My New Keychain

Having built a garage last year, I finally put up a method to show my collection of 'funky' keys gathered over the last decade or so. It is a length of small link chain held to the ceiling by a pair of shelf brackets. Each key is then hooked by an open paper clip.  This photo shows about half of the first of two planned key chains

I have copies of all the common high security keys used here in Western Canada as well as some rarely used key types too. Some came from a large institutional client cleaning out lost and found and I have no idea what the key does.  Some were retired from service for one reason or other. And at this point, I do not even know how some came into my hands.

From a quick glance, I see the cheapest of all suitcase keys and dimpled keys to a fire safe.  At the far end is an RSA key.  Guess it is retired now.  The batteries died long before RSA had its breach.



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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/ 

Worn Keys and Copies of Worn Keys

To work in a shop, is to have people walk in with a very worn key to their house or car. It still works but they want a copy. With one look, I know it is not that simple. Sometimes I know a copy of the key will work fine and sometimes I do not know that.

Let's start with what I like to see. For most keys, you should see small flat areas on the key and these are where the pins or wafers are to rest on. Between each flat is some kind of ramp or peak to allow for the key to insert and withdraw. The steep parts should be even and smooth. This is a well cut house key.



You can see the 5 flat areas and the peaks between have very clear starts and stops with nice 45 degree angle slopes. If you look down at the cuts, you should see smooth cut surfaces. This photo shows the lines the cutting wheel made going up a steep. You should see these or very lightly. The key on the left is worse in that the lines are more visible and deeper. This makes your key into a small file which grinds the bottom of the pins every time you use it. Cut marks are visible if one or more of several things happen:
-- the cutting wheel was dull, or
-- the carriage was moving horizontally too fast, or
-- the cutting wheel is dull.



This is a worn key which has had time for any cut marks to be worn down. Even as a pro, I can not tell where one cut starts and the next begins. It may work fine. It may work good. Often you ask the client if it works and they will say 'yes'. The problem is it works for that person since it has worn out with use. The person has learned the sweet spot to hold the key or puts up with a bit of jiggle to get it to turn. I can feel the same lock and know the fit is just not right but the worn key does work ... if you wanna call it that.



However, if you duplicate this key, the copy may work or it could be worse. Basic key duplication is like a photocopy machine for a page of text. The machine can be better or worse but if you serially copy the copies enough, the errors build up. I can tell the key above is NOT a factory original since it is not on a Nissan blank. (Given the age of this lock series, the car is a Datsun and the original key would say that in work or logo.)

However, in the trade you do much like the hardware stores and usually just cut the copy and give a warranty that should it now work, the customer can bring it back. Unlike the hardware stores, I often know the most likely key copies to have problems and I have alternate methods to solve the problem should the client return.

A comment on key machines. The machines I see in hardware stores are semi-automatics worth $800 to $1000 but sometimes less. They can be re-calibrated if they are not cutting correctly but the staff lack the tools or skills to do that. A good lock shop will spend $1500 or more on the duplicator and since we know we have to cut keys for high precision locks we keep the machine checked for calibration. (Some locks demand highly faithful copies and the hardware stores do not even stock the blanks for them. Why should they since I doubt they would usually get a key precise enough to work?) Calibration requires tools and time and using up a few key blanks.

Don't worry too much. If your house key says WR5, WR3, KW1 or KW10, a cheap duplicator will work fine. The machining inside the lock will forgive all kinds of mistakes in cutting copies of your key. The sloppy workmanship making the lock also keeps the cost down and makes it so I can pick the lock easy should you be locked out. Have a nice day.

Can you have a double-sided deadbolt on your house?

I really have to start this answer by saying I am writing for where I live and work. Laws differ in other places but the reasoning for some of this shines through regardless of where you live. Also, in this context your house is where you live and own. Sometimes law distinguishes between owning the house and simply renting it.

