The goal of re-keying a lock is to change the existing key for the lock to a different key, thus terminating access to anyone who had a key. The two most common times a locksmith is called out to re-key a lock is when an employee who had a key is terminated, or when a family is moving into their new home. When you move into a new home you never know who the former owners gave keys too. Security and peace-of-mind are the benefits of re-keying the locks when moving into a new home, apartment or office space.

Sometimes customers misunderstand lock re-keying and lock replacement. The customer will tell me over the phone they want all the old hardware back after the locks are changed. The problem is not the customers fault because “re-keying,” and “changing,” usually mean the same thing to the locksmith.  The desired result is to change the key, not replace the whole lock with a new lock. When the locksmith changes a lock or re-keys a lock, he uses the existing hardware. When the locksmith finishes the job the old hardware is still on the door, but the old key will not work.

There are times to replace hardware, especially if the home is 40 years old. Deadbolts made in the 1960’s and early 1970’s are easily defeated with a claw-hammer or other instruments of abuse. Very old deadbolt locks, or newer cheap locks should be replaced with locks designed to deter forced entry with hammers and crowbars.

Today there are many very good high security deadbolts on the market which offer key control, pick-resistance and bump-resistance. Bump-resistance deters the use of “bump-keys,” from opening the lock. Medeco, Assa, Abloy and Mul-T-Lock are a few brands which offer a superior deadbolt with key control. Key control means only authorized people can get duplicate keys. Every key to the business or home is audited and signed for by an authorized person.

The following photos will show you how a locksmith re-keys a lock. Do not use these photos to change your own lock. There is much more to know about locks before you attempt this procedure.  

This month I would like to highlight a job I did several years ago. I was referred to the customer by the local Baldwin hardware dealer. I was told the double-door was 100 years old. The lock in the door was about 30 years old. The customer showed me photos of the doors when he salvaged them. Most of the bottom section of the doors were deteriorated and missing. A carpenter restored the doors to their present glory. I will show you these doors, they really are beautiful.

One morning the customer tried to open the door but the deadbolt was stuck. A locksmith was called to get the door open and repair the lock. I was told the locksmith scratched his head, studied the problem a little while, then left in a bewildered daze. The home owner took it upon himself to unlatch the inactive door and pull both doors open. He re-locked the inactive door then realized he could not close the active door because the deadbolt would not retract. The home owner took a hammer and pounded the deadbolt back into the door. Now the door would close, but not lock.

My job was to install a new Baldwin mortise deadbolt. The Baldwin dealer was told the doors were 2 inches thick. So the dealer sold the home owner two mortise cylinders 1 1/8 inches in length. This would have worked fine if the lock was installed in the center of the door. The edge of these doors had a step, commonly called a rabbited edge. The lock had to be installed off center.

The wood in this door was very hard. As I cut the mortise cavity the wood became harder as the drill bit went deeper. There was a lot of smoke. I had to keep stopping for fear I would start a fire.

I attached the router template into my jig. This template, when used with a router guide will cut a perfect mortise for the deadbolt face plate. Unfortunately Baldwin had a design change and my router template was 1/16 of-an-inch to short at each end. I compensated for this by cutting the rest of the face plate mortise with a utility knife.

The job was completed in 4 ½ hours.

I frequent a technical forum for security technicians. Most of these technicians are self-employed locksmiths who operate their business from their truck. They have a home office for handling paper work, but 99% of their income is made from the tools on their service van.

Every once in a while a locksmith will post in the forum that his truck was broken into and several expensive tools were stolen, or they were completely cleaned out. A tradesman without tools is, “out of business.” I did not have any extra security locks on my truck for a long time. I read about two locksmiths who were cleaned out by burglars and I decided to secure my truck with some steel hasps and “hockey-puck” locks. I also added Lexan behind the windows in the back of the van. Lexan is an unbreakable sheet of clear or tinted plastic. Lexan is easy to cut or drill through but near impossible to smash with a hammer.

When I purchased my van, I bought a steel cabinet package with the truck. The package included a steel divider which separates the cab from the back of the van where most of the tools are stored. Even without the steel divider my truck is much harder to rob because any tools taken would have to be passed through one of the windows in the cab, or the front windshield would have to be smashed out.

