Unknown Assumptions Can Bite

We all make assumptions as we work and we assume those we work with are using the same one we have.  Face to face, you can verbally check on such things. However, when you have hardware to install, the only way I can know what assumptions the manufacturer is using, is if they are given with the directions. 

Allow me to go back a few years.  I was sent to a series of retail stored to add a simple block to modify the electric strike.  The strike allowed the latch to pass out the back so either door could close first.  The day started with 20 of these strange geometric aluminum blocks and a page of addresses.  Upon arrival at the first site, I found one dimension of the block was too big and it had to be cut and ground down.  I did it and thought this will take a while.  I did three that day all the same.  My times were getting better but not great. 

This is not the model under discussion, but it shows the open back of the electric strike.

The next morning, we made contact with the head office which had sent these out. They were concerned I had only done 3 on the first day.  However, I was sent to do more.  My second stop on the second day, I had a front door which was 2 1/4 inch (57 mm) built from the standard 1 3/4 inch (44mm) door with a plastic and aluminum liner of 1/2 inch (13 mm).  The part fit perfectly.  You put in two screws and done. 

It was then that I phoned the supplier.  Several things had gotten lost in the communication and to this day I know not where.  They had designed this for the thickened door and believe almost all of the sites had the same door. They also expected me to just report the actual door thickness if wrong so they could send out the different version of the blocks in the right quantity.  All fair enough but none of that got to me -- the only guy seeing the doors in my city.

Brings me back to a more recent install. I am going to be vague since this job is still ongoing.  Perhaps in a year or two I can say more.  I am a journeyman and yet was installing some door hardware I had not done before.  I read the directions and thought I had this under control.  Also, this is fire rated hardware so compliance depends on doing just that. When done, it did not work as required. I pulled it off and modified the instructions to get the function back.  The manufacturer had based the instructions on certain assumptions about the door construction which in hindsight are not required to be true even for fire doors. 

I have installed hardware of many type and usually such assumptions are clearly stated so that if some condition is not met, you change how you proceed.  For instance, if a hollow metal door needs a closer and you suddenly find it is the thinnest possible metal without any support behind, you can run sex nuts through the door.  However, all the big names in closers will state that they assume the door has support for the device.

I guess in summary, I just want people to be clear about the condition under which a piece of hardware can be used and can not. It saves the guy on the ground time.  And finally, if hardware is hard to install and there are choices in suppliers, easy of installation and repair is part of the decision making criteria. OK, so it is not the final say but I can live with that. 


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/ 

Driving While Dangerous

Here in Alberta, there is a new law prohibiting the use of cellular phones while you drive.  It took the province long enough.  It seemed it needed some research.  I had been doing the research for years by observation of myself and others.  I found that when I tried to talk on a cell and drive, I made driving errors.  I had mostly stopped answering while I drove and now with the new employer I am directed not to answer.  Just as well.

I have to be clear, it is not just my errors I could notice.  I would see a vehicle drift over a lane line or just sway within its lane. Other times, you could see the vehicle slow down or fully change a lane without signalling.  Upon getting beside the vehicle, I could see the driver talking or even worse texting.  However, when I am beside a vehicle which I saw failed to stay in its lane, I felt in peril.  If the driver left the lane once it could again.

So I have started to honk my horn as I pass such vehicles thinking if I saw a lack of lane control a few times and now I am about to pass, I must be careful the driver does not move into me.  I honk a series of steady short blasts.  It is designed to 'wake' the driver up and get me more mental attention.

To the guy in the white SUV on Thursday morning on the Yellowhead Trail westbound at about 156 Street, that is why I was honking.  You looked both confused and angry and yet you did not hang up. I will honk again in passing you if I see you breach the lane lines twice before I pass your vehicle.  To the person to whom he was speaking, you bear some responsibility too.  If you hear a series of short horn honk, hang up and call again later.  Is any call worth that much??


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/ 

Fire Exit vs. Fire Sepation Doors

I just posted a comment elsewhere about a question of fire doors.  I find this topic very frustrating since there is a consistent language ambiguity which confuses the issue and hence the public including building operators.

A fire separtion door is labelled on the door and frame or at least was when installed.  The label includes a time this wall, frame, door and hardware is designed to hold a fire back on the other side. The testing is more complex but imagine a single sheet of paper taped to one side.  A closed latched door should keep the paper from burning even from just heat for that period of time. And to be honest, by the time the paper does burn a person on the other side of the same door is dead from smoke exposure.

Different doors have different separation values.  Where I live, a 20 minute door is needed from a residential living suite in an apartment block going into the hallways.  The staircase doors must be 45 minutes of separation.  There are also walls and doors rated higher.