First, the law. You can not put a double deadbolt* on a fire exit since people must have an easy path out during an emergency. In Canada, this mean a functioning adult or child above sixish can get out of a room or a building without special tools or knowledge. A key is considered a special tool. Also, after the building reaches a certain size and/or expected occupancy, it must have two or more exits.

Second, more law. If you own your home, you can legally do stupid things.

Finally, the practical. If unblocked exits are good in public places in lowering the number of deaths in fires and other emergencies, then exits are also good in a house. Consider other options before you install a double deadbolt such as a metal grill over a window in the door or installing the deadbolt below the handle so an arm thru the broken window could never reach the inside anyways.

However, you MIGHT consider a double deadbolt in some narrow situations. I ask my customers where everybody sleeps and to think of what is the primary exit if a fire happens at night. You would NEVER put a double dead bolt on this door. You may also want to skip a secondary door. However, I have seen houses with a third and fourth door onto a deck or into the garage. (You would not normally exit in a panic via a garage but that really depends on your particular floor plan.)

If you think sealing a door against a broken window attack with a double deadbolt is worth the risk, then you should also be adding a glass break sensor to that window so your alarm response is instant if it gets broken. Another good idea is to hang a key close to the door so if this door must become the tertiary** exit, then it can be opened quickly. The practical viability of doing this depends on the physical and mental condition of the most vulnerable person living in the house.

Some of the NEVER even consider it situations would include:
• Granny uses a walker
• Toddlers live in the house
• Only one door
• It is a solid door
• The key will be stored in the inside cylinder
• No key will be placed permanently near it

As you can tell, I actively discourage such deadbolts. In fact, most of the time it is a matter of telling the client it can not be done due to codes and our client base will find other solutions. I hope you do too unless it truly meets a critical security need. After all, if fire exits are a good idea in other places, you family and friends deserve them also.


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*This kind of deadbolt is most formally called a double cylinder deadbolt but it is also called a double sided deadbolt or simply a double deadbolt. Regardless of how you say it, the lock is operated by a key from the outside and also by key from the inside. Only a key holder can open the door.

** It means third.

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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/

Backset Fail

I pulled all the photos off the 1 GB card inside my cell phone. I take numerous pictures and found this old gem. Somebody had installed a Weiser Powerbolt but had missed the step of changing the backset for the bolt. Since the bolt was 3/8 inch too short installed in this door so had set the face of the bolt into the edge of the door by 3/8 of an inch.

Seeing this old photo made me smile.

Why do they keep breaking my car windows?

Asked by retail staff as I was working for his store. "Why do they keep breaking my car windows?"

It is an upscale Audi import with an alarm. It is parked in the back lot of an apartment block. They got some stuff out of it the first time. All he leaves in it now is the charging cable for the iPod.

Well frankly, they got something once. And frankly, the cable hints at something being in the glove box or under the seat. (I never asked but if it has darkly tinted windows, they need to break them to see if there is more to take this time.) In big apartment complexes, nobody even hears car alarms most of the time -- people go numb from the frequent false alarms.

It is a shame, but this guy needs to invest money in a house with a garage to get the car out of site. However, I suspect he spare cash is sunk into keeping windows in his car.

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

My Keys Cost $1500! Really??

How much does a key cost? At one level, it is 2 or 3 bucks. You give your existing key to the staff of a store and it gets mounted into a machine and a copy is cut. This is common for house keys.

However, there is a completely different answer. At our provincial locksmith conference, I was told of a different way of looking at this.* The cost of your key ring is the total of your house and automobile insurance deductibles. Look the two deductibles up and if your key ring is stolen and later used to get your car and rob your house, you get to pay this amount before any insurance claim.

Search Google News for 'stolen keys' and you will find it is a common method to get access to cars. This is a reasonable consequence of the electronics in keys in many car models. Without a key, the ignition column can be smashed open but the car will not start.

