Locksmith

Locksmith

Josh-the-Locksmith

25 Years Experience

Austin, TX

Male, 46

I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

330 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on June 11, 2024

Best Rated

Josh,
Two questions for you.
1. 1.What is the most important activity you do in your business?
2. 2.Do you have any pain associated with this activity?
I personally appreciate what you bring to the table lol. I've locked my self out more than once.

Asked by Jack about 10 years ago

1. The most important activity... That's a very vague question. Important in regard to what? Important to my boss, important to the customer, or important to myself? Boss: making the customer happy. Customer: pinning their locks properly and cutting their keys correctly so they can secure and open their business or home. Me: getting from point a to point B safely.

My fingers get cramped & start to hurt after long hours of pinning locks & stamping keys. Luckily that's a small part of what I do. Installing & repairing hardware is also a large part.

Would you recommend those Smartkey locks that allow you to re-key yourself or not?

Asked by E. Sky. over 9 years ago

If you had asked me that a couple years ago I would have told you no. They had a lot of problems initially. I believe they are on their 3rd version now and it seems to be holding up pretty well. So basically sure I would. They're a pretty good lock.

Will a Kwikset Kevo smart lock work with herculite glass doors?

Asked by Courtney almost 10 years ago

Definitely not.

Keyed lever lock. The inside turn knob stuck in horizontal position. I can not lock the door. I can temove the inside lever with 3/32 but outside lever screw must be stripped as no result. If I can not fix how do I remove entire lock without being ab

Asked by Wally almost 9 years ago

Is this a Kwickset lock? If so, that is a fairly common problem. You probably just need to replace it. You shouldn't need to take off the front lever in order to remove it from the door. After you take the inside lever off, the trim plate covering the inside screws should either pop straight off by prying underneath a small cutout under the plate against the door, or twisting it counterclockwise a short turn, then it will pull off. All depend on brand & model. That would have been helpful.

How do you get started in this field?

Asked by Chrissy about 9 years ago

I got started in this field because my uncle is a locksmith. The easiest way is to apprentice for a locksmith. The pay would obviously start really low. There is also schooling you can do. Depending on the state, many require registration with the state with fingerprints, background check, & yearly continued education credits to keep your permit active.

I have a double front door for my home entry. The deadbolt throw from the left door goes into a metal channel in the right door. The channel is not deep enough for the 1" throw. What can I do about this?

Asked by M12345 over 8 years ago

Can you just drill the hole deeper?

I have no key to the lock in the front gate of my new house. I don't want to replace the lock, so how do I get a key that will work with the existing lock? Thanks!

Asked by Moebym about 9 years ago

Well you have 2 options then. Take the lock off & take it to a locksmith, or call a locksmith to come out and make a key. Obviously the cheapest option would be to take it to a locksmith.