Life cycle of items?

[WolfSpring]

I would LIKE to be a locksmith down the road after I retire from my present carear. My current goal is to get certified/licencesed for now and buy as I go. I've got about 7 years till I think about retireing. My question is what kind of items do not change? I mean some of this is common sense, Picks will stay somewhat the same, and it is a perishible skill so i need to have them and practice. But key machines I would assume reach the end of there technology as new key coding and newer technology comes out so buying one right now would probably be conter productive. Is there any other tools I should think about holding off on buying?

Right now I have:

Decent Dremel(s)
Access to normal Grinder
Basic files(flat round triangle fine, rough, rasp)
Picks

I think my next small purchase will either be a pick gun or a tubular pick for practicing. Again this is a like to do thing, not a full blown life mission so putting 50-100 bucks towards it every few months is like supporting a hobby. I'm also going to get a repinning kit so i can repin my doors at my next house and start repining locks and learning some impressioning.

Thank you for any advice in advance.

[TigerDragon]

You would probably be fine getting a key machine for making copies for residential key work. I don't foresee things changing that drastically between now and then. A machine that cuts by code (especially one that stores the codes electronically for automotive keys) is something to hold off on until you are closer to "ready to change your career." They are very expensive, and may require a few firmware updates before you are serious about doing locksmithing.

There is a thread (or several) on here about what kinds of tools you'll want to collect... screwdrivers, lubricants, files, etc. You probably want to start there, and then think about what areas you would like to focus on. Residential will need different tools from automotive. Commercial will need some of the same tools, but may need some others, too.

Good luck!

[zeke79]

Things to hold off on for now will be the items for programming automotive keys. These will definately change in a few years. Buying a code machine would be fine now, even if you buy a computerized code machine such as the ITL as you only need to send it in if it has built in auto codes. I send my ITL in every two years for updates of auto codes as I have standalone software for codes so there is no need to send the machine in every year. If you don't use the autocodes built in you don't really need to send it back unless there is a new code series that comes out that your machine doesnt have. You actually don't have to send it in then as you can program in two hundred user manufacturers and data if I recall correctly. I use some of these to program in my marshall keys and my bump keys so I can cut them on the spot and have them come out exactly the same every time.

The code machine is up to you, but I have found that I use mine quite often even not being a full time locksmith. I have paid off my ITL around three times over since I have had it which is around two years now. I also have an HPC1200 blitz but I find that I don't use it much since I have my ITL. Before the ITL I had a framon #2D but I sold it to buy the ITL. The framon #2D was fine for small amounts of keys but when you had alot of keys it really took alot of time. The ITL cut my time on the machine down to about a third of the time it took me on the framon. The blitz is faster than the framon by a bit but is only around half as fast as the ITL and not as accurate for me since it can change the depth of cut if you switch viewing angles or atleast it does for me.

Good luck in your venture,

Zeke79

[Curleylocky]

There are so many updates to key machines, well we can't blame the manufacturers
for technology is being more and more progressive now a days. But you can always
search through the internet the newest update, I'll search later and I'll share it to you
whatever updates I would find