The only case where I have direct experience, involved a coat stolen from the staff area in the back of a big restaurant. The back door was left unlocked routinely to let other staff enter unhindered. A cook was done his shift and found his coat missing with keys in the pocket. He looked outside and the car was gone. I entered the picture to meet the wife as soon as possible to change the keying on the house. The risk of a thief using stolen keys is highest in the first few hours and the car theft proved the culprit was willing to use the stolen keys. The house was fine when she got home which was faster then the husband who was taking a taxi. (When I was done, the car was reported stolen but police had not yet found it.)

In this case, they may pay the cost of the insurance deductible for the car and then the cost to rekey the house. Rekeying a car is usually far more costly.

Changing the keying of a house has many different prices. Some townhouses have one locked door with one deadbolt. That is a half hour call. Some luxury homes have over 12 locks all over the place. Also, in a crisis like this the change has to be made as fast as possible to be the most effective. Locksmiths are like plumbers and have day rates, evening rates and late night rates. The client has to decide if the price is worth it. Go ahead and compare to your insurance deductibles.


* My apologies but can not recall who this is or I would give credit. If you remember telling me over lunch in the coffee shop of the Capri Centre, do let me know.


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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/

Bear Hunting and New Running Shoes

Stop me if you have heard this story.

Two good old boys are about to head out on a trip to hunt bear. One wants to stop and buy a pair of good running shoes. His buddy laughs as he reminds the first that he can not outrun a bear. The first guy says, "I do not have to outrun the bear. I have to outrun YOU."

I guess you did not stop me in time.

What does this have to do with physical security? Crime is often a matter of opportunity and the thief or thieves do very little planning. One house is chosen as they drive, bike or walk down the back alley or front street or both. Your house is chosen based on first look. You do not have to make your house harder to break into than Fort Knox. It only has to look harder than those of your neighbours.

Do a quick net search and you find many good ideas. One page I found which is quite good is from the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services named the Home Security Audit Guide from which you can download as a PDF from the same page. (Other pages of ideas work but take any with some caution if they are selling you locks or alarms or other stuff.)

I want to mention some common mistakes homeowners make. Places to hide out of the light are used as location to break into a door or window. This often includes a high fence many people like on the side and back of the house. You will hear people say the fence also helps to keep a thief out but that is not supported by the evidence at all. A window without curtains is preferred too since you can see if somebody arrives and for a basement window what is below to land upon.

Every door must have a deadbolt. Every bolt should have 1 inch or 2.5 cm of throw. The throw is how much bolt projects out of the edge of the door when locked and you can easily see this by locking the deadbolt with the door open. The best quality deadbolts correctly installed also have solid tapered bodies on the outside and shelves of metal to hold onto the hole in the door so a hammer can not easily pound them down to the bottom of the hole. It is not the job of two thin bolts to keep the deadbolt held to the door. The strike should be held on with at least two 2.5 inch or 6 cm wood screws. If you have a window in the door or a side light window, get a grating so nobody can reach in if the glass is broken. Consider wrapping plates under the deadbolts to increase the door strength too. They are a cheap easy installation and done before the door is damaged can look very good.

Alarm signs work well as deterrent if you have a real alarm with real signs. Getting fakes from a dollar store do not. If some punk can seen all the wall next to the main door and not see an alarm panel, there probably is no alarm. If some punk can not see alarm contacts on any windows or glass break sensors, there probably is no alarm. If some punk breaks a window and nothing sounds, their IS no alarm.

Make your home a distributed target. All the valuable stuff should be spread out. If an alarm is used to limit time on site, then the thief can not spend the time to look everywhere.

If you have a safe, learn the difference between a fire safe and a burglary safe and keep the right kind of contents in each. Banks rent safety deposit boxes. Yes, they do!

Do you have insurance?

