Safe and vault training in the UK

[kwc]

Hi All,
Does anyone know of any training for future safe and vault technicians within the UK.

Are there any UK based associations and what is the best approach to get some training material to learn from.

If anyone has the steps it takes to learn this type of job then please share it with me please.
Thanks
Kevin

[Shrub]

Safe Ventures run courses that i believe are very good, other than that i am unsure but maybe Chris Belcher does somthign but i do not know,

I am pretty sure you need to be a trading lockie to get on one of their courses and would suggest you are anyway to get all the basics,

I wouldnt and couldnt advise that you go straight into safe work without being a lockie first but i could be wrong of course,

[kwc]

Hi Shrub,
Thanks for that, Would you know if a safe technican would only work on safe locks and only needs to learn about safe locks and not
the standard type locks we use doors.

I know you need to know about locks of course but if you only work on safes then why learn all the other types of locks and lock fitting.

Kev

[kwc]

Hi,
I have tried to look at the safe ventures site but i only get little boxes with red crosses in them where the pictures should be.
Any body know how to fix this
Kev

[UWSDWF]

tell them to get a batter website..


even with highspeed internet it takes like 10mins to load

[Shrub]

I personally dont know anyone who only does safe work and doenst know anything else nor doesnt only do safes,

You need to know how the basic locks work so you can get the practice o them, safe locks can be quite simular but just more internals to manipulate, as for combo locks etc i think that takes a lot of practise,

Personally i dont do safes except for simple ones like gun safes etc (simple as opposed to others out there), the set up cost in safes is very expensive and you need a vast knowledge of the safe in question to effectively open it,

I would suggest you can at least pick the normal mortice locks out there and also have a read of the howstuff works site on safe manipulation then work on from there,

Theres others on here who do work in safes and im sure they will be able to help you further,


The safe ventures site can be funny on some computors, you need to activate or deactivate things to get it tio work, i dont understand that side of things im sorry,

Im guessing its flash or your popup or firewall etc im not sure on that one sorry,

[Shrub]

Ps, if not in there try applying for advanced access on here, you will be able to ask a lot more detailed advice there on the subject,

I havent read your posts so i cant say if you would get in or not but you meet the post limit and time limit criterea,

[pinky]

In the uk the only safe techs that do only safes are the top 5% in the uk, as they get the cream, everyone else gets what they dont want and small stuff, certainly not enough to make a living on alone.
To get into the top 5% then you need to be picking the top safe locks in quick time and manipulating top safe locks in quick time, and i mean minutes. 10 years of training and practice and a hell of a natural ability may get you close.

if you cannot get to grips with picking with curtain picks, chubb114 locks and all other bs locks, then it just wont happen

almost all start as general locksmiths and are the most gifted of these that progress.

safeventures is a good course to get you going, though not for novices you need a good lock understanding to start with.

its a bit like a student doctor deciding not to train as a doctor first and just jump straight to brain surgery bypassing the basics and general work 1st.

there is a way to get into safes though as a novice, this is to work as an apprentice for a pittance for many years for a safe engineer, best training and only real training available.

[kwc]

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies, I know it takes years to learn a certain skill.
Im curious as to how they train to work on safes. I mean that say a safe develops a fault and needs to be drilled for example. First you need to know where to drill and and how. But how do they practice drilling techniques, surely they don't drill a safe everytime they practice!
Kev

[pinky]

thats one thing that they do, but most successfull safe engineers, such as alan morgan have all apprenticed to a leading safe engineer in their early years, they learn from their mentor and watch their mentor at work, this is the only way to train in this field.

its hard getting a locksmith apprenticeship, even harder to get a safe tech one in the uk, i know many established and skilled locksmiths who would give it all up to be taken under a top engineers wing, you cannot buy such training and experience.

[kwc]

Hi Pinky,
I suppose that with one to one training is the best way to learn the skill, and that means that the work force remains at the same level.

Is there never a shortage of these skills?
Kev

[pinky]

How will their ever be a shortage of these skills ? with 90% of good locksmiths wanting to progress into safes ?
Many do so, starting on the baby stuff and working up, those with a few quid buy the safeventures safe tools which allow the everyday locksmith to be able to open the top vaults, but at a cost of course.
There are more safe engineers now than ever before, most established locksmiths tackle safes, and build on their skills and tools each year, there is more of a shortage of work outside of the top 5% than their is a shortage of engineers.

[pinky]

safeventures course is an excellent grounding in the basics, but well over the head of a novice, their course presumes a good knowledge and skill of the basics.

there is not an abundance of top work, so this goes to the industries top guys, whom are helpfull at the shows and pass on some superb snippets , every show i go to i get at least 1 gem of info that allows me to move on a stage in my own knowledge, but no matter how good i get, i and most could not come close to these elite in our wildest dreams.

1 guy from 101 some time ago was fortunate to be apprenticed by a guy i consider to be one of the best, hes now working with an excellent safe engineer, in a few years many will beg to be this kids apprentice as he is special, also very very fortunate at the start he was given.
If this is truly what floats your boat, then get the basics under your belt and impress one of the elite into letting you carry his bags and make his coffee, then bit by bit if he sees potential in you, then you will get taught the valuable stuff in his head.

[kwc]

Hi Pinky,
I hear what you say, same in any game i guess. If a lucky break comes my way i sure will grab it.
I hope this will happen as i know i would give 110 % in learning from someone.
I know in my game (Alarms) the same thing happens, I now teach people my skills and they move into the game.
Kev

[pinky]

you ask about training, is 1 to 1 the best, well answer is hard to give, but the only truly effective training is that given by a top engineer over time, ie apprenticeship, the next best and how many of the top guys learnt is by buying the locks and getting inside them, developing an understanding and learning to defeat them lock by lock, process by process.