The other type of door is a fire exit which is about getting the people out of the building and out alive.  Many doors are both but one which is NOT a fire separation door is that from the building to the exterior.  This door may require an exit device for people to exit but the door and hardware is not fire rated for separation.

Back to the language, I try to call these two types of doors by distinct names.   A 'fire door' means a fire exit in some contexts and a fire separation door in others and can be both at the same time.  I would like people to start calling one group as fire separation doors and the other as fire exit doors. Also, when you say it is a separation door, give the time as rated.*  I firmly think this will move building operators and junior contractors to know the difference.  To repeat, stop saying 'fire door'.

Or perhaps I am crazy.  You tell me.


* I once saw a 20 minute door in a 45 minute frame. Given the location, the 45 made more sense but all I could do was suggest the building operator check on this. I know he would not do so even at the time.

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Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

Photos and Names ... Please

I was on Twitter the other night and read a posting by a real locksmith who used a 'mug shot' in the profile.   There was a web address too and I just had to follow it.  Not a face to be seen and not a personal name either.  It was 'family owned' but so is every mafia front company.

We all know how this goes.  A company really only exists because of the people within it.  We do the work and the company pays us. Simple really. What sort of company does not name the owners or staff?  Think of it a bit.

One type is where there are so many it is impossible to keep up and where each is so interchangeable with the next it matters little who each person really is.  Or it is just so large it is hard to know where to start.  You know these companies by reputation and you may not get a GREAT product but you know where to find some level of manager.  In this group think of MacDonalds or IBM. Such web sites do not have staff often but have locations and detailed phone numbers. 

Another type of company has no pride in its service and no interest in you as a customer.  You are as replaceable as the crowd at the midway.  Next week its a new city and the carny who never cared before is seeing new suckers now.  In the locksmith trade, these are the call centre operations.  You can not find who they are since they have no interest in that.  You can only see one phone number and it is for booking a job only. 

And I keep hearing questions on how to fight back.  How do you keep shady operations from undercutting you with poorly trained staff doing shoddy work?  Of course they charge less for less.

Locksmith fight back by setting up web pages which show you are in this for the long haul.  You give an address and your names.  You show photos of your people.  You show the training of your staff.  I am a Certified Journeyman Locksmith (CJL) in my province. Spill folks.  If you bought a business licence, toss up a scan of it.  Show the ALOA registration card for the last conference.

And stop letting government off the hook.  If they have regulations for business licenses and criminal record check for locksmiths, ask they get some enforcement. Often they will say they wait for consumer complaints. Easy answer but nothing stops governments from protecting the consumer before many get ripped off.

And lets also be real here.  In the end people do business with people -- even if the money sometimes flows from company to company.  When you answer the phone you say your name.  When you pass out a business card, you say your name.  The call centres can never do this since they are not in your city.

So ... are you going to have your name and photo on your web pages or not?  It's your reputation. It's one more chance to differentiate yourself from the rogue elements.

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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/ 

Revisiting the Security Maxims

From "Security Maxims" by Roger G. Johnston
http://www.ne.anl.gov/capabilities/vat/seals/maxims.html

Always material to mine here by comparing these broad general statements to my work in physical security and so I started reading through them again and found this:

Low-Tech Maxim: Low-tech attacks work (even against high-tech devices and systems).
Comment: So don’t get too worked up about high-tech attacks.


Indeed they do. You can put a high security deadbolt with a high security key on a door and if the bad guy can kick the whole door in or pry it open with a big screwdriver, they are just as 'in' as if they had the key. Seen it.

This also applies to picking attacks on houses. It seems there are few since most houses here in Canada can be breached with a big boot. Why invest in subtle when blunt is faster and more reliable? The criminal implications are the same either way.

Oh, here is a different example. I was doing work in a mall kiosk and one of the staff complained his Audi was broken into so they could get at his iPod and its charging cable. Really? He left them visible? No, he had them in the glove box and only the male end of the cable could be seen. They broke a window and it cost him more for the window than the iPod. Remember folks, all car windows break about the same.


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

Driving complaint ... cell phones

My job is partly to drive. Today, I honked at a driver who changed lanes to be ahead of me without signaling and without giving what I thought was reasonable clearance. I had to slow down but was not really at risk of hitting the car. It was more an annoyance. It was then I noticed a cell phone was in use. Further on, I saw the car weaving and it hit the while lane lines for no good reason and the driver was still on the phone. Before passing on the freeway, I honked again before moving alongside this car. The driver gave me a dirty look.

