Tool Boxes

[slyffer]

I'm just wondering what type of tool boxes people use and what tools locksmiths usually carry in their every day use. Any pictures would be great

[Shrub]

I use aliminium cases for carry round boxes as in to take to the door and the main tool box is my van

[Raccoon]

I personally use a $10 toolbox from Walmart. It's large and has a number of flip-open compartments on the top of the box, though the inside only has a single tray and a large area to dump all your tools in. I also use a number of zipper nylon bags for smaller parts and tools, so I don't have to dig so much.

Just use whatever suits you.

As for tools, there are a number of threads about locksmithing tools already. Most of them are pretty unhelpful because you can easily spend $10 grand buying half of what is listed. Buy what you need for the jobs you intend to do. If you don't know what to buy, then you don't know how to do the job properly, in which case, you're not ready to be a locksmith.

[HeadHunterCEO]

i have a klein zip up tool bag(5139) that serves me to service 80% of the ordinary calls.

humping around a 50# tool bag gets old fast.

[horsefeathers]

For lockouts I take a med sized aluminium case to the door which contains my specialist tools.

I then have two tool boxes - almost duplicated (but not quite). One is a standard tool box with general tools for general work. The other is the Souber DBB morticer case, which as well as the morticer etc itself, also contains screwdrivers, chisels, drill bits etc and there is plenty of room in there. This is the toolbox I use when fresh fitting mortice locks so contains all the tools required solely for that purpose.

A man can never have enough tools....

regards

[taylorgdl]

Bog standard plastic type toolbox for general tools.

Pelican case (in black) with extending handle and wheels for the expensive stuff.

Such as SV kit, tubular picks, impressioning stuff, two in ones etc etc

G.

[I Pik U]

I used to carry a large tool box for many years, but that was getting to heavy to lug around. I now use a small open topped plastic tool box that's approx. 12" long by 8" wide. It has one drawer in the botoom that I carry an assortment of screws and bolts of various sizes including common lock mounting bolts and set screws I find most often in my area. Also in the drawer I have small tools such as drill bits, allen keys, a spinner, safe change keys, etc. In the open top I have screw drivers, pliers, hammer, chisel, small flash light, pocket pouch with small screw drivers, picks and tension wrenches, and some other tools that rotate from my larger tool box depending on the job at hand. If I'm assessing a job, and not sure what I'm going to need, that's all I'll bring into the site. If I know I'll need to drill for an installation, I will carry in another box (usually just a milk crate with a shoulder strap) with a drill and hole saws, extension cord, jig, door wedge, and the very important dust pan and wisk to clean up afterwards, plus any other specialized tool for the job at hand.

[I Pik U]

Here's a picture of the small one I carry into a job site when I'm taking a first look:

[lt6206]

I have a small toolbox that has all the basic essentials in it like screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches and the like and I also have a shoulder harness tool belt that was extremely cheap.. Only 20 bucks at homier distributing.. You know the traveling tool sale people.. And it works great not having to tote a heavy tool box around.

[CaptB]

1 .I carry a £10.00 plastic tool box for general pick and lock opening gear.
2. A aluminium briefcase for electronic locks etc. Which has a various set of screwdrivers, multi meter, widow maker,alan keys, set of keys for most systems i deal with.
3. Homebase own material bag with multiple pockets of drill bits, chisels, 1 Dewalt drill + 1 Makita drill. Various woodworking tools.

Latest addition is my Odd job hop up which complys with regs but is much easier to carry than steps and ideal for door closers etc.

But generally all are in the vehicle plus another load of tool boxes only used for specific jobs.

Walking up to a front door I only take Case 1. (unless theyve stated something else is required on the phone).

[Raccoon]

I also carry a messenger bag for my paperwork (clipboard with invoices and credit slips) and basic entry tools. It has a variety of front and side pockets for business cards, pens & pencils, and other small items. I have to figure out who makes mine, as I bought it brand new at a thrift sale, and can't imagine what I'd do if I ever lost it. It's not a huge tote bag either, quite small and convenient but holds everything I need it to. It was the best $2 I've ever spent.

Edit: I found a tag and hunted down the makers. They're a promotional items brander/distributor, which makes sense as mine says AEROJET on the front. Anyway, <here it is>.

[CaptB]

Nice looking bag Racoon, I could do with one of them for my paperwork.

[ldnlksmth]

I'm a hyper organized kind of guy, so I have duplicate tools in a number of places. I have an aluminum case that holds everything I need to open and re-key a lock (aside from pins, that's a seperate box). That stays in my car for emergency work.

day to day, I carry two small pouches (Klein) on my belt. In them are my pick set (I don't use many), picquick screwdriver, folding allen key set, Leatherman multi-tool (the knives come in handy for adjusting mortices), flashlight, pen, pencil, sharpie marker (mark the inside of locks to remember which door they came from) and a few specialty keys (alarm panel generics, stuff like that, I use frequently).

I also have a box just for lock installation. it holds my drill, a set up template I made (a combo square with notches in place to mark backset of 2 3/4 or 2 3/8, and mark the centre of the edge for 1 3/4 or 1 7/8 doors) all the bits I need to install a lock, extras of most of those, pencils and screwdrivers. I have a seperate drill box that holds my cordless drill and the bits I require to drill out a lock if I can't pick it (don't go there, it happens and you all know it)

I also have a tool bag which houses many more hand tools, various pliers, my electrical tools, more picks, more screwdrivers, connecters, things like that. it's an electricians style bag with an open top and a little space in the middle (carrying hardware around) and keeps everything organized.

sorry for the longwinded explanation, I have a thing for tools... I'm sure you understand.

[lockdr]

Locksmith friend of mine uses one of those airport suitcases with the wheels on it to carry his tools into a store, hotel, restaurant, etc. They prefer to see that rather than some big metal cart. Also get some traffic cones to put around your work area. For general work, his van is his toolbox.

[ldnlksmth]

I knew a guy worked in a big city where he did a lot of work in highrises and it wasn't practical to go back to the truck every 10 seconds for another tool. He had a system similar to what you described, with hardsided plastic cases that stacked and locked together. Everything was right there and he could be up 35 floors and never have to worry about forgetting a tool. Problem I had with that is that I'm a generally lazy person and carrying 300lbs of tools up the stairs to a three-floor walk up type building gets old quick. I'm a simple in-and-out operator and like to keep things modular. I have run into problems before (nature of call/exact type of service variences, things like that) but they're few and far between, which keeps me generally happy with my tool set up. To each their own.