Any Foley-Belsaw grads working as Locksmiths?

[bandito]

I signed up for the F-B course and can't wait to start it. Just wondering if there are people here whos initial locksmith training was the F-B course and if so was the course good enough to get started on the job. Thanks.

[Saedis]

FB got me started in locksmithing. I've always had an interest, just never pursued it till I found out about FB.

In my case the course was helpful in landing me my locksmithing apprenticeship. I'm not even done with the course. I'm on like lesson 28 last time I bothered with it.

My boss is an FB grad of like 15yrs ago so me taking the course showed to him that I was in fact interested in making a career change. Not just some guy off the street looking for a job.

So in my case the course helped landing a job. But like my boss said after he finished FB he was all gung-ho about opening shop. When that day finally came he was like "oh man what the heck is all this" lol...

The course is a good overview but I've learned far more from 2mos of work than the FB course has taught.

Good luck!

[n2oah]

You don't need the F-B course if you can use the search feature

[Chucklz]

I have often heard that you learn more in your first few weeks on the job than in the FB course. Besides helping you get your apprenticeship, has the course actually been useful, or is it what those at alt.locksmithing like to say?-- an expensive way to learn a little bit.

[bandito]

Thanks for your input you guys. F-B says that there's a money back policy, so I guess that's sort of cool. Years ago I looked into the Locksmithing Institute, but I guess they're not around anymore, so I thought I would try F-B.
I've tried to learn as much as I could on my own about Locksmithing, but you can only do so much without being at least a student or apprentice in order to get a hold of some tools, esp. picks. Picks are restricted tools here in Canada. My thought was that if I showed a prospective employer that I was serious since I took the F-B course on my own then I might stand a chance to get in as an apprentice.

There is a school up here actually, they want something like $3800 for a two week course, and I don't think it's approved by anyone. Talk about gouging students.

Saedis, if I find a job for you in Canada will you give me yours? I wouldn't mind hanging out in the U.S. for a while.

[Saedis]

I have often heard that you learn more in your first few weeks on the job than in the FB course. Besides helping you get your apprenticeship, has the course actually been useful, or is it what those at alt.locksmithing like to say?-- an expensive way to learn a little bit.

The course has been useful at times for me. My apprenticeship may be different than others though as we are in a very small town and there can be and often is ALOT of downtime at the storefront, which I run.

The biggest help FB has been to me was on IC's. I read the lesson and was like wtf...

But then I scrounged around the shop for some IC stuff sat down read the lesson again and dinked around with the cores. With the actual material which FB doesn't provide, everything they said about IC in the course made perfect sense. (had they provided an IC this would have been the one area where I could have said yes FB actually taught me something I didn't learn at work). As is it was kinda learned 50/50.

Other than that I can't think of anything that I learned from FB that I wouldn't of learned at work in a couple of weeks.

I'm still glad I took the course, got my own machine (though it seems cheap after using the ones at work lol...). I have referred back to past lessons when I run into something at work I need a little help on, so I suppose it's a decent reference as well for an apprentice.

Thanks for your input you guys. F-B says that there's a money back policy, so I guess that's sort of cool. Years ago I looked into the Locksmithing Institute, but I guess they're not around anymore, so I thought I would try F-B.
I've tried to learn as much as I could on my own about Locksmithing, but you can only do so much without being at least a student or apprentice in order to get a hold of some tools, esp. picks. Picks are restricted tools here in Canada. My thought was that if I showed a prospective employer that I was serious since I took the F-B course on my own then I might stand a chance to get in as an apprentice.

There is a school up here actually, they want something like $3800 for a two week course, and I don't think it's approved by anyone. Talk about gouging students.

Saedis, if I find a job for you in Canada will you give me yours? I wouldn't mind hanging out in the U.S. for a while.

If it wasn't for landing my apprenticeship out here in the sticks, FB would be all I had to go on as well. It is a good overview. But man there is so much they don't touch on.

I would not pay anyone 3800 bucks for a 2 week course, thats crazy. They cannot teach you enough in 2 weeks to be worth that much.

Heck. Offer my boss 2k to ride around with him for a month and you'll learn more lol...


And yes, if you find me a locksmithing apprenticeship in Canada, you have a 99% chance of swapping jobs with me. If possible!

[bandito]

I am looking forward to the FB course. If I get a good solid basic foundation from it I'd be happy. Hopefully soon after the course I can get someone to hire me.

Thanks for your input Saedis. Riding along with a good locksmith would be great. Maybe if I buy lunch I might get to hang out at a shop or go on some service calls. You gave me an idea.

It's a hassle with immigration for Canadians to work in the U.S., and I'm sure the other way around. If I hear of anything though I'll let you know.