Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Insight behind of the root definition of the term locksmith

Not a day goes on in Tempe area where someone here, as well as beyond, wonder how things work. Sometimes they think about what a person might do for work and what it means to do it and also how that work is performed. "What exactly is a locksmith?" is a question that has arisen quite often. This following article is going to try to answer that for you in Baltimore and elsewhere for those of you who are curious about the skilled laborer that is known as The Locksmith. While you may have a good idea about locks, do you know about what a locksmith is? Smiths are people who work with metals. When you add locks and keys to this equation it is easy to see that this person would be a called a locksmith, the very person who understands and repairs or creates locks. The fine art of defeating a lock, or even creating new ones, has long been popular. Locks are in use worldwide and protect all things that need protecting. Locks came in to being well over four thousand years ago and the security and sense of protection they offer are appreciated. The reason that locks came to being is not a difficult one to understand. When you want to see to it that you're belongings and other things are safe, and you have the key for the lock, or perhaps if you have the know-how of a professional, then you will be able to access what is yours. There are many interesting jobs that the locksmith performs. You can be sure that there are many calls for lockouts of the home or auto, and your Tempe locksmith is well known as an expert in commercial security matters, because they have the skills and well honed ability to perform service or install any type of lock or hardware. Absolute security is the goal of the person doing the work. Every type of lock and key issue can be met from the most basic to the most advanced since the locksmith has the necessary skills to get the results you want. Of course a locksmith can be focus on one type of security but a locksmith also works out of a store doing repairs and upgrades, they might be mobile and working out of their truck or car to come to you, they might be employed by a business or school for their skills and there are those who are employed by their local city government, too. Locksmiths have spent years learning their trade to be able to remedy all problems that they are called on to fix.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Day of the Snowbird in the Life of a Locksmith


As temperatures steadily fall here in the valley, snowbirds migration has began. For all of you that are not accustomed to the hundreds of thousands of middle aged to retired people who have winter houses in the greater Phoenix Metro. The most common problem that these type of people have is that they most likely have not set foot in Arizona since April and when they come back not everything is the way it was left. So as a locksmith I have become accustomed to doing extensive repairs to locks and doors that have been in such a way for months. As houses that do not receive any visitors soon become targets of criminals for vandalism and burglary. As we grow closer to winter these situations have been becoming all the more prevalent.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The heat of summer is coming to a close

Every summer hundreds of people from the Phoenix area experience problems due to the extreme heat. To make matters worse hundreds of people lock themselves out of their car, house or business. This puts the one locked out in unexpected danger. What if there are no people around or what if you don't have a phone? Sustained temperatures of 100 degrees can lead to dehydration, confusion, panic attacks, fainting and so on. With these temperatures finally coming down to an acceptable temperature, I can rest assured that my future locksmith customers will be safe prior to my arrival. The many responsibilities of a locksmith never end!

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Padlocks

Padlocks
The padlock is used throughout the world to secure anything and everything from the vast plains of Africa to the few human settlements in the icy tundra of Antarctica. The use of these simple mechanisms dates back to nearly 4,000 years ago by the technologically advanced ancient Egyptians. The earliest of padlocks utilized a helical key that rotates into the lock assembly releasing one or more portions outward of the padlock. Although this was good design for the times, a need for greater security developed has developed in the past few hundred years. This particular type of design held strong until the mid 1800s. During that time the “Scandinavian” was introduced throughout the world. This design utilized a series of stacked disks in a cast iron housing that allowed a key to pass though all of the working parts zeroing out the pins and allowing the shackle to be removed. From this design padlocks went from being artisan creations to mass produced units with the introduction of Yale and Master Padlocks.
The Yale design utilized the pin tumbler mechanism that was patented in 1877. This assembly used a cartridge style mechanism that would slide down during opening and had an easily concealed flat key. As locks of the past would slide outward towards the user, it had many limitations in regards to usage. The new Yale style allowed greater diversity of uses for these great security devices. As it goes to show, this lock style is still employed by Yale nearly 140 years later.
By the roaring twenties prohibition was in full swing and the crime of that era soared to epic proportions. This crime surge led to Harry Soref the founder of Mater Locks, designing the first laminated design that was impact resistant and substantially more secure, all while being more inexpensive than other locks of the time. The laminated shell design taken from the design of military ships coupled with the security of individual plates became a winning combination in a short time. This simple but effective design can still be found in schools, home, colleges, businesses, or anywhere else one could need increased security.
The increase of security in society has helped with at least diverting illegal activity over the years. It has also led to the need of skilled persons to defeat the lock in an emergency or inconvenient situation. These people are known as locksmiths and they are employed throughout the world to help everyday people with inconvenient circumstances. Padlocks have many strong points on one hand but many faults on the other. There are many reasons like losing the key, forgetting the combination, the passing of the one who holds its pertinent information, and sometimes the padlocks simply fail and stop working. Situations like these happen hundreds of times everyday and we are all lucky enough to have locksmiths there for our every security need.
The next time you find yourself in this type lockout situation whether it’s a storage, garage, medicine cabinet, or locker at school consult a professional. As these situations can happen suddenly at any time, East Valley Lock and Key is available around the clock at 480-478-0157 for all of your security needs.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Tempe Automotive Locksmith

The night on mill is coming to a close and last call has already passed, so it’s time to hit the road. The designated driver rounds up all of his responsibilities and head to the car. When everyone reaches the vehicle the driver realizes that he has no idea of where his car keys are. The group tries to retrace their steps of the night with no reward.

The keys are nowhere to be found and its 3am, after a little pondering one of the girls in the group suggests calling an emergency locksmith. The driver is skeptical at first because he’s driving a 2002 Honda Civic equipped with a transponder key system. The driver decides that he might as well give it a try, so he calls Tempe’s locksmith for some much needed assistance. I arrive in less than thirty minutes to find five ASU students in despair. I introduce myself and the possible solutions that I have for them. They were ecstatic to hear that I would have them driving home in less than an hour. I begin every service with explaining what steps I’m going to take, to make the key and get them back on the road.

After a short conversation I begin the key by, opening up the Honda Civic and removing the passenger’s side door panel. Once the door panel is removed I’ll have access to the lock assembly which I can manually decode each wafer to get six of the 8 necessary cuts for the key. After I have the partial cuts, I use the progression method to get the remaining two cuts. After I have the cuts and the proper order, I used my HPC punch machine to produce a key that is as accurate as the original. Once I try the key in all of the locks in the vehicle for quality and accuracy, it’s time to program the key.

Programming of a transponder car key is a balance between knowledge and equipment. As a locksmith technician is only a capable as his equipment and at the same time the equipment is only as capable as the user is knowledgeable. The Silca TKO is by far the most effective piece of programming equipment available in my opinion. I utilize it as much as possible, in this situation programming and replicating transponder keys is a breeze. The Honda in particular is a snap with this tool, on average these only take me about ten minutes to program. Where, an inferior system such as a discount one from China could take hours to troubleshoot.

In the grand scheme of things, critical thinking, experience and quality of equipment are the most important parts of this step. That is why many Tempe automotive locksmiths use the best equipment available. On that particular night the key was ready to go ten minutes later and college kids were on their way. As the next school semester for Arizona State University begins, situations such as this become more and more prevalent and the need for adequately trained automotive locksmiths increases substantially.