One last thing. This does not apply in the least to a targeted robbery. I am not saying this happened. I am also not saying it did not. Let's say you are some gun collector who has a nice stock of rifles. Some are so nice you show them to any friend your son brings home from school who shows some interest including a walk to the closet with deadbolts. Guns like this are of value and when somebody gets in the house and only goes for the guns and gets out fast, you can tell what they wanted. The time on site and path is easy to read from the alarm hits. Who knew the guns were there? Probably most of the kids in 2 or 3 junior high schools.

Enjoy your new shoes and remember if you will spend $200 on a pair of shoes, why not $200 on a good deadbolt?


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

Its called "Key Attitude."

When a customer today laughed at this term, I knew it was a good item for the blog. Key attitude.

Lets start with a question. Have you ever had a lock you could unlock with your key but somebody else could not? You knew exactly how to hold the key ... how much to lift it ... how much to pull it back ... how hard to turn it ... how to comb your hair just right. You would insert the key and do a little dance with the key and you could get it to work every time. Good for you but that is NOT how a lock should work.

The engineering design is that a key should be inserted fully into a lock and you can let go of it. The springs in the lock and gravity will find a neutral place of rest for the key. Then you turn it without pulling it out or lifting it or tipping it. That is the ideal and lets put that in our rear-view mirror right now.

When you have to hold a key in some special way, it is called key attitude and it can arise for several reasons. Often the regular user of the lock has lived with a little of it for years as the key and lock wore out together so has learned the exact attitude for that key and lock. When that person passes the key to me, I find it almost impossible to work the lock. (I only hope I am entertaining as I struggle to get this key to work.)

Perhaps I should get more technical. A key fits into a lock in a keyway and the keyway always has to be a bit larger than the key. Some keys fit very exactly into the space given and really do not wiggle inside the lock more than a few thousandths of an inch. Generally these are new cylinders of the top grades of lock. As you look at more worn locks or less machined locks, the key has more air around it when in the lock and you can move the key up, down and sideways.

I guess I should say what exactly holds the key in place. Well, that depends on the lock. For the deadbolt in a house, the key should rest on the bottom of the keyway and the grooves on the side of the key should have matching ridges inside the lock to fit into them but not lift the key off the bottom of the keyway.* If the key is double sided like many cars, then usually you have springs from half the cuts pushing the key up and the other half pushing the key down. All you need to do is put 20 other keys, a cell phone, a collection of charms, a name tag and a small flashlight on your ring of keys and it will weigh enough to pull that double sided key out of the centre of the lock.

Since the fit of the key in the keyway is never exact, what attitudes are possible? Often you can lift the whole key if all the cuts on the key are too low. Also, the copy of the key can be tipped in either direction and sometimes to get it to work, you rock the tip of the key up and keep the shoulder area all the way down. Alternately, you can lift at the shoulder and keep the tip fully down. Am I done??

No. Keys are often duplicated with the blank not aligned correctly left to right in the machine. If the original is out of place, the cuts on the new key are too close to the shoulder and by the time you fully insert that key, the cuts have not yet reached where they should to operate. This key is taken back for a refund. More commonly, the copy is away from the shoulder when duplicated and this key will work if you pull it just a bit out of the lock. "Just a bit" is a precise way of saying guess and test.

And there can be one more problem but it is quite rare. When you wear a lock out, the keyway goes wide and the key can rotate slightly INSIDE the keyway before you start to turn the lock. For some keys, this rotates the cuts on the key blade out from under the pins and the pins move down and lock up the cylinder. This only happens in one direction or the other. However, if it happen when you turn the key clockwise and that is the direction which unlocks this lock, then it may seem like the key is wrong.**

(I will leave it as a homework exercise to find a solution to unlock such a lock without damage. Just had to say that. Old habits and all.)

Well, maybe this explains why it takes time to try out all the possible holding positions of a key before you find the exact key attitude to unlock it just once.

