Cabinet locks

[Ski Me]

Working in the alarm industry you sometimes come across equipment cabinets that have old lock sets on them and not a single key you have will open them. Thats when you go out to your truck and get the good old drill and the new bit you bought a few days ago cause you ruined the one you had drilling out somebody else's lock. Plus the customer gets mad cause you ruined his lock which they lost the keys to and want you to replace it free of charge. Kinda takes the profit margin out of the service call. So my remedy is to learn how to pick locks and not ruin the customers lock and they don't have to call a lock smith. Most of these locks are three pin or four pin locks and should be really easy to pick I bought a 17 piece set which I think will handle most of the cabinets locks I come across.

[globallockytoo]

it seems everyone wants to be a locksmith but is unprepared to take the training required to become one....hobby picking is not about doing locksmiths out of their job but more about having fun.

If you want to do locksmithing maybe you should take some courses, get licensed, and benefit from the experience.

I'm sorry, but noobs who buy a set of picks with the express purpose of taking work away from legitimate business people, ought to be stopped....IMHO...

Sites like this are for talking about and promoting the craft....and enjoying the sport and enjoyment derived from successfully defeating locks.

I dont belive this site encourages people to try to take work away from locksmiths....like what you alluded to in your above post.

[Krypos]

WTF? dude calm the phunk down. this guy is talking about saving his comany some money by learning to pick locks which he would have to drill out previously. this guy is here to learn and to save his comnay some money, and im sure, he plans on having some fun along the way.

chill out and dont get all "oh...you filthy dog! stealing business from lockies!"

Working in the alarm industry you sometimes come across equipment cabinets that have old lock sets on them and not a single key you have will open them. Thats when you go out to your truck and get the good old drill...

in the alarm industry. that means sometimes coming across locks and such.

*SOMETIMES* he states that he sometimes comes across locks. not every day. sometimes. so chill.

this guys talking about saving some locks and money by NOT drilling them. this should get praise!

so calm down and dont act like hes undercutting every locksmith in the world and that hes ruining the economy, hes just improving the company he works for!

ski me- good idea to learn to pick instead of drilling man. as for 17 pieces handling the locks you find, that should be plenty, make sure to practice so your not trying to figure out what that diamond shaped one is for on the job.

seeing as its a 17 pc set, may i assume it was from southord? if not, thats fine too. if ya have any questions about the picks or anything, feel free to post it in this thread and or PM me.

welcome to the site ski me BTW.

[globallockytoo]

Hey Krypos!

I said IMHO....In My Humble Opinion.....this is a forum where people are entitled to their own opinions....just as I acknowledge you are too.

This is a site where people can come and learn about the art of picking locks....

I have been doing so for a long long time and I enjoy the sport of it too. Sure i will do my own locksmithing and maybe that of my friends....but I wouldnt encourage anyone to work on locks of their clients without some formal training.

[Krypos]

ok, i can respect that. it was just this part that bugged me A LOT:

I dont belive this site encourages people to try to take work away from locksmiths....like what you alluded to in your above post.

it just bugs me, that sentence it does. cuz he isnt trying to take business away from locksmiths, in fact, either way, whether he drills it or picks it makes no difference to the lockies. but it is encouraged to spare any and all locks possible, which saves money.

[Shrub]

The op should be calling a lockie to open these locks, instead hes drilling them out himself,

Now if he is now learing to pick these locks then fine great the customer is goign to benefit but he is taking the work away from lockies but then again he always has done if hes been drilling the locks out from day one,

But thats my thoughts on the subject,

The OP wasnt a question nor advice but a statement that would have been better on the introduce yourself thread i think,

Welcome to the site, click the picture on my post to find a post of links of useful guides that will get you goind,

Get a load of old alarm boxes to practice your picking on and you will be set,

[Ski Me]

I really don't think that I would be taking business away from locksmiths and by no means would I think I could I'm just trying to keep the customer happy by not damaging their equipment. As a fire alarm tech the emphasis is on life safety so when I need to gain access to a fire alarm system I cannot let something like a lock keep me from performing service on a system that is required by code in order to keep a business open or protect people while the the protected space is occupied. Now that you know where I coming from I can't say to a customer "Sorry I can't service your fire alarm system because I don't have a key you'll just have to stay closed until a locksmith gets here or I can find a key." Imagine being a owner of a business and your told that the source of income you rely on cannot function. Part of my job is to prevent that from happening and if I can make it better for the customer by learning how to pick locks then thats what I'm going to do. Besides when I do open a cabinet by picking a lock they still need a locksmith to rekey the lock so in fact I might just get more business for a locksmith. Don't think I don't know anything about the trade my brother in-law was a locksmith for years, I didn't take advantgage of his knowledge while he was alive but I did hear about some of the aspects of his chosen field. I didn't mean for this to be a long post but I think some here didn't understand my intent or why I feel it is important gain this new skill. As for learning I do intend to use the resources that I find at my disposel learn the skill and develop it as my ability allows.

[linty]

if you're gonna condemn the alarm guys who mess with locks then you also have to condemn the locksmiths who either dabble in security or the ones sell somebody a 300 dollar lock knowing full well that without an alarm system it's not gonna really make their house into the fortress they're hoping for. I'd guess there are more of the latter than the former.

[Squelchtone]

if you're gonna condemn the alarm guys who mess with locks then you also have to condemn the locksmiths who either dabble in security or the ones sell somebody a 300 dollar lock knowing full well that without an alarm system it's not gonna really make their house into the fortress they're hoping for. I'd guess there are more of the latter than the former.

I don't like when electricians who think they're the gods of wiring, try to wire up a new house's phone, data, and audio cables.. they're such hacks.. they should stick with AC, leave the DC to people like me who only do telecomm.

/rant


As for picking an alarm panel open, the more power to the guy, I've gone to service an alarm panel's RJ31x phone connection and if they're locked, you get a snowman pick and rake it open in 3 seconds.. 99% of the panels I've seen are cheap wafer locks, but the cam/throw is 1 inch so you can't pry the panel open. I think picks to a phone guy or alarm guy are just another tool in the tool box.. very handy.

and that's my opinion on the matter.

=)

Squelchtone

[Ski Me]

I don't like when electricians who think they're the gods of wiring, try to wire up a new house's phone, data, and audio cables.. they're such hacks.. they should stick with AC, leave the DC to people like me who only do telecomm.

/rant


Squelchtone

It's not so bad electricians do after all have the all powerful electrical lic. which means they know all about wiring up low voltage things as well as high voltage and when they screw it up they call me to fix it and charge them till they bleed (sorry to those who are and those who would or will be electricians but it really is true.)

[Schuyler]

Welcome to the site. I think it's definately a positive that you're ready to take an NDE approach to the locks you come accross. In fact, considering the business you're presently in, if you find you take any joy in picking (and there's a lot to be had) you may even consider taking some classes and becoming a part-time locksmith. Seems like you could overlap clientel to some degree.

I've got my fingers crossed that you'll find this hobby/profession to be more than just a useful on-the-job skill.

[mrdan]

Hey, I am a "Alarm Guy" and can say that I haven't met a tech yet who hasn't used the universal highspeed dril---er-uh . . . master key. We carry replacements. And a very large key ring. ( although I have been carrying my picks) they are just cheap 4 wafer locks not worth paying a lockie for. Besides most alarm companies won't allow techs to incur that kind of bill. They will just send a more senior tech to take care of it and probably eventually get rid of the tech who doesn't take care of business.

It just so happens that I am taking a locksmithing course and allready have a Smallbusiness management class under my belt and it is my intention to eventually break off and run my own shop.

And WECOME TO A FELLOW "Alarm Guy"