The American Lock Company has been making heavy duty hasps and padlocks for many years. The hasp I used for my van doors is model number A800 and is specifically designed to be used with the “hockey-puck” lock. American Lock Company calls it a Superlock, but the lock is shaped just like a hockey-puck, hence the name.

There are several companies who make the “hockey-puck” lock, but American Lock Company made it first. The lock is made of solid steel and the shackle is not exposed in any way. There is nothing to cut or pry apart. When the “hockey-puck” lock is used with the A800 hasp, the lock is protected by a steel shroud. There is no fast way to break into this lock system with crowbars and sledge-hammers.

One of my customers stored his van in his warehouse space and thought he was safe. But burglars broke into the space and stole all the expensive tools off his truck. Now he locks the truck with the A800 hasp and “hockey-puck” locks while it sits in the warehouse space. This locking system will slow and probably stop many burglars who are looking for a quick score.

Another customer had a second van which was only used for moving large equipment. The problem was the key would not unlock the side or back door. A person had to climb in through the cab and unlock the doors from the inside. I installed the A800 hasp but I used American Lock’s 2500 series lock. This lock uses a spring loaded steel pin and the key hole is in the face of the lock. The lock is much easier to operate, especially when it is used as the main lock on the door.

Many burglars and thieves look for opportunity. A person who thinks, “A lock will only keep the honest people out,” is a thief’s best customer. Everyday a car window is smashed and a women’s purse is stolen because the purse was left in plain sight. Everyday a car is stolen because the owner left the car running while they ran into the convenience store for a quick drink or snack. Many times on the local news I see now more than ever home-invasions are taking place. Usually the front door is kicked in with one blow. A good lock properly installed would slow this down and maybe even stop the crime cold in its tracks.

Be safe, be aware and invest in securing your property and protecting your family.

Many years ago one of my first customers was a fast food restaurant chain here in south Florida. One morning I received an emergency call from one of the managers, he could not open the restaurant door to open for business. I was told the deadbolt unlocked and the key turned in the door knob but the door would not open.

This job site was not close. I was at least 50 minutes away on a good day with no traffic. I made better than average time and found two managers sitting outside waiting for me to arrive.

I put the key in the deadbolt lock, it was unlocked. I put the key in the door knob and turned the key. Since the door opened out I could see the latch fully retracting. The door was unlocked. I pulled on the door but the door would not move. So I pulled harder, the locks were clear so something else was holding the door closed. The door moved a little. I pulled as hard as I could and the door opened.

I inspected the door frame for rubbing but the door was now working normally. I noticed some small round stones lying by the threshold of the door.  I could see deep scratches in the stones. I concluded that somehow the small stones got wedged in the door threshold, creating the illusion the door would not unlock.

Recently I was called out to a private school. The exit/entry door from an administration area would not open. When I first saw the door nothing appeared out of place. I tried to press down on a push paddle which retracts a latch and allows the door to open. The paddle was stuck solid in place. I also noticed the door did not have the usual in/out play many doors have for expansion and contraction. The whole door was tight, like something was wedged in the door frame.

The door was a large glass door with a push bar across the glass. The push paddle used for opening the door was below the crossbar. I managed to pull on the crossbar with both hands while simultaneously pressing the push paddle in with my knee. The door opened and immediately I found the culprit responsible for jamming the door against the threshold; ground up wood chips, better known as mulch.

If doors suddenly start acting strange, like not closing and latching, or not unlocking, check the door frame and threshold for debris. The lock problem you think you have may be totally unrelated to the lock. A very common problem is the door rubbing the door frame because the janitor wedged the door open by jamming his broom handle in the top hinge. I see have seen this problem many times.

“I lost the combination to my safe. Can my safe be opened without damage?” Usually the answer to this very common question is yes.

Many home fire safes and antique safes can be opened by a trained locksmith or safe technician by drilling a very small hole in a precise location into the safe lock. The locksmith uses surgical scopes to enter the tiny hole and view the lock tumblers.

Opening a safe with a tiny hole is called “Micro-Drilling” and should be performed by a trained professional. The object is to open the safe with such a small hole the repair will go unnoticed. Micro-drilling is any size hole measuring 3/16 inch or smaller. The most popular size hole for micro-drilling is 1/8 of-an-inch.

