The Continental

[Sinifar]

Ya know -- this isn't Clearstar. The more I think about it and read posts, the more I totally realize, if I had not before, that we have an international audience. This isn't a locked member only board either,and maybe it should be, like the one I mentioned before. At least this part of it, beyond the locked section they already have. Perhaps a subscription section for the trade only, to share experiences and opinions.

One tends to view things as if they were "local" that is USA only - unfortunately the internet is world wide, and everyone is allow to surf in and gets to read what we post. Many locks are not world wide, but "Euro" which we in the USA will never see. Knowing about them is about as useful to an old smith like me as knowing what the back side of the moon looks like. Might be nice, but never seen here.

Many of us are looking to share information which is confidential, and some of us are looking for answers to difficult problems which need to be discussed with the trade by asking older smiths for advise or just to get the inside dope on something.

I have an idea after the time on the site to know what Squelchy and others will allow -- or not allow -- which is fine, but some of us can go further and show more to our fellow crafts persons (I am being PC to make nice) to help them or to get help ourselves.

It could be international if desired, or needed, but it should be for smiths in the trade only to exchange ideas, methods, trix, and anything else which makes the job go easier, or solves a difficult problem, which is beyond the scope of this site, and should not be discussed in public, or worse in an open forum available to anyone who drops by.

Just saying in my Friday editorial, that there is a lot of eyes looking at things which they should not be, knowing things which should be kept confidential, and the trade needs to discuss beyond the scope of a site like Clearstar.

Sinifar

[Squelchtone]

looking at things which they should not be, knowing things which should be kept confidential,

Like what exactly? and what is your fear? that you might teach the competition or someone who will run out and become a locksmith based on what they read and learned here? or that they'll find out where you get discounted lock parts on the internet from a certain supply house? I think the days of the secret locksmith guild mentality where info is passed from master to journeyman in a dark room in the back of the shop are over. It really doesn't help anyone to make it a big secret how to machine cut keys, or how to impression a lock, repin a master keyed cylinder, or adjust a door closer.

The only thing I noticed is non locksmiths chiming into threads in the Locksmith Business Info sub forum that practicing locksmiths are talking things in, and I have no problem asking our general members who do this as a hobby to not chime in on everything in the Locksmith area especially if they don't do locksmith work for a living on a day to day basis. Nobody wants an armchair expert or overzealous hobbyist chiming in on a conversation professionals in the field are having. I can totally understand that.

I get a lot of PMs from locksmiths saying: "hey man, let me into Advanced, I shouldn't have to wait 50 days or bother posting 50 posts, but I can show you my ID and business card, and here's my ALOA number, I'm a real locksmith" and I tell them that we don't have time or a secretary to do all that paperwork and background checking, so we honestly wouldn't have time to do the same thing in order to let locksmiths into a locksmith only locked down area of the forum.

I also want to ad that it is very beneficial to have a publicly accessible area here to discuss Training and Licensing, help folks find state and local resources in their neck of the woods, and well as the Running a Business area, in order to bring more professionalism to the profession. There are still too many handymen with a dewalt drill who call themselves locksmiths, and we need proper training, licensing, and to help folks run a business and do it professionally when it comes to paperwork/invoicing, accepting credit cards, book keeping, advertising, etc.

I welcome all working locksmiths feedback on this, but if you are not currently a working locksmith or a moderator, please don't reply to this thread. Thanks
Squelchtone

[Sammi1]

When I saw the title I thought about the SNL skits with Christopher Walken
https://screen.yahoo.com/continental-ca ... 00025.html

[cledry]

I am always willing to teach other locksmiths and those who want to be locksmiths. You cannot learn what we do simply from reading a forum. Trust me, I have had loads of hobbyist lockpickers try out at our company and not one has yet to make it as a locksmith. Sure they can pick locks, but they cannot grasp much beyond simple rekeying and car openings. They get upset when you ask them to stock the key board or organize the stock shelves. I ask them to do this for a reason, to learn the blanks and the stock. I am not doing it to waste their time but they seem to feel that because they are good at picking they are above it. Last week one of our trainees who has loads of YouTube videos of him picking Medecos etc. told me flat out that it wasn't possible to open the padlock a customer bought in and he had tried to pick all weekend. I impressioned it, not easily but it was open and with a key. Then he told me I was impressioning wrong and that I should use a lighter, candle or sharpie to mark the blank! Another very good picker couldn't pick some simple Defiant locks, so wasted hours on a job that should have taken minutes because he was too proud to bump or drill the locks. I went out and rescued him and hopefully saved a customer but to hear him telling me that he didn't think it was the proper way to do the job really irked me.

What I am saying in all of this is that I feel it is good for wanna be locksmiths to get a feel for what we really do day to day. So they do not spend all of their time learning one skill (picking) at the expense of the myriad of other skills needed on this job.

[jeffmoss26]

Very well said, Jim.
It's the same in IT...you better be well rounded if you are doing helpdesk and sysadmin stuff like I do. The tickets I get daily can be anything from hardware problems, to cabling, phone system, databases, software, printers...if all I knew was one skill, I'd be in trouble!

Keep posting your stories from the field, I greatly enjoy them.