The job site which made me think of the topic was working with some safety deposit box locks. The client had keys labelled as working. One would work infrequently but a few others could not get the boxes to open at all. Safety deposit locks are not forgiving a poorly cut key and usually do not get high usage. If the key is wrong you hit a wall. I took the keys and tried a variety of attitudes with each until I had the boxes open. (Still faster and cheaper than drilling the door or destroying the lock which are the next options.) Once back in the shop, you can see where to correct the key by seeing what the internal parts are doing as you turn this key.

Do I like key attitude? Sure, it makes the job fun. Should you? A little is fine but do not make a copy of that key or you are likely to get a worse key which takes even more playing each time to open the lock. Also, most of the time poor key attitude is wearing out your lock faster than a correctly cut key. The key is generally a few dollars and can be replaced as needed without tools. The lock takes more time, money and skills to replace. Replace the key to preserve the lock seems good advice.



* I should get a prize for dodging the jargon of the trade. The grooves on the sides of keys are called millings and the shape of the hole used as a keyway is called the broaching.

** In a career as a locksmith, you will be given keys by ernest and honest customers who confidently tell you this is THE key for that lock. Later you open the lock to see the pins and it is not even close. This raises some customer service points I will discuss in some other post.


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

Backset problems.

This is a Weiser Powerbolt installed on a pre-existing door preparation. Since the installer had the main bore with a 2 3/4 backset and did not seem to know how to change the backset of the bolt, the bolt face was recessed in. I was replacing the hardware and it proved a minor problem.

But since a picture is worth 1000 words ...



If you are doing this at home, read the instructions in the box. This bolt can easily be made to fit in a 2 3/4 backset installation.


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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/

"Locks only keep out honest people" 3T's

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard that line!

This may be true with something like a wooden desk drawer, but I have seen good quality burglary safe hacked and smashed for possibly hours and they were still locked up good. The right locks will keep out even a thief.

When something is locked up and you want the container opened, you really have three elements which contribute to defeating the lock. Often they are diagrammed in a triangle since you can trade a little bit of one for a bit of one of the others. There are real limits to how much you can do such trading.

Tools

The tools you need to get past a lock depends on the lock and the rest of the box. For a simple desk drawer you can use a simple pick to open the lock without damage or a big pry bar to wreck the desk. They would be about the same time but locksmith would choose the first and thieves the second.

In contrast, you could think you are going to open an Underwriter Rated Jewel Vault. It will be so heavy, most tow trucks can not even drag it. The tools to get it open need plug-in power and you need several such tools. You need various drill bits and grinder wheels. (And not one of the tools can be used without setting off the alarm package inside! More on this later.)

Time

More complicated locks take more time. I can pick some locks reliably in under a minute. Others I look at and think I can pick this in about 5 minutes. There are also locks I look at and think about destroying it to get inside since I know picking will not work. Everything you open takes time. For the trade, it is valuable since you will charge the client for your labour so the obligation is to use it well. For a thief, it is in VERY short supply since sooner or later somebody will show up. In a business which does not have an alarm system, the time limit is when the morning staff arrive. With an alarm it is some estimate of when the police will arrive. Locks which take me longer to get past also take the crooks longer too. Criminals have the advantage they can break stuff if it speeds the opening. I have the advantage in the third element below.

Techniques

All the things you learn of how to use tools, how the lock works and how the door or box is constructed come into play here. The more training you have to provide options when needed to open something the better. I am constantly learning but so are the criminals. However, I can learn from other locksmiths and security professionals much easier. Also, big institutions like banks and prisons trade security information formally and completely. We have all heard of inmates teaching others how to break in but mostly they learn 'smash and grab' techniques.


So the three words today are Tools, Time and Techniques. If my tools are not perfect, I can just take a bit more time. If I do not know the best techniques, I will be forced to use lesser tools and take more time. Some trade-offs can be made but if you ever find yourself facing a heavy gauge steel door with a good thru-bolted exit device mounted exit only and all you have is a single screwdriver, it really does not matter how long you take. You will not get that door open.