Medical grade arthroscopic scopes are what makes micro-drilling possible. The scope allows the locksmith to see in vivid detail the tumblers of the safe lock. The locksmith lines up the tumblers at the correct location and unlocks the safe.

If you were to shine a flashlight down a 1/8 inch size hole you would not see anything to help you unlock a safe.  A very narrow scope is necessary and the serious safe technician or locksmith will have these tools.

This post is to let you know you have options to opening a safe with a lost combination. Be mindful however that not every safe can be opened with a tiny hole. Some safes must be opened with a ¼ inch size hole or larger because of the barrier material used by the safe manufacturer to protect the safe lock from a drill attack.

Micro-drilling is only used for lost combinations on mechanical safe locks. If your safe opens with a keypad other procedures must be employed to open the lock. Electronic safe locks must always be replaced after opening by any method.

Safe lock malfunctions cannot be overcome with micro-drilling. Sometimes malfunctions require more than one hole to get the safe open. Malfunctions are usually (but not always) the result of neglect and/or abuse by the end-users of the safe.

If you need a locksmith or safe technician to open your safe go to www.clearstar.com or www.findalocksmith.com to find a professional in your area.

My first “lock-in” service call happened when I was still an apprentice. A woman had a double-keyed deadbolt on her apartment door. Apparently the key was misplaced or lost inside the apartment. The woman and her children were trapped inside, a very bad situation to be in. I had to climb through a window and take the lock apart from the inside to get the door open.

Over the years I have had to open doors on homes where the locks were unlocked, but the doorknob would not turn. These jobs are rare, but they still happen without warning. And they can happen with any brand of lock. The cause of the lock malfunction is a dead-latch failure. The dead-latch is used with key operated doorknobs or levers. The dead-latch is designed to prevent a burglar from pushing the latch back with a knife or ice pick, this is often called “jimmying,” the door open.

The dead-latch has a button next to the latch. When the door closes the button stays depressed. This activates a block inside the latch assembly and the latch cannot be pushed in. It will only retract when it is pulled in by the doorknob. If the dead-latch fails, the “block” inside the latch assembly will not allow the knob to pull the latch back. Usually this problem is an inconvenience and everyone has to enter and exit the home through another door. If there is only one entrance this problem could escalate into a crisis.

The only way to get the door open is to remove the lock and dissect the latch into pieces and remove it from the door until the latch retracts. I have seen some jobs where the door is butchered and hacked until the door opens. If the door is wood the repair can be made with wood plugs, but if the door is metal or fiberglass a wrap-a-round plate is used to hide the scars and the holes. The purpose of this Blog is to inform the reader the door does not have to be hacked apart to get it open.

I would advise you to find a professional locksmith to get the door open and replace the lock. The photos in this Blog are to show you how difficult and ugly this job can be. I would also advise you to replace a dead-latch with a spring-latch if you only have one entrance into your apartment or efficiency. You should have a good deadbolt lock on your door for security. The main purpose of the doorknob is to hold the door closed while the door is unlocked.

You can see how difficult this job is even for a seasoned professional in a controlled environment. Do yourself a favor and seek out a good locksmith in your area before you need one. Ask around your neighborhood or the local hardware store. Someone in your area has used a locksmith, maybe more than one. You can learn a lot from the experiences of others. A good place to start looking is www.findalocksmith.com

I would like to dedicate this Blog to one of my mentors, Jack Keefe, who passed away in April. I have had five mentors in the locksmith trade, Jim Parker, Jack Keefe, Rich Keefe, Richard Rowan and Jerry Donaghy. Most of my professional standards for excellence and customer satisfaction come from the late Jack Keefe. I worked for Jack and his son Rich between 1979 and 1985 at their shop in Trenton, NJ. These six years were the most important and influential years of my locksmith career. When I moved to Florida and started working around other locksmiths it was clear to me my training was more thorough and well-rounded than any of my peers.

Gater’s Locksmith, Inc opened for business May 1, 1991 with some tools, 14 years of trade experience and zero capital. If I had not signed the contract for the Yellow Page Ad and the warehouse space I think I might have quit after six months of hardly any work and plenty of bills to pay. In that first year I learned the bills always arrive on time, checks for work completed, not so much.

