In this two day advanced locksmith course the techniques and disciplines taught are extremely involved and require a basic level of understanding in this particular trade. It would ideally suite someone who has spent time already trading as a locksmith but wishes to learn the finer points of the trade.

Course Content

This fascinating course teaches the specialised disciplines involved in becoming an advanced locksmith, including:

Making Keys by Hand

This very impressive procedure involves stripping down the lock and making a key, from scratch, based on each individual lever, wafer or pin (depending on the type of lock).

This process not only gives you a good understanding of how the key works in relation to the lock, it also gives you a highly skilled technique that will increase the range of work you can accept - e.g. being able to make keys for an antique lock will set you apart from other locksmiths.

This skill involves unscrewing the lock case to expose the internal components, swapping around two levers, then reassembling the lock.

The ingenious part about this technique is as long as the customer has a key, you can use it to replicate the cuts in the new key which makes the whole process very quick, inexpensive, and effective.

This precision process involves filing a key blank in a particular manner so that a very sharp edge is left across the blade of the key, which, in turn, is then inserted into the lock and turned to bind the cylinder plug. When the plug is bound in position the key blank is rocked gently up and down which produces small indentations across the sharp edge of the key.

From this it can be seen where the pins/wafers have marked the key blank and it is now possible to file the key to a functional profile. This technique is particularly useful to gain entry whilst avoiding damage to the lock, and is also one of the only ways to produce a key when all others are lost.

Working with these types of locks requires an extensive knowledge and understanding, so as part of the course we offer a fully extensive “hands on” tutorial on many types of combination locks.

• Routine maintenance
• How they work
• How to dismantle
• How to change the combination
• How to find lost combination
• How to gain entry when a lock fails.

Although there are many specific picks designed to open 5 lever British standard insurance rated mortice locks and 5 lever non BS standard mortice locks, they can be very expensive and not everyone is in the position to be able to afford a full set.

Part of the locksmith training courses, this module teaches you precise drilling points and techniques that minimise damage and leave the lock in good working order.