Oh yes, alarms. We have to remind people at home and in businesses alarms do not stop break ins except if they deter the attempt. That is why you need the little signs on all doors and windows. However, even if the alarm does not stop a break in, it limits the time on site looking for valuables. (Plus some horns are so loud and painful, they seems to disrupt thoughts too and certainly limit vocal communication between people.)


I realize I have said all this about the locksmith and the burglar. However, the tools/time/technique triangle also applies to the handyman and amongst tradesmen. A certified locksmith has the tools and techniques to open desks, doors, safes, cars, and other containers reasonably fast without unneeded damage. I do not have the same assurance for some of the people who just "do some locksmith work on the side."



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

Cars have locks?

Quick note here. I do not work on automobiles and have not done so for so long that anything I might say, might not be right. While a big part of the trade, I have to leave this to others. (If you think you are qualified, feel free to get in touch and you could be a guest writer.)

You do hear people ask why they do not lock cars up better if a 'bent bit of wire' can open them. The answer is safety and cost. In a collision, we need to have the glass in vehicles break away as a way to lessen skull damage. I know that people still get head injuries but if the glass was as solid as concrete, they would be much worse. Well, since all glass breaks the same with a sharp metal tool or a rock, a thief can get your iPod or camera quickly. Since that is the case, the car companies have generally created door locks to act as tamper seals and keep 'snoops' out of the vehicle body. They are mounting in a single layer or sheet metal and that fails about as easily as the glass. To keep the vehicle from being moved, they have invested in better locks and technology inside the steering column where it can be protected better and where electronics can interact with the vehicle control computer.

Oh ... getting back to the 'bit of bent wire' comment. There was a time 30-40 years ago when 2 or 3 tools would open any vehicle. That time is long past. The kits are not up to 40 tools and while you see only one tool, the locksmith only took that one out since the rest are for other makes and models. It is often easy and it is often not as easy as it looks.

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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/

Classes of Key Blanks

Whenever we in the trade talk to a commercial customer, we ask what level of keying they want. Often we can make a reasonably good guess knowing the nature of the business and what is locked up. Such conversations often turn into descriptions of different levels of security for key systems. With that, I thought I should explain the classes of key blanks out there.

Open Stock Keys
These are key blanks anybody may buy. Locksmith have them but any retail hardware store can buy them as can property managers. I want to break this group into four smaller sets.

'Common as dirt'
Everybody has these. Everybody. Why not? Everybody had a lock which uses them. Here in western Canada, Weiser has the majority of the household market. I would guess over 90% of homes use this key. You can identify it with the name Weiser on the side, the letters WR5 or WR3 on the side. The other common house keys are KW1 and SC1. (All the cute keys with puppies or symbols or sports teams or a billion other things printed onto them are one of these three keyways.) In my opinion, they are too common since there are mathematically less keys than there are houses in even a small city.

'Readily available'
In this group of keys, the hardware stores still stock them but the wage staff may have to look twice to realize it. The blanks are common but not in the top 3. Examples of these would be the Yale Y1, Schlage SC7, Corbin CO88 and Sargent LA. I would say under 100 blanks make this group.

'Locksmith stock'
Always fun to have a person walk into the shop and ask if we cut keys. Behind us on the wall are a few thousand 'common' blanks. Some are older and some are just rare. I would give names for some but if you are not in the trade, it would be just so many strange codes. Ahhh ... why not. Remember the Sargent LA mentioned about? Well, I was only talking of the 6 pin version as readily available. There are also 5 pin and 7 pin versions. But wait ... that's not all. Sargent had a family of key blank which start with L such as LB, LC, LE, LF, LG, LJ, LK, AND LL. Confused yet? They also make a family which starts with R which has just as many keys. However, to be clear a locksmith would not stock ALL of these but will have the knowledge and reference books to know they exist. Many of those belong in the next category.