I wish the digital camera was invented at least 10 years earlier. All during my career as a locksmith I have done many routine jobs. But several times a year I am called to do a job nobody wants, or nobody knows how to accomplish. It is in doing the near impossible you will find the true essence of the locksmith trade. I would have loved to recorded with photos many lock installation jobs.  I cannot remember everything, and often the perplexing installation issues at the present blot out any remembrance of past successes.

The “smith” part of locksmith means fabricator, engineer, inventor, designer and craftsman. Often I am asked, “How long does it take to learn to be a locksmith?” My answer is consistent: I don’t know, I am still learning.

I have earned two “Master” trade designations. The word “Master” does not mean “all knowing.” It means quite the opposite. “Master” means a person knows how to find the answers if he/she does not already know. “Master” means you are use to uncharted waters and welcome the challenge of a new experience. “Master” means knowing when to pass on the job, or pass the job on to someone better qualified.

Following are photos taken from very different kinds of jobs, but they are all part of calling yourself a locksmith. I hope to give the reader a taste of how diverse and complex the locksmith trade can be. Some parts of the trade I will not cover, like card-reader access and closed-circuit TV monitoring.

When I started the locksmith trade in 1977 a locksmith was expected to unlock your car, install locks in your house, master-key your business and open your locked safe. Those days are gone forever. Today’s locksmith finds a niche market along with the routine jobs and carves out a reputation for being the best at what he/she does in their region.

The mysterious abyss of snow, water and even deep grass play like a cruel magician’s slight–of-hand stealing our keys in a moment of klutzy- carelessness. All you did was drop your keys, but where you dropped them enveloped their existence and severely complicated your day.

I have served customer’s who have lost keys in the snow and the ocean.  The best way to handle lost keys in the snow or ocean is to prevent this event from happening. I have read some blogs on keys lost in the snow. One suggestion is to rake the snow in the hopes you will snag your keys and pull them to the surface. Another option might be a magnet, but you would need a very strong magnet to pull keys out of the snow. Most keys are brass so your only hope is the magnet will pull the steel key-ring with the weight of all the keys. Locating your keys with a magnet is highly unlikely.

Keys lost in the ocean are gone forever. I remember one day my father dropped a pair of pliers in about seven feet of water at his boat dock. The water was so murky the bottom could not be seen. We tried to retrieve the tool with a strong magnet, but all our efforts failed.

Lucky Line Products makes key fobs with bright colors that float. These key fobs have their limits on how many keys they can hold and still float. I believe the floating key fob will work for snow also.  The buoyancy properties will not help as much as the large size and bright color. Keep in mind the fewer keys you have to carry the better.

Auto keys with built-in remotes are water-resistant and will most likely survive the snow. But keys with built-in remotes are not designed to be immersed in liquid. If you are going fishing take your key without the remote buttons. All cars have a mechanical key that will at least open the door. However auto keys with sealed transponders will remain water-proof. Most cars made today use a transponder in the key bow to prevent auto theft.

You should always have a spare set of all your keys stored somewhere you can access them quickly. This is not always remembered when taking a trip. I lost a set of keys to my truck while attending a locksmith convention in Orlando, FL. My truck was double-locked with a hasp and pick resistant “hockey-puck” padlock. Even though I was amongst other locksmiths the best way into my van without a key was a cutting torch. Luckily someone found my keys and turned them into the front desk. I was unprepared. The most likely place you will lock yourself out of your car or lose your keys is when you are out of your normal environment or routine. Be prepared, carry a spare key for your vehicles door in your wallet or pocket. I would say carry a spare key in your purse, but I have opened many cars for women who locked their keys and purse in the car.

“I cannot get my key in my lock, it worked yesterday when I locked the store but now my key will not even go in the lock.”

A sudden malfunction of a lock as described by a customer calling in for service is usually the result of freezing rain, a key broken in the lock, debris shoved into the lock, sudden corrosion of the tumblers after an intense storm, or glue.

Before I start talking about ice, glue and debris preventing your key from entering the lock, try WD-40. Spray WD-40 into the keyhole. Work the key in and out if you can. This simple procedure may get the door open. Then you can call a reputable locksmith to repair or service your lock.

