Master Locksmith Ventura Inc.

Government Locksmiths

Government locksmiths become licensed under the Security Industry Protection Act. Three important institutions associated with government locksmiths are Master Locksmiths of America, Associated Locksmiths of America, and British Locksmiths Institute.

One of the important aspects of the government locksmith’s job is discretion. With a country’s security at risk, any government office must be serviced only by the most trustworthy of locksmiths. The locksmith must know more than just their doors and windows; they must also know security systems, safe locks, telephone keys, drawer locks, and vehicle locks.
High priority is important for the items the government locks protect as well as for the people the locks protect and the paperwork. Any business must protect its important paperwork and investments, but government business takes on an upper level of importance.

A government locksmith is not just needed to pick locks and provide extra keys. Government locksmiths must be top experts in their field in both customer privacy and the actual work provided. The safety of these high profile clients and what they stand for, weapons, money, records, and personal items is high priority.

It is not only the government of a country that is important; it is also the government of local and state that is a concern to a government locksmith. Any level of government must be treated with special care. If the wrong things happen with local government it can have a domino effect upon other government bodies. Anytime someone can wreak havoc with documents, forms, equipment, public safety, and privileged information, the locksmith is called to upgrade security.
A locksmith for a security service provider can earn as much as $66,000 per year in California. They must have knowledge of the latest and best quality equipment and techniques to service their clients and build the best reputation for themselves.

A government locksmith must have electronic and computer skills that are updated. Their knowledge of lock and keys are not all they have to practice. They must also understand thumb print and retinal scanners, pin pads, and electronic swipe cards among other things.

Because passwords are considered a security hole, retinal scanners have taken on more importance. Retinal scanners are a form of biometric identification. They bypass passwords to move into a more complicated means of identity and security. For a retinal scanner, there is an enrollment process that captures the sample. The sample is stored in a template to be used for future authentication comparison. The template is matched against data, such as a user name or PIN.

Retinal scanning provides high accuracy, but it still meets some user resistance because of the misconception that a laser is shot into the eye. Focus on a given point is significant for accuracy, which can cause a small problem for someone with eyesight handicaps.

Other high technology advances for locksmiths to learn in a high profile field like government work are: voice recognition, iris scanning, signature verification, and facial recognition. So, as you can see, a locksmith who specializes in government work can be much more than just a lock picker and key maker.

Museums for Locksmiths

One of the biggest museums in America that a locksmith would enjoy that is related to their craft is the Lock Museum of America. It’s located in Terryville, Connecticut. With eight display rooms and plenty of advertisement, it is sure to draw people from all over the country. You don’t have to be a locksmith to be interested in antique locks and the hardware connected to them. Antique doorknob collectors enjoy visiting museums for locksmiths. People who have an interest in old doors or in the artwork of the old locks and related items would enjoy this museum.

Another museum for locksmiths and lock enthusiasts is the Lock Museum that is located in Willowhall, Staffordshire. This museum has been taken over by the Black Country Living Museum in an effort to secure its future. In an effort to preserve the contents and the relevance to history in general, the Black Country Living Museum took an interest in the Lock Museum.
Blake’s Lock Museum can be seen in the United Kingdom. California offers the Jehning Family Lock Museum, located in Mountain View. Paris, France is home to the Hotel Liberal Bruand. The Hanns Schell Collection is the world’s largest museum of locks and keys. It’s located in Austria. Locksmiths should also enjoy the metal locks and keys at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum Shop in Key West, Florida. There’s a Powerhouse Museum located in Sydney, Australia.

Doorknobs are collector’s items and are a part of a locksmith’s work. There’s a club called the Antique Doorknob Collectors of America. The interesting items in this club also include antique door hardware and extend to plates, doorbells, coat hooks, and window latches. There are beautiful doorknobs on display in the club’s collection.

The Antique Doorknob Collectors of America holds yearly conventions all over the country to learn and share their information. The club has a wonderful collection of Bennington knobs, mineral knobs, real estate hardware, and a group they call Fabulous Doorknobs-this group is made up of Victorian hardware, bronze knobs, and Wheeler knobs.

