how good am i

[lost profit]

hi ive been on a couple of lockie courses but before i take the plunge i want to know how good i realy am. ive got all the tools that are required i just lack pin and cam systems .ive got carpentry and pvc door instullation exsperiene.over the last 18 months ive gained some exsperience and a lot of varied practice .its not what ido know that stops me its what i might not know. a question and answer session with a an exsperiened lockie should either leave me red faced or smileing.

[Shrub]

Can you walk up to a door and look through the key hole and correctly say what lock is fitted?

Can you then pick that lock regardless of what make or model it is?

What curtain picks do you have?

How much practice have you had with them?

How much stock do you have?

That will do you for now

[UNFORGIVEN]

lets say ive called you out and that my upvc doort is not working properly

the handle lifts but is very stiff also when ive lifted the handle as much as it will go the key wont turn in the euro cylinder ???

what would you do onsite to eleminate problems ??

[cbuk2k]

Big hammer? Stihl saw? I know a couple of guys that are good with thermite. I don’t know of a technique that can be discussed in public.

[UNFORGIVEN]

lol big hammer yes and a good hard kick lol

[lost profit]

Thanks for the questions I am looking forward to answering any questions that you put to me. First of all I have so much stock and tools that that is not really a problem. I have a collection of CB curtain wheel picks, I actually met the man at the MLA meeting in Telford and have spoken to him on the phone a few times and I really rate his picks. I have had hundreds of hours of practice with his picks. I have got an extensive manual which I have put together myself and could quite easily recognise and pick most of the locks that are out there, except for the Chubb detainers. The door senario is a good one thanks for that I will try and answer it as best that I can. I presume that the door is already open as you would only be trying to lift the handle to lock it, and not unlock it. I would take out the Euro cylinder and check that it has been fitted right and that the cam works. I would take the door handle off to check if it is spring loaded and these springs hadn't rusted. I would take the whole of the mechanism off as these are fitted in one complete unit, inspect the lock, check for damage, spray it to see if I could free it up, take all necessary measurements and the name of the lock in order to find a replacement if needed. Please feel free to rip my answers to bits and give me more questions.
Kind Regards
Lost Profit.

[Shrub]

You have missed the solution to the upvc door question,

Say the mech works fine, the lock is correctly fitted and the euro is in good working order,

The reason its happened and the solution to the problem are intertwined with each other,

[lost profit]

ok i would adjust catch plate or hinges thanks for reply

[UNFORGIVEN]

firstly i would cheack to see if the door is properly toe & healed
meaning that the pannel / glass is packed properly in the correct places
cheack that the welds on the door leaf and door fram match up exsacly
if not toe & heal needed
if fine then cheack the expansion gap between the door leaf and inside edges of the frame system makeing sure they are equal all way round
mark on door edge where the bolts/cams/hooks etc come out and move to then transferr to the frame side then open door and you will see by the marks you made what is working and what aint
that is what i would look for first before takeing anything appart

the procidure i explained above should take no more than 20 - 30 mins
and thats beeing generous.
as your knollage grows you should be able to find fault in most doors in about 5 mins

toe & heal takes about 5 - 15 mins normally

hope this is of any help to you my friend feel free to drop me a pm n e time you like if you have any questions at all

Regards

[lost profit]

thanks , your advice is all good. and appreciated . i have no measureing stick to test my knowledge so its great you took time out to reply to my thread cheers

[UNFORGIVEN]

any time friend
just pm me if you need advise on double glazeing

[scampdog]

a quick check if the door needs toeing or heeling, is to measure the diagonals, (the door always drops on the lock side). to fetch back to square, packers must be used, either on the top(lock side) or bottom(hinge side), but beware! accidents can happen as i found out to my expense

[bpc293]

i have a question. over there your doors are upvc it keeps popping up and i dont know what you guys are talking about. are they just plastic doors / upvc. and you guys have to take a course for these doors. when ever i see it discussed i think of our screen doors. i was just wondering

[Shrub]

Yes they are simply doors made from upvc (plastic), they use euro or oval cylinders to secure them and have multi point locking strips down the edge,

Problem is they look awful, get dirty and faded in the sun, are weak and move a lot with tempreture,

They are either jammed or wont lock,

Nasty things i would never have but a lot and i mean a lot dont share the same opinion,

[bpc293]

I've read about earth homes / green homes, kinda off the grid stuff.
i read in england or over that way they started selling plastic houses that where cheap and energy efficient is this true and have you guys ever seen them.