Sometimes the debris in the lock is “pocket lint.” Many people carry their keys in their pants pocket. The keys collect very small amounts of lint from the pocket fabric. When the key is inserted into the lock the lint falls off in the keyhole. Now imagine someone using their key twice a day for five years. The lint, even very small amounts, will collect and compact at the end of the keyway until eventually the key will not go all the way into the lock. The key may appear to be entering the lock normally because the difference between fully inserted and partially inserted is as little as-a-sixteenth- of-an-inch.

There were times I had to file off the tip of the key to get the key to enter the lock completely, then unlock the door and disassemble the lock cylinder.  I removed the back of the plug. The plug is the small round piece you insert your key into. Once the back of the plug is removed I insert another key, any key will do. The object is to push the debris in the keyhole out of the plug.

Sometimes a compacted wad of lint, as thick as an-eighth- of-an-inch, will pop out the back of the keyhole.

Freezing rain can ice-over auto-locks and regular home and office locks. It is more common for the door lock on a car to ice-over, preventing the key from entering the lock. Sometimes moisture gets into the lock and freezes. The key will go in the lock but not turn.

The best fix for frozen locks is alcohol. There are products on the market called Lock De-Icer. This is a small pressurized can of alcohol and lubricant. Lock De-Icer is inexpensive and easy to use. Another method is to hold the car key with pliers and heat the blade of the key with a match, then insert the hot key into the lock. I prefer Lock De-Icer. Buy a can and carry it in your purse or coat pocket during winter.

I do not remember running many service calls for frozen locks. Most of my professional career as a locksmith has been in southFlorida. Glue is a more common problem where I live. Glue never falls into the lock by accident; it is always squeezed in the keyhole with malicious intent.

Glue is almost always death for the lock. I will demonstrate how glue can be melted with heat and the key used to unlock the door. You should know I have NEVER used this method on the job. Using a torch on someone’s home or business lock is a HIGH-RISK procedure. I always drill out the lock cylinder and replace the cylinder. The cylinder is the keyhole assembly of the lock. Sometimes the whole lock has to be replaced, but this is when the lock is inexpensive and cylinders are not available as a separate component.

If you think your lock has been glued, your best option is to call a professional locksmith. Using a torch to melt glue should be used as a last resort. My purpose for mentioning this method is to inform only. I have never used a torch on a customer’s property.

Glue is almost impossible to clean out of a lock cylinder. Unless the lock is not replaceable, such as an antique or obsolete item, it is always cheaper to replace the lock cylinder or the entire lock. Cleaning glue out of a lock is labor intensive and would cost several hours of a locksmith’s time.

To pilfer someone is to steal just a little bit so you get what you want for free and the victim just replaces what is gone thinking the supply was used up by others, or never notices the loss because so little was taken from so much.

A pilfer guard is any kind of small lock which removes the convenience of stealing small amounts of anything quickly and without notice. The most common pilfer guard is the cabinet lock, more commonly called the “cam lock.”

I have installed countless cam locks in doctor’s exam rooms, office furniture and cabinets in master bedroom closets. I recently installed cam locks in two x-ray rooms at a local hospital. I believe this was to satisfy a hospital safety and liability code. The liability to the hospital is if a patient takes a syringe out of a cabinet and hurts someone or themselves. Most items in the hospital x-ray room look completely useless to me. But if a little is taken by each unattended patient the cost to replace supplies starts to add up. When operating cost of any business goes up it is eventually passed on to the consumer, which is bad for business.

I have installed cam locks for women who were having their costume jewelry pilfered by the maid service they hired to clean. So little was taken at sporadic intervals the women did not notice anything missing until they went to wear a specific necklace or pair of earrings and discovered the jewelry was no where to be found.

Women have had their purses pilfered of small amounts of cash by co-workers or outsiders visiting the office. When this has happened I have been hired to install locks on a couple of desk drawers so unattended purses, cell phones and other personal belongings can be locked out of sight.

Pilfer thieves steal because the opportunity is available and the chance of getting caught is slim. Many victims do not even realize they have been robbed until days, weeks or months later. By then the evidence, if there was any, has been wiped away or picked up in the vacuum.

It only takes a small lock on a cabinet, or a small padlock on a gate or locker to remove the opportunity the thief is looking for to steal your possessions.