Donald Jackson offers an impressive Roman gallery of locks, keys, and seal boxes that shows an interesting collection of security hardware. He displays an impressive image from a locksmith’s grave stone showing Roman locksmiths at work. Mr. Jackson writes an informative, detailed article on ancient locks, collecting, and fabrication.

West Coast Lock Collectors Association explores the history and ingenuity of locks. They have an annual lock show to thrill collectors and capture the interest of the public. Their table fees are $35 to anyone who is interested in adding their own collection to the event. They send out a quarterly publication to association members. This association is a hobby club that puts any income back into the company for operating expenses.

Antique Padlocks offer internet viewing to provide a look into padlocks of eight different varieties as well as helpful links, patent information, and hardware companies who have marketed padlocks. As thieves became more determined, padlocks did lose some value because they could be cut with bolt cutters. There are still many around today, and there are still requests for locksmiths to remove them. They are sure to remain a part of museums as the years move forward.

Are Bump Keys a Threat to Locksmiths?

The public knowledge of bump keys did not make the locksmith industry happy. It opened up public scrutiny and negative images for locksmiths because it spread open knowledge of how vulnerable the public can be with the locks that are on the market. Privacy was made insecure and uncertain.

Bump keys gained popularity and gave the public a glance into the world of the locksmith. The glance, however slight, made the job seem easy. A locksmith faces many challenges aside from the types of locks that can be opened with bump keys. But the public knowledge brought forth both positive and negative attention to locksmiths. In some aspects it showed that more credibility needed to be gained from those legitimate in the business to ease public concern over those who are not. It caused more work for locksmiths in some ways because of the amateur criminals who adopted a belief that they could get away with more wrong-doing in an easier way. It also showed many ways our modern locks were failing us.

Locks are designed by locksmiths, manufactured in factories, sold for public and private use, and then worked on by locksmiths who must pick the locks for people who lose keys or leave them locked inside the building or vehicle. It’s somewhat of an amusing circle that moves from the locksmith and back to the locksmith.

Not everyone, of course, was willing to take the bump key attention to heart. It lost popularity after the initial shock was over. Locksmiths are still a respected group who are much needed; in some ways, the attention brought by the bump key information enhanced business for locksmiths.

Bump keys are certainly not the only way a criminal can enter your home, business, or vehicle. If a person is determined to enter and is persistent, there are many other ways to accomplish unlawful entry. Not every criminal would want to take the time to learn the proper way to make and use the bump key.

Locksmiths will continue to flourish in their trade, and if the truth be known, have had occasion to use the bump key as well. The real threat to the public is in not taking responsibility for their own safety and not taking criminals seriously. Lock bumping is not new. The Dutch and German locksmiths experimented with it many years ago. It’s just another form of lock picking that was put in the public eye that people had not realized was a threat all along.
So, even though the public and the locksmiths frowned on the bump key knowledge becoming public, it was only a matter of time before it surfaced. The interest died down once the spotlight was removed. Life goes on. Locksmiths are still respected in their field and will continue to be such. Lock manufacturers didn’t suffer enough for it to affect them on a large basis.

The bump keys are only a small part of the tools that fall into the wrong hands. There is no way to keep every tool that could possibly cause unlawful entry out of the criminal’s hands. Hence the job security of the locksmith will remain secure!

Canadian Locksmith Associations

Professional Locksmiths Association Nova Scotia is one of the groups a locksmith in Canada would want to be involved with to increase their chances of a solid career in locksmithing. There is also the Association of Professional Locksmiths, the Canadian Alarm and Security Association, the Master Locksmiths of Quebec, Inc., and the Professional Locksmiths Association of Alberta. While it is not necessary to overwhelm your schedule and your interests, joining at least one of these important groups can provide positive benefits. One of those benefits is to be able to keep abreast of the latest news and happenings in the world of the locksmith. Another benefit is to build a bond between yourself and others in the same field of work.
Making a positive image for a locksmith and his/her business is just one of the most important investments towards a healthy future in the business. Canadians take pride in their country and in their training for locksmiths. An apprentice must first be hired as a trainee, then must find a journeyman for a mentor, and finally must enroll in the apprenticeship program. Eight weeks of class at a college is required followed by an exam that is administered by the government. There are four periods of training this way that must be completed successfully before being given the honor of the Journeyman Locksmith title.

