Store Lockout

During my years as a locksmith technician, I got called many times to resolve an issue with locks because someone had tried to break in and damaged it. Some of the times, the customer didn't even realized someone had try to break in to his home or store since there wasn't a clear sign of breaking an entry. However, any experience locksmith who will diagnose an issue with a lock could tell if the issue caused by worn out internals or with a stranger tampering with the lock.

Not too long ago I remember getting a call from a customer who had a store in the area and claimed he was not able to unlock it with the key. He couldn't tell me much information on the phone, but I figured that probably the lock just needed cleaning to function properly again. I took the store location info from the customer and started heading his way.

Once I got to the store and tried assessing the situation myself, I came to determine that someone might have tried breaking inside the store during the night. It seemed that the plug was turned all the way upside down which in my opinion was as a result from picking attempt that went wrong after the top pins fell to the bottom and and trapped the plug in its current position. Other then drilling I didn't have any solution for the situation, so I decided to give a call to one of my Spokane locksmith technician friends to see if they had any insights to my current predicament.

After getting one of my co-workers on the phone and explained the situation, he said that there is a way out of it aside from drilling. He first said I should check what type of lock the store was equipped with and then get a blank that matched it. After determining the correct blank for the lock, I continued following my co-worker instructions by cutting the blade of the key to its lowest depth. This allowed me to insert it into the lock without any issue and turn the plug to its original position. After doing that, I was able to use the customer's key to unlock the door. All that I needed to do now is take apart the lock and do the necessary repairs.  

Commercial Key-Less Entry Locks

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Toyota Key Origination

For the average locksmith, originating a key for a vehicle can be a time consuming task. Especially on the older model vehicles. On most older makes and models, in order to make a key, there is a code that would need to be retrieved either from the ignition cylinder or the door lock depending on the type of vehicle and key that is needed to be made. Some manufactures has made things a little easier offering the codes to be available to purchase which will make things a little more expensive for the customer. However sometimes, an experience locksmith will find a way where some manufactures provided the code inside the vehicle where nothing would be needed to be taken apart.

A few years ago I remember being called to originate a new key for a 94 Toyota Corolla after the customer accidentally damaged it. Back then I did not have any experience making a key for this particular model, but I figured it shouldn't be any different than most vehicles I did where the code to make the key could be find on the door lock or ignition cylinder. I decided to take the job and started heading to the customer's location.

When I got to the customer's address I pulled out the locksmith guides to see what would be the easiest way to make a key and I saw that both the door lock and the ignition cylinder should have a code stamped on them. Since I never took apart an ignition from a Toyota at that period of time, I decided to try the door lock first. When I started removing the door panel I ran across couple of bolts that didn't want to budge. Since it was an old vehicle I wasn't surprise, but I needed to figure out another way to make a key.

At that point I figured my only option was to take the ignition apart, but since I wasn't sure how to do it, I called a fellow Spokane locksmith of mine for some tips. As I got him on the phone, he mentioned something that I didn't know and wasn't on the guides as well. Apparently, under the rubber coating of the original key, there should be a code. I then took the customer's damaged key which luckily was the original one, peeled the rubber coating which revealed the code and I was able to make a key without taking apart anything.

Automotive Ignition Service

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