Complete Course In Professional Locksmithing by Robert Robinson, Published by Nelson-Hall in 1973. ISBN 0-911012-15-X, 399 pages, 8 1/2" X 10".
Contents:
1. Mortise Lock and Panic Exit Device Construction
2. Rim and Cylindrical Locks
3. Key Operated Mechanisms
4. Utility Locks
5. Environmental Servicing
6. Key Duplicating and Code Key Cutting
7. Lock Coding and Masterkeying
8. Opening Doors, Equipment, and Automobiles
9. Lock Engineering Standards
10. Repair Techniques
11. Electric Locks
12. Locksmith and Locksmith Shops
This book is long out of print, and is expensive used on Amazon and eBay. The best price currently is around $40 and I have seen the low price be as high as $60 lately, and the average price is about $100. Seeing as this book was going for much more used than comparable books new, was there anything to it? Could this be a long lost introductory book that is actually well-written and complete? Borrowed a copy through interlibrary loan to check it out.
On basic topics, I think the book is a little weak. But it has some bright spots:
1. The first surprise is the first ~50 pages are on mortise locks. Extensive coverage of the topic.
2. The section on lever tumbler locks (under Key Operated Mechanisms) is good. A lot there about picking and bypassing--some things I had not seen before. The book also touches on master keying lever tumbler locks.
The lockout chapter is interesting--it would seem that a lot of the material from this book found its way into the Desert Publication
Lockout, and Phillips credited
Lockout in his chapter on lockouts in his
Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing. So it all went back to at least 1973 to this book. I did not know that a mass-market book as early as 1973 had spilled the beans about picking and bypassing to any member of the public who could afford the book, but there it is. On picking, there is a picture of a tool that looks like it could pass for a Peterson pry-bar.
There is some cut-and-pate in the book, for example, the Schlage handbook on wafer locks are in it. But overall, less cut and paste than other intro books.
Robinson does devote a few short chapters to lock design. Some engineering principles, corrosion, wear, etc. Also has a chapter on welding, riveting, etc., to rebuild parts. In both cases, not sure if there is enough meat there for someone to really make use of it, but there it is. Has some quaint photos of a VW minibus set up as a locksmith van.
So no, the book is not a lost gem worth the high prices some people are asking. There is a sort of mass-hysteria on Amazon and eBay with out-of-print books sometimes. Just because a book is expensive does not mean it is good, it just means that the sellers are silly. The sellers know nothing of locksmithing, they have never read the book, they just know that it is out of print and someone is listing it for big bucks, so they will list it for just a bit less. A person would have to be insane to pay any of sixteen different sellers on Amazon asking $99+ for the book. If a person had a really strong interest in old mortise locks and lever tumbler locks then the best they can do right now is a listing on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-Course-in-Professional-Locksmithing/142506834420?epid=554010&hash=item212e11b9f4:g:Li8AAOSwY71Zug9P, but at $36 delivered I have to think that is still too much for the book. At $5 - $10 I might be tempted to buy one to keep as a reference. Otherwise there are better things to spend money on.
