Locksmith school graduates.....Your opinions please!!

[lostlink]

Hello,
First post here....
I have been doing all the locksmithing at work (which is only a small part of my job duties) for over 2 years now. Almost all of it is SFIC A2, 6 pin, with only two different keyways. I would like to expand my knowledge as much as possible. I plan to become ALOA crl certified and possibly working up to cpl. I hope to retire in the next 8-10 years and just do locksmithing.

I would like to hear any opinions from those who have completed courses from FB, Penn-Foster, and or PCDI.

Also has anyone attended resident type schools like......http://www.acmelocksmithschool.com/........ ..http://www.mbausa.com/................h ... ome.htm....

I would like to apprenticeship however the local mobile locksmith seems to have a bit of negative attitude towards the institution that I work for so that is not an option.

Thanks,


LL



Post edited to sort the screen width issue out,

[jimb]

I would like to hear any opinions from those who have completed courses from FB, Penn-Foster, and or PCDI.

You can read my outline and review of the fb course here.
http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=12723&highlight=

You might also read this thread.
http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=1073&highlight=

[lostlink]

Thanks!!

[srm]

FB...I learned a lot...but mainly learned how much I still have to learn. I love the key cutting machine though!

Hello,
First post here....
I have been doing all the locksmithing at work (which is only a small part of my job duties) for over 2 years now. Almost all of it is SFIC A2, 6 pin, with only two different keyways. I would like to expand my knowledge as much as possible. I plan to become ALOA crl certified and possibly working up to cpl. I hope to retire in the next 8-10 years and just do locksmithing.

I would like to hear any opinions from those who have completed courses from FB, Penn-Foster, and or PCDI.

Also has anyone attended resident type schools like......http://www.acmelocksmithschool.com/........ ..http://www.mbausa.com/................h ... ome.htm....

I would like to apprenticeship however the local mobile locksmith seems to have a bit of negative attitude towards the institution that I work for so that is not an option.

Thanks,


LL



Post edited to sort the screen width issue out,

[linty]

i took a course through thompson education direct, i didn't learn enough but it showed employers i was serious i guess, and i work full time now as a locksmith.

[Isakill]

I took the Penn Foster course myself. I was kinda dissapointed at the level of the schooling. It was too easy and like the others there is WAY more out there to learn. I'm also dissapointed about their graduate policy, I still owe them money of course they can keep the key cutter until I pay them back.... But I need my diploma

[Eyes_Only]

I've taken this course here before I enrolled for the FB course a few years back, http://assuredlocksmithtraining.com/ . It's not as "involved" as the FB since the only thing you send back is just big packets of written exams at the end of each lesson module instead of actually sending in some of the locks you worked on. The information is thin but is more current then the FB course and covers more subjects then the FB.

You also get a mot more tools like a professional LAB pinning kit and a full set of impressioning files.

One thing I really like about Assured Locksmith Training is that their tool supply company carries way more stuff then Foley Belsaw, a lot more.

Overall I think it was a good course that helps to fill in the areas where Foley Belsaw was lacking in.

[le.nutzman]

Well I just finished the FB course, today, just sent off my last 5 lessons, have nothing but time on my hands really so it was easy to do in under 4 weeks. I don't know how other study at home schools are about taking care of students, but I can tell you this much, I'm deployed and when FB was notified about my status, they made immediate arrangements to ensure I got all my material and my key machine immediately due to the slow turn around time for snail mail (10 days each way).I don't know of many other places that would actually do that, if any at all, and i'm not even current on paying off my course. That's the next step.

Yes, the FB course is easy, won't deny it, and there are a lot of changes to the material that could be implemented, but what's key is they're aware of it and alot of what you turn in now is just exams. When it comes to the practical aspects of pulling a wafer lock apart and whatnot, you get to keep it now so you have something to reference back to. I think out of all my lessons, i ended up sending half of them back in the form of an exam, and the other half roughly in the form of a 4 or 5 question card with a tracing of something or drawing of something depending on what the skill topic of that lesson was.

I think the hardest part of learning the basics (note, i said basics, not advanced) was learning how to make a key by impressioning. I'm still having major difficulty doing it. It takes me upwards of 45 minutes to impression a lock, but in the process of improving on my impressioning skills, i am also cleaning up and redefining my slope and depths. So it's a really good win/win situation. On the flip side, I really enjoyed learning how to cut keys by code. I have a better understanding of how it's done now and am pretty proficient at it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the course, won't say i'm anything spectacular or whatnot, but I did come away from the course with alot more knowledge then when I started. Between the course material and what you can find here using your search-fu, completing the course is a breeze.

*NOTE* Yes the tools they send you are things you can pick up at the Dollar General, they do the job but there are better tools that you could use. I pretty much used whatever I had on hand and was able to still do the course.

[jimb]

When it comes to the practical aspects of pulling a wafer lock apart and whatnot, you get to keep it now so you have something to reference back to. I think out of all my lessons, i ended up sending half of them back in the form of an exam, and the other half roughly in the form of a 4 or 5 question card with a tracing of something or drawing of something depending on what the skill topic of that lesson was.

Makes me wonder if they read this forum, since not being able to keep locks has been a concern that has been discussed here on several occasions.

Some of the locks at least when I took the course would have to be returned for grading. It might be hard for them to grade you on the master keying lesson without returning the lock. Or do you now keep this lock also?

[le.nutzman]

Yeah, you turn in the Master keyed lock, makes sense though, but anything to do with making a key of some sort, you just either return the key or a drawing of the key and what not. Like with the impressioning back in an earlier lesson, you didn't have to return the lock, just the impressioned key, and that was a pain in the butt, at least for me. But other lessons like dealing with padlocks and stuff, they let you keep the cut aways. It was pretty nice actually.

[jimb]

But other lessons like dealing with padlocks and stuff, they let you keep the cut aways. It was pretty nice actually.

Cut aways They never had any cutaways when I took the course. Sounds like they have done some updates and made some other improvements.

[Isakill]

With the Penn-Foster course I took I got to keep all my locks... they sent me the boxes to send em back (I paid postage) but they sent them back to me.
Unfortunately there was no practical excersize for master keying so after reading it I applied it to the kwickset lock they sent me.

[maintenanceguy]

Took the NRI school course 15 years ago, not even sure if they're still in business. They were part of McGraw Hill, the text book publisher.

I was just starting out as a facilities mechanic for a big university and thought I'd like to get into the lock shop and a certificate in locksmithing might help.

The course was terrible. Written for 3rd graders. The tools were so unbelievably cheap. I spent just over $1200 on it (that's early 1990's money) but stuck it out to get the certificate.

I applied for a job in the lock shop, got an interview, and might have gotten the job if I hadn't pulled out that joke of a certificate to show the real locksmiths.

[Mike13]

I took the course from Ashworth (formerly PCDI). Not having flipped through or taken another course, I have nothing to base its quality off of.

There wasn't much covered in the course that wasn't already in the MIT guide. It briefly skimmed over alarms and high security locks but the basics were covered to include master keying.

I'm currently waiting for my"graduation gift" an Ilco keymachine. Its been 6 weeks so far and I'm beginning to wonder.

[mojomojo]

If you are trying to learn what is taught in these "famous" schools my advice to you is to follow the the courses taught in assocaiton with Major Distributors across the US. These course cater to everyone b/c each course specifies on a certain subject even in courses for the beginners to the advanced lockies. Only thing is that they tour like a music band of sorts.... PM me for more details or look at aloa website....All the courses are taught by the best of the best here in the states like for example Michael Hyde of Auto Smart "the holy autobible" teaches many of the Automotive classes............