I honked since it is used to warn drivers of a hazardous condition on the road and this driver was the hazardous condition. I needed more attention on the lanes as we both moved into a construction zone and was only hoping to get the driver to stay in the other lane.

(For what it is worth, the car was a blue Pontiac Vibe with Alberta plates and the driving was observed on 170 Street southbound from 87 Avenue to the Whitemud and then along the Whitemud Freeway of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.)

Do NOT jump puddles.

I guess I should explain the delay in posting here for a bit. I came back from SAFETECH 2010 and was back at work. One Tuesday, we had a heavy slushy snow storm and during one job downtown I jumped a gutter filled with slush to avoid getting my shoes wet. It was a small jump of perhaps 3 to 4 feet. The take-off was great. The grace in mid-air was impressive -- or at least we will assume that for sake of the story. I landed on my right foot only but squarely. The landing seemed OK but then I tried to take the next step and something was terribly wrong. I limped across the street barely getting to the far side before the light changed.

Long story. Short.

I tore some of my calf muscle way from its tendon. It hurt. It hurt BAD. It took over a week to heal and there was even a bit of limping then when I was tired at the end of the day.

Long story. Not that short.

Between this injury and vacations by myself and others, this set me up for a 3 week run of on-call with 2 weeks off and now 2 more weeks.

Moral of the story, do not jump puddles. I just hope I can avoid any more workplace athletic injuries.


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

Dilution of Emergency Lights

Driving is a major part of my job and I believe I take it very seriously. However, I have noticed a strange trend. Flashing, blinking and strobing lights everywhere.

A garbage truck driving down a highway does not need a strobing yellow light at the back center. A lawn mowing contractor truck which was parked beyond the sidewalk on the turf does not need flashing orange lights either. A transit bus does not need its brake lights to flash three times each time the brakes are applied. Quite frankly with its big back end it looks like a fire truck from a distance.

How many flashing lights do we need to give us warning and when does diminishing return kick in? I fear drivers are getting immune to some of the flashing warning lights.


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

How to Get Expensive Cabinets

I was just cleaning up papers from old jobs and found a diagram for some cabinets which needed locks added. It was a new group home and the medication cabinets were planned and suddenly they realized they should have locks. (At least from the way it was relayed to me, this huge and complex set of cabinets built into a wall with a desk were to be for medications and files from the start.) Surprise.

I found ways to do it with a mix of cabinet locks, elbow catches and push locks. I had to do some rough chiseling to get room in places and the locations could not be even with the pulls. While it all worked, it was an after-market solution. The locks are basic and the cheap part of the job. However, it cost them a fortune in time.

Quite frankly, if you think there is even a small chance you need a lock on a drawer or door later, get the cabinet maker to add them at the start. The time needed is far less than getting a locksmith to do it at site later. Also, if you put locks on some of the cabinetry, do all of them. It gives you flexibility in where you put the items needing to be locked up later.

Of course, people will not plan ahead with this in mind and I will get more jobs like it in the future.


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

"Do you cut keys?"

You all know the type, but none of US are THIS type. It could be some neo-hippy college student with wild dreadlocks and more tattoos than a tribe of Maori or some haggard middle-aged mom with 3 toddlers in tow or some small time property manager who does all the maintenance. Whichever person is walking in, the door has not yet closed when they ask it. However, he or she has had time to look up and see you. They see you and not the wall of key blanks behind you. It is almost out of Python's cheese shop when the words float innocently out.

"Do you cut keys?"

As I hear it, I have to remind myself that the wall behind me is covered from waist to over my head with blanks. The blanks are spaced one inch apart on more wall space than some banana republics use for banana plantations. I know the brass in this shop could be melted down to make some type of horrid modern art sculpture which high society would admire and civic governments would pay for. This art work would loom over the head of me and the person with the question.

"Do you cut keys?"

I know the simple answer. I know our shop is clearly labeled and it seems impossible some vague detour would find a person wanting a watermelon before me and even if it did, they should not want a key cut. However, I want to reach into the bin of miscut wonders and start to scream as I throw keys.

"NO, we do not cut keys. We repair locks only. We leave the cutting of keys to the professional at the big box hardware stores. The blanks you see behind me for 1000 different locks are here for show. They are a deception to fool the masses and it worked until you walked in here and asked that one question."

"Do you cut keys?"

"Of course we do. Let me see the key."
"How many would you like?"


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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

Cell Phones and Driving.

OK. Yes. I have made driving mistakes while talking on mine.

I have also seen other drivers make terrible mistakes.

