A few new questions about schools

[triman247]

I am really tinking of doing either the Foley-Belsaw school: http://www.locksmithingschool.com/

or the Penn Foster school: http://www.pennfoster.edu/locksmith/index.html

I just have a few questions about both of them that I am not entirely sure about the answer to.

1) Can you keep all of the materials that they send you eg Locks, Key cutter, picks, shims...

2) I believe that both send you a key cutting machine (assuming that you can keep them) Which one is the best for practical usage and quality?

3) At the bottom of the Penn outline; http://www.pennfoster.edu/locksmith/ProgramOutline.html It says that they reserve the right to change program content and materials when necessary. What are the chances that I'll be screwed over on tools or courses?

4) In your personal opinion (please only give opinion if you have participated in one of the schools) Which is better and please give some reasons why.


thank you very much for any support whatsoever.


triman

[Wolfman]

WO-HO first one here!!! *plants flag*

OK. Foley belsaw looks like the better option to me. I will list the reasons:

-Foley-belsaw key cutting machine
-foley-belsaw cost $769 and you can sometimes get it cheaper
-foley-belsaw comes with a universal pin kit, Pen foster comes with a kwikset pin kit. (kwikset olny does kwikset locks, universal does almost all)
and lastly
-with foley-belsaw you get all the stuff pen foster covers AND the burgar and firealarm course, and "business kit" that includes a sign, bussness cards, ect.


***I have no affiliation with eather company and neither have paid me to endourse them, i am simply stating what i know.***

*****in know way am i to be held accountable for my advice*****

[jimb]

I don't think anyone can say which course is better unless they have taken both courses, although you may get opinions.

With FB you get to keep everything they send you except the locks.

You don't get a pinning kit with FB but you will get extra pins and springs you get to keep. At least I never got a kit and never read anywhere that it was part of the course.

You can read more on FB here.
http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=12723&highlight=

[Wolfman]

Have i been misled?

*goes and looks through informations*

HE'S RIGHT!!!!

Sorry for the mis-information

Failed me, the force has!

[triman247]

Anyone out there know anyting about the Penn Foster School?


triman

[pinsetter]

I'm looking into three schools right now:

Foley-Belsaw, Penn Foster, and PCDI.

I can't decide which one I want to take either. Everyone here seems to lean toward Foley-Belsaw it seems. Maybe that should tell us something?

[lightfoot]

Hi everyone,
I thought I would post my two cents worth on schools.
I too, spent abt a month researching foley-belsaw, penn foster, pcdi and stratford. I finally chose foley-belsaw . I guess the main reason is reputation. I have read nothing but good things abt the course they offer, here as well as other sites I visit. Also, I know for a fact they have been around for a very long time. I remember seeing their ads in magazines back when I was a young pup. How many of these other " schools " have been here since b4 the internet revolution? I'm not knocking the other schools but when I thought abt having to part with several hundred dollars for training, I decided to go with someone I felt confident would be around. After I spoke to a lady named Sheila (forget her last name) who is president of the Tx-Ar-La. locksmith association and she told me her mother took the course frm foley-belsaw over 25 years ago and is still in business today, that kind of made up my mind. I just finished my first set of lessons and I am very pleased with what I have seen so far. I guess if I had the money I would take all the courses out there. You can never learn too much. But I'm on soc-sec disability and every dollar counts.I went with my gut on this decision and if I have any regrets I'll be sure to post them here for all to see. Thanks, Greg

[srm]

FB 'cuz i allready gave them my money.

No, really, all the positive feedback on this site and the price...but ya know, I may take the other one too.

[Shrub]

I could be wrong but i think ive read that the Penn Foster course is very good but a bit dated now but i could be wrong.

[Locksmoker]

Dont know about penn foster but I enjoyed the FB course. Learned alot. As jimb said you get to keep everything but the locks. No actual pin kit. Key machine and pick gun included in deal. FB forget to send blank keys with one of my lessons so I called them and they resent the whole supply envelope so I got some doubles of locks and just kept them.

[sturmgrenadier]

Hey folks. I was considering taking the Foley-Belsaw course more for personal enrichment than anything else (I don't really have the confidence and business skills to undertake a for profit endeavor such as locksmithing. No way). I think it would just be neat to be able to maintenance my own locks, help friends and family with lockouts/installations, and the like. Having said that, while searching for coins at a local auction of the estate of a retired locksmith, I just couldn't help but buy a ton of locksmithing related equipment and supplies. SOmething told me that an opportunity to get all of this stuff (dozens of factory sealed master padlocks, Weiser and SChlage lock cylinders, about sixty small boxes of assorted key blanks (I have no idea what kind of locks they are for-never heard of most of the brands), a pinning set with thousands of pins divided up by brand and size, and a working ILCO 'Manual' 025 key cutting machine) would not come up again for me. And even if I likely never use the stuff, I'll only be out $60.

My question is whether anyone (either a newby or experienced) thinks that, since I already have a key machine, that it would make sense to take one of the less-heralded (besides Penn-Foster or FB) correspondence courses that are perhaps cheaper but do not include a (for me) redundant key machine? Or maybe I should just take the best plain course period and not worry about saving a few bucks? I went to the locksmithingtrining.com website that Varjeal posted in a thread on that topic and there were links to many other courses/training programs that seem to be ad robust as the big two (and some include more in the way of tools). Cana anyone lend any insight/information on wehtehr these programs are any good? Thank you for your time.

[Raccoon]

I can't say anything about these courses, but CRAP DUDE, you really scored big for $60! I imagine you have at least $500~800 worth of equipment, minimum.