The Canadian locksmith must do more than simply memorize the test material to pass the written exam. He or she must understand and apply the material with competence. The hands-on learning is supervised by the instructor.
There is an annual locksmith auction for Ontario locksmiths, a golf tournament, a locksmith academy, an electric door operator class, and a locksmith convention. The basic locksmithing courses cost $300. There are separate costs for each area of locksmithing. Panic Exit Devices course costs $275, Lock Picking costs $175, Basic Safe Searching costs $275. There’s also Access Control, Door Closer Installation, Tricks of the Trade, and many more courses available for advanced learning.

There is, of course, an at-home course that one can enroll in that suggests a budding locksmith can earn over $17 an hour after only nine months of training. Much like the distance courses offered in the United States for locksmiths, Kwikset and IICO are listed as the locks and key making machinery used during training. This course does give locksmith skills that are necessary; however, apprenticeship under an established locksmith gets you paid while you learn real life situations rather than textbook versions. You can learn much from a seasoned professional including what not to do!
Whether you are learning in Canada, the United States, or Australia, the education and apprenticeship are necessary to establish a base for a locksmith career.

Learning on your own may give you the barest of starts, but you will need to prove yourself worthy of your title. Many times the only way to convince future employers or future customers that you deserve their business is to be able to show valid certificates and licenses. Landing the big accounts will mean showing that you had the devotion and interest to prove yourself trustworthy.

All About Lock Picking

When you don’t have the right key, lock picking is a great way to open just about any lock out there. Normally, picking locks is something we associate with crime and illegal activities, although crime isn’t always the case. There are a lot of instances where locking picking skills can come in real handy. Take for instance a lost house key or locking your car keys inside your car. Even though you could always break a window, calling a professional locksmith is the best to go – it can save you a lot of money in repairs, and get the lock open fast.

To properly pick a lock, you’ll need the right tool kit. Even the most basic lock picking kit will contain a lock pin and a tension wrench. If you have an emergency, you can normally replace the lock pin with a hair pin. Professional locking picking kits on the other hand will normally include a variety of tension wrenches in several different shapes and sizes, covering several different styles of lock pins. Some include a locking picking gun, which uses vibration to push all the lock pins up at the same time.

When picking a lock is necessary, the first thing to do is to insert the tension wrench into the keyhole and attempt to turn the cylinder. Next, you can use the lock pin and gently pry up on the pins. Once the pins reach the normal opening position, you’ll hear a clicking noise, letting you know that the pins are in the right place – and the lock is open.

There is also another technique to lock picking, which is known as racking. Racking uses a lower precision level, and uses a special pick known as a rake. To use the rake, simply insert it into the keyhole until it reaches the back of the cylinder, then quickly pull it out so that it hits all of the pins when it comes out. A tension wrench is also used as well, to turn the cylinder.

The hardest lock out there to pick are master locks. They offer an excellent protection system, and aren’t as susceptible to picking as other types of locks. Master locks were invented by Henry Soref in 1921, introducing the first lock to use laminated layers of solid steel. Although master locks use the same picking system as other types of locks, those that are in combined format will require a locksmith with a lot of patience – and skill.

To learn more about lock picking, there are several books and illustrations that you can buy, which will show you the techniques step by step. Often times, a video or Cd is included that will show you the techniques in action. Several books and videos were made by true locksmiths, although others are more directed for people who just want to learn a bit more on the subject. If you want to become a locksmith or a professional at lock picking, you can also find books and videos out there that will help you become proficient at picking locks.

Anytime you buy a lock, you should always keep in mind that just about any lock can be picked. Although most locks can be picked, there are some that take a bit more time and patience than others. When you buy a lock, you should always think in terms of safety and select one that you know it isn’t to penetrate. This way, you can have a sense of security in your lock – and know that you are safe and protected.