With rare exceptions, I have stopped talking while driving and you should to. I also think the time is coming when the insurance companies will see this as such a risk they will pull coverage if you have a collision while talking. (I think this will go ahead faster than waiting for either of our levels of government to act. Government regulation would be more balanced and transparent but I do not see it happening like that.)

"Tricks of the Trade"

I hate this phrase. I have been told my hatred for it is irrational but perhaps you can join me in banishing this from the language forever. I am not overly optimistic.

"Tricks of the Trade" seem to fall into two groups. The first are those which are simply things every professional who knows his or her craft should know. They are not tricks. They are skills and job expectations.

An example of this might be to read the depths of the cuts from a sample key using calipers and then reading a cut table to find the closest standard factory cuts before pinning a cylinder. You could just take a LAB pin kit with pins in increments of 0.005 and visually drop in pins to get to level on the plug. (If you are not a locksmith, this will mean little to you. Sorry.) You could. However, you were given a sample key from a group of keys already in circulation. It could be high or it could be low or it could be some of both. (Ponder that, a key can be some of both.) When this lock is installed, some of the other users may have keys which are higher or lower. You do not know. If you find the factory standard, that is the key which was used to copy all those others and it will be workable or at least that is the best odds. Should you later cut a key by code, you KNOW it will work.

To look beyond your own nose, here is a different example. I saw a panic exit device installed by a contractor and while well done the construction marks were visible in places beyond the bar on this steel door. They were very visible in black felt pen. No painter who has to work on this door later wants to deal with that. Pencil is covered in one coat but the felt lifts up and can be seen through the paint. It is not a trick of the trade to use pencil, it is good practice since nobody wants you to make the work harder for the next person.

There! Two quick examples of knowledge you should know just as part of your trade. I could go on. I have four years of trade classes and years of work to find examples.

Now for the other kind of 'trick of the trade'. It is usually some action which is trying to save time or materials. It is a short-cut which produces inferior work and sometimes the person doing this knows it and sometimes not.

Self-tapping metal screws. Certainly quick to install but when they are not provided with a fire-rated exit device, the rating is toasted if you substitute the fasteners. Is that the end of the problem? No. Self-tapping screws do not have the hold of tapped in bolts. If an exit device is not fire-rated due to being on an exterior door, then it has a vital security role and for it to work well, the screws must hold onto the door as best you can. Self-tagging screws are weak when installed and some of the thread gets chewed away every time you need to pull the hardware for routine work like changing the keying on the lock.

Do not get me wrong, there are places for them. Also, they do come in various grades and specification. Used appropriately would be on parts with no relative rotation or shifting shear. In my opinion, they work fine for holding a push plate or a sweep.

Another 'trick of the trade' which bothers me is making a key fit better by filing the top of a plug and/or reaming out the chambers. (We have all seen it.) Again, it has its place in rare occasions where a single later of keying is in place and probably always will be. Places which are keyed but really have low security standards for this door like the front of some apartment building. When you are there late at night since the worn out SC1 mortise cylinder had started to have the pins rotate and jam rather than lift you have no choice but to supply a new cylinder with new pins. However, it is an open stock key and you know there are, at least, two keys per suite and you can not test most of them. If you are strict and find the factory code you know you will orphan many of those keys and make no end of problems for the building management. (If they understood the problem and wanted high security, they would never have had an open stock key.) So you file the plug and drop in pins 5 thou short. The shorter pins allow for high cut keys and the flattened plug allows for low cut keys. Some keys may be so extreme they still will not work, but most will.

The next step in a decision like this is to inform the management. You have softened the keying up so most of the tenant keys will work. If any one key fails later, it is not the locksmiths problem. It is not a call back. I check they have a supply of working keys to just quickly substitute keys which do not work. Again, these last customer service points are what separates a professional doing good service from somebody just going fast. You served the customer needs but also provided information about the loss of security.

Feel free to disagree with my examples but tell me why. Is there some other description of a 'trick of the trade' which you do not think this covers?

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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/

Don't say 'Break in'. We 'open up'.

In the trade, we do not break into cars or houses or safes. We open them up. They were locked and now they are open. Ideally we do no damage but as the locks get better some damage is required to happen. As a professional, you limit that to parts which are available and can be replaced readily. (This can vary from $20 for some simple storefront cylinder to over a thousand for a sophisticated safe lock. It is very relative.) Of course, the time to pick a lock or the time to drill or bypass some other way is all billable. You try to limit the clients bill and so parts cost has to be balanced against time on the job.

The criminals who do break in, break anything to get in. Windows, frames, handles, hinges. They are not gonna repair it. Then I get the 2 am phone calls. For them, speed to get in and out is paramount. Damage is unimportant.

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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.

Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/