'Hen's Tooth'
These are the blanks which are open stock but are so rare they might as well be the teeth of a chicken. You will phone every wholesaler you know trying to find them and are happy when you can get a bag of 10 in 6 weeks. They are never cheap. Your customer may have only wanted 2 but you price them to recover the cost for all the blanks on just those keys because until this same person comes back, you will just be dusting the others. An example in this group are the DOM sectional cabinet locks which are found in European import furniture. We see them with 2 rare keyways and 28 'hen's teeth' keyways.


Restricted Keys
These are key blanks which are only available within the trade and are controlled to various degrees.

'Contractually Restricted'
These blanks are only sold to locksmith shops once they make a commitment to follow some rules. While there are variations in the terms, this usually means you will not sell uncut blanks, you will stamp the cut keys so everybody knows where they came from and you will not duplicate keys from another shop even if you have the blank. (If you are found to be cutting the keys from some other shop, your supply of that blank may be cut off.) This is security by contract and anybody who breaks it risks only civil penalties.
Many of these blanks will have a brand name printed but nothing else. They have keyway part numbers but not that the end user can see. These keys are not high security and the locks they work in are not high security.

'Patent Controlled'
If a key interacts with a lock in some special mechanical way, then a utility patent can be granted and only that company can make and distribute the blanks. These are the high security keys and locks. The downside is that patents run out and then the security starts to decay since others may make the blanks. However, until that time each company can control the blanks and limits them in various ways. Most commonly each locksmith shop will have a keyway but that same keyway may repeat in some other location perhaps a few thousand miles away. They tend to be very wary of saying how many keyways they have in production but seeing some of the other brands it will be well over 100. Additionally, they will not tell you who else uses your keyway or how close they are. If you pay enough money, you can get an exclusive keyway.

These keys are almost always marked 'Do Not Copy' or 'Do Not Duplicate'. While nice, it matters little. Only the shop which has that blank can mechanically copy it. However, the risk is much higher than for the simply contract controlled keys. The maker will pull the right to cut any of those keys and for many shops this will quickly dry up the cash flow for the business. (Locksmiths also live on 'reputation capital' and of you betray trust, it hurts the business fast and bad.)

Does the manufacturer have to supply to the locksmith shops? No. Some keys are factory controlled. You order keys directly from the factory and so the cost is higher and the supply line slower. However, the control is better if you are willing to pay the price. When you become the warden of a prison you will get to order keys using this process. I know not of any other type of place using this class of keys but there may be a few. (A variant of this is when you buy rights to a keyway from the maker and then direct the factory to ship the blanks to a locksmith shop of your choice. You own the blanks but the shop does the cutting.)

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A few last thoughts should be said on automobiles. Everything above can be said about automobiles for those which do NOT have transponders in the blank. Once the transponder is in use, the key is more like an access card for a building. This means all the physical keys for your vehicle are the same but the digital code used by each key is different.


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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/

Security Maxims -- A must read.

I was sent to this while listening to the Security Now podcast about computer security. (It is available off iTunes or you can go to grc.com for more information.) I was struck by how much jive there was between computer system security and the physical security I deal with daily. The Security Maxims were written by an analyst for the US Department of Energy looking at nuclear power facilities. Upon reading, they have relevance and I hope to illustrate some of them later with some examples.  A link to this list is on the side.

As a teaser, here is one.
Gossip Maxim: People and organizations can’t keep secrets.

Think about that a bit the next time you are changing the combination on a safe and the staff find the new dialing hard since the old code has been in use for over 5 years.

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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/

Just a 'normal' lock

When I hear somebody say they want just a normal lock, I have to put that in a context they can not. Firstly, I need to know if it is a home or business and if they want it on a door or something else.

I guess I should deal with the homeowner first. They mean normal as in common and that means an entrance set. It has a key to open it from the outside and the inside knob is always active. Also, on the inside is a button or some other method to lock the outside knob. These are the door knobs which allow people to lock themselves out of the house when...
... take your pick here cuz we heard them all ...
(a) walking the dog
(b) getting the post
(c) going to the corner store
(d) hanging out laundry
(e) or any number of other minor chores.

