, decades ago, imported a door or lock mechanism with a circular (tubular ?) key. He believed it was safer, of course in part due to nobody in the north suburbs of Minneapolis would have ever seen one.

Comments ?

(a curiosity I have had on my mine since way back.)

[SlimJimmy]

5. Tubular locks are no more secure than the normal cam pinned ones,

like on your front door. I have a specialty pick I use for tubular locks.

[thatdemguy]

6. And in some ways less secure

Thank you to the bic pen. Less skill is needed to open a tubular lock with a bic pen than to pick a normal key.

[SlimJimmy]

12. That's true. No Coke machine in America is safe.

[area51]

4. I have a double cylinder deadbolt lock on a door,

and on the inside part of the lock, the key turns but doesn't engage anything. On the outside, the key works just fine to engage the deadbolt.

Is it possible for a locksmith to fix the inside part of the lock, or will the entire lock have to be replaced? I appreciate your advice.

[SlimJimmy]

7. Does it require a key on both the inside and outside locks?

If so, then you talking about two separate locking mechanisms. One can be fixed/replaced. If the interior lock is a hand turn, then the entire lock might have to be replaced.

Sorry misread your post. Two keys mean two separate locking devices.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

8. What kind of locks do you have on your doors?

[SlimJimmy]

10. I have all Schlage locks

Medium cost but much better security than Quickset. I have an electronic lock on my front door, but it has a key override (in case the electronic lock fails)

[Phoenix61]

16. Thanks! I have one of each and was told I can't rekey

one to match the other. If Schlage is better I’ll be replacing the Quickset. Two keys is an unnecessary complication.

[SlimJimmy]

20. Correct, you need to have the same brand lock to key alike.

Mainly because they use a different key (keyway) and a different set of pins. So one will not work with the other.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

18. Thanks!

[doc03]

13. I have been thinking of buying a gun safe, which is more secure an old style mechanical dial or

an electronic lock.

[SlimJimmy]

21. My humble, yet professional opinion is that the mechanical lock is better.

Actually, I just got home from retrofitting a mechanical lock on a gun safe that had an electronic Largard Basic lock on it. The reason is simple, they just don't fail, and they are more robust against brute force attacks. I have working locks at home from the late 30's and 40's that are still working perfectly. Although the electronic locks are good, they will fail at some point. Even the highly secure Kaba-Mas X-10 elctromechanical lock will fail, and at $1,400 a copy, that can be very expensive. The other thing I highly recommend is that you change the battery in an electronic lock once a year, and only use Duracell batteries.

[doc03]

29. Thanks. nt

[ret5hd]

14. I have a Diebold safe...

I think it’s from about the ‘70’s.

It’s about a 3 foot cube, walls several inches thick.

It has some rating (forget the name) that supposedly you can insure $250,000 of contents.

It has time lockouts (whatever the technical term is…you can set it using a little key to absolutely not unlock till a set time period is up)

Everything is mechanical, no electronics.

I had it in a business I used to own.

Is a safe like this worth anything? If so where would I market it? I called a couple companies that sell safes but they weren’t interested.

On edit: everything works silky smooth.

[SlimJimmy]

22. Diebold, Hamilton, and Liberty make the higher end safes and containers.

Most government safes are either Diebold or Hamilton. The older style Diebold safes were built to last and the fact that it is all mechanical is a plus. The usual place to market such a safe would be on E-Bay or some other similar site. Because it is a smaller safe, the value might be less than a standard business safe which resembles a short file cabinet in height. But, all safes that are in working order have value.

The Mercantile Safe Insurance Classification is probably the label you are referring to. They can be rated from B-K K being the highest classification.

K Burglar Resistive bearing the following labels:
Underwiter Laboratories inspected Torch and Tool Resisting Safe TRTL 60 Burglary.
Underwiter Laboratories inspected Torch, Explosive, and Tool Resisting Safe TXTL 60 Burglary.

[Kali]

17. best reset-able combination pad lock?

not best as in security, best in lasting more than a freaking year. outdoors.

[SlimJimmy]

23. Personally, I use an outdoor SFIC keyed lock by Best.

If you get the one that is SFIC Small Format Interchangeable Core, you can change the core and change the key very easily. (just like a combination)

Combination locks are just too easy to compromise.

