Shankle and Shankle Comprehensive Manual of Locksmthing, R.H. and M.D Shankle, Copyright 1994, ISBN 0-9640733-0-7, 584 pages, 7" X 10".
This 1994 book might be seen as an alternate to Phillip's book on locks and locksmithing. Compared to that book, it tends to be a little more advanced and practical in places, but may not be as a good a book for a complete beginner. It was self-published and is out of print, but used copies show up on Amazon (going price appears to be under $30) and eBay.
Contents:
1. History of Locks
2. Pin Tumbler Locks and Keys
3. Basic Tools
4. Key Machines -- Basically the handbooks for the Ilco 017, the MK2 Exacta Punch, and the Framon DBM-1 Flat Key Machine.
5. Types of Locks and Keys
6. Services -- Goes over work that Locksmiths perform, then goes into detail on rekeying common door locks. Almost 100 pages in this chapter.
7. High Security Locks and Keys -- Medeco (40 pages), Corbin Emhart, Schlage Primus, Assa Twin, and DOM.
8. Disc Wafer Locks and Keys
9. Master Keying -- There is enough to this chapter to enable one to actually create a simple master key system.
10. Double Bitted Locks and Keys -- (Doubled sided wafer locks)
11. Warded Locks and Keys
12. Lever Locks and Keys
13. Automotive Locks and Keys -- With the book being more than 20 years old it is out of date. VATS is the latest technology in the chapter. No transponder keys.
14. Vending Machine Locks and Keys -- Tubular Locks
15. Combination Locks -- For an intro book a fairly thorough section. Nothing on safe opening, but lots on combination changing and troubleshooting. This is a highlight of the book.
16. Pad Locks -- How to re-key pad locks. Includes Abloy Disklocks.
17. Lock Decoding -- A couple of paragraphs on reading wafer locks, and a few pages on the Lee Decoder Kit for lever locks.
18. Key Blank Reference. OK, but anyone serious about the subject would have the latest catalog from Ilco.
19. Lock Picking -- Half a dozen pages, very basic. Nothing on security pins.
20. Law Related to Locksmithing -- One page.
21. Starting a Locksmith Business -- May have been good advice twenty years ago. Only marketing mentioned is the Yellow Pages.
22. Electronics -- Access control, cameras, and an interesting section on fence intrusion detection systems.
This book does indulge in some of cut-and-paste, but a little less than what is in Phillip's books. It was probably written as both an introduction to locksmithing, and a handy all-in-one reference source for common locks. Where this books suffers is that it is not very well organized and might not be the best choice for a beginner. It is all there, but skips around a bit. As a reference, it does have an index so at least one can find things. However, it was written a few years before the Internet became ubiquitous and much of the reference material can be found on-line. Under pad locks it has instructions on rekeying American padlocks, great, but that is here for free:
http://www.americanlock.com/pdfs/A-004_Service_Manual.pdf. It has 40 pages on Medeco, but it can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.locksmithingeducation.com/MEDECO_Technical_Manual.pdf, Schlage Primus
http://www.locksmithingeducation.com/PrimusServiceManual.pdf. Do some searching around and a lot of up-to-date vendor documentation is out there. However, the book might be worthwhile for obsolete technology that is still out there.
Overall, if a beginner could only have one book, this would not be a bad one to have. But there are better books out there for beginners and as a reference source, it was a good idea in 1994, but much of the reference sections are available on-line these days.