We know by normal the homeowner probably means common and does not mean good. Mostly these locks do not meet the fire exit standards for commercial locations since the inside knob is often locked when the outside knob is locked and a two stage process is needed to unlock it. Also, the lock sits within the outside knob connected to the door by a spindle of about 3/4 of an inch. These 'normal locks' fail when hit with a hammer or grabbed with a pipe wrench. (Since the latch is so weak, the door is often forced leaving the knob alone. Thieves are sometimes efficient.)

This gets us the lock function as we say in the trade call it. It does not say what style it is and for that you need to see it. There are just too many to do a match any other way if that is valued by the customer.

Increasingly, new houses here have deadbolts over passage sets. A passage set is just a knob used to hold the door closed in the wind and the security function is given solely to the deadbolt. Given a chance, this is the way to go. Additionally, get a lever set to do this. If you place your hand on most knobs you can easily hit the weatherstripping. We learn to hold our fingers in and after a while habituate that as a coping mechanism. Get a lever. As soon as you get any arthritis in your hands you will be happy you did.

If somebody wants a normal lock for a file cabinet, you have to see it. If somebody wants a normal lock for a desk, you have to see it. A normal lock is not so normal after all.

I guess I should say about businesses. The fronts of stores have common locks too. They are almost always Adams Rite MS bolts or latch locks or import clones of these since they fit in the same holes in the doors. Also, these locks are in three common sizes and are not interchangeable so you have to see the door to know which size. (A bad after hours call is when you have a failed lock of a non-standard size. The kinds which you know are not even in the warehouses in town tomorrow and certainly not in your truck tonight.) The actual cylinder which goes into a storefront is a bit easier to know. If you talk to the customer and it is a glass door with an aluminum frame, the cylinder is a mortise cylinder and they are generally interchangeable. Common here means SC1 or SC4 ... a Schlage or clone. This is basic or standard security but is fine for many applications.

Late again. I hope I have said something insightful.

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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/

What is a good lock for my house? Part 1

This is why I hate some cocktail parties. If you 'confess' to being a locksmith you get asked by well meaning people that question in various wordings. The problem is there is no easy answer.

I guess I should start with a simple one. Every door on your house should have a deadbolt with a 1 inch bolt throw. This means if you open the door and extend the bolt it should extend 1 inch or 2.5 cm out of the door. Locking knobsets do not count for home security any more and possibly never did. Deadbolts count in part because that is what your insurance agent asks for door locks.

What gets more complex and yet just as much a problem is what door you have to lock up. I have put a deadbolt into a door in a 1928 house. The wood AT the edge was GREAT. However, set into the middle of the door were floating panels. They allowed for expansion and contraction in heat and humidity. The problem is they were clearly an 1/8 of an inch thick or about 3 mm. You could punch through them much like glass. Is that door more secure now? It does meet the insurance company requirement.

Directly beside the deadbolt is the strike or hole which the bolt moves into when the door is closed. This is a metal square screwed into the frame. And sometimes it is more screwed and sometimes it is you who is getting screwed. Let me explain. At the top end, the strike is held into a metal frame filled with concrete. However most houses have wooden doors and frames and the strike you see is held by wood screws. Some have 4 screws with two long ones going into the wood frame of the house and two smaller screws just holding the strike flat. (Door frames are made of soft woods so they can be fit into position during construction and they take paint nicely. Door frames are usually less than one inch or 2.5 cm thick with a small air gap before you encounter the wood frame of the house.) At the worst, the strike is held by two small wood screws which only grab the soft door frame. I have seen new construction where this little plate was with the locks should they be installed in metal frames. However, the developer wanted to move fast and these go on FAST. So the people who bought the condo had a good look on a good door but a weak strike. (They would have thrown out the good strike which came with the deadbolts.)

Another day, windows!


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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/