[SlimJimmy]

26. I was looking through my padlock collection and found this. It might work

for what you need. I had it on my gate for about a year and it held up quite well.

[Kali]

30. This is for a gate that I need to be able to let people get through

And I don't want to be passing a key around. Also it's not anywhere near my house, so occasionally I just tell people over the phone what the combination is.

I change the combo 3 or 4 times per year. Again not for high security just to keep the general public slowed down and out of there.

[SlimJimmy]

31. I don't have any combo padlocks that are weatherproof in my collecton, but I found this on

Amazon.

[link:https://www.amazon.com/MasterLock-1178D-Combination-Padlock-Silver/dp/B0149IDKXM/ref=sr_1_31?keywords=combination+padlock+weatherproof&qid=1667003702&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjAxIiwicXNhIjoiNC4zNiIsInFzcCI6IjQuMDkifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-31]

[Kali]

32. been through a couple of those

the flap falls off pretty fast and one of the dials will eventually lock up or start spinning free. the other one I have tried is this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sesamee-K436-Resettable-Potential-Combinations/dp/B001C4TEKU/ref=sr_1_3_mod_primary_new?keywords=sesame+lock&qid=1667017832&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjMzIiwicXNhIjoiMy4wNiIsInFzcCI6IjIuODgifQ%3D%3D&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=8-3

[SlimJimmy]

33. That looks pretty good. You might also try looking at the

American Lock Company locks. They make a combination version. We (the government) use them in outdoor settings (the key version) and they hold up quite well.

[intrepidity]

24. Does Lockpickinglawyer impress you as much as he impresses me?

[SlimJimmy]

25. Yes, He's pretty good. I peruse his stuff from time to tiime.

[ret5hd]

34. And funny too:

[SlimJimmy]

35. Without giving away too much, he picked that lock very quickly.

Experience does count, and it does look like he set five pins.

[intrepidity]

27. I've got some questions about "wafers" (?)*

from like a year ago when I fixed my car door lock. But I don't remember specifically what my questions were, lol. I think it had to do with how to buy them, but also about what material they are from, because I was cleaning the gunky parts and then lubing. And how specific or generic they are between mfgs. I think I was wondering if I could use the wafers from a Ford in a Toyota, that sort of thing.

Thanks for this thread; bookmarking and will revisit!

*I'm talking about those tiny, tiny parts that engage with the even tinier springs. Oh! That's another question: are those springs generic/universal, or everyone has their own specs?

How did you get into this line of work, and how much school/training was involved? I find it fascinating.

[SlimJimmy]

28. Wafers (like in car door locks) are not the same for all maufacturers.

For example, most car locks that use wafers, use the double sided type, but not all. That's one reason why one size doesn't always fit. The same thing applies to the springs. BTW, I have a deep and abiding hate of wafers. Unless you use some type of light lubricant, they will fall out of the cam with no effort at all. One advantage though, I find them easier to pick than traditional pin tumbler locks.

I was a physical security specialist for the government, and as part of that job, was offered training as a locksmith. Once completed and after a few years experience, I moved on to safes. Training as a locksmith at an accredited in person school can be quite expensive. Typically from 6-10k when you add in food, travel, and lodging. I've paid (out of pocket) for my safe training, and it runs a bit more. Between school and equipment, I have about 60k invested. The problem is that there are only two nationally recognized in person schools (Lockmasters and MBA). But both are top notch.

[Marthe48]

36. Is a Marlin Safety Lock a gun lock?

I ran across a small lock with keys in a box in my basement today. Thank you

[SlimJimmy]

37. Honestly, I'm not sure.

Most gun locks disable the trigger not the safety.

[Marthe48]

38. I figured the name meant the lock ensures safety

I googled it, but saw nothing like this. I saw small locks with cables for gun safety, thought maybe the lock I have is missing that. Thanks for the reply.

[SlimJimmy]

39. Yes,. Most gun locks have a cable on them

[bucolic_frolic]

40. Are modern keyed cylinders backwards compatible from brand to brand?

Some manufacturers go out of business, but some day the cylinders need replacement.

Thanks

[SlimJimmy]

41. Modern keyed cylinders are not bacward

Compatible with other manufacturers. Each manufacturer uses their own style of pins. Fortunately, most locksmiths keep a wide variety of pins on hand, so they can rekey most locks.