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.
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.
I'm not familiar with strong box. A google search brought up quite a variety of different things. I would say see if you can order one from the manufacturer, otherwise if it is a fairly simple design, I'm sure a cylinder could be modified to work.
If your front door key will fit in the lock on your garage, it doesn't even have to turn, take the locks off and take them to a locksmith. They should be able to make them match your front door. If it doesn't fit, take your front door key and get a couple replacement locks that will accept it. Have them rekeyed to match. If you don't care if they match or not, take your garage locks off and take them to a locksmith to get re-keyed, or just buy a new set
If you don’t have chip in your key, which I don’t believe you do, you should be able to. Passenger side would be your best bet for a few reasons. If a car manufacturer puts a code on a lock, it’ll be the passenger door lock (not all do). If you damage anything while taking it out, it won’t effect your every day use since you rarely open your passenger door.
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Its not an easy job! You're better off installing a cylindrical deadbolt ABOVE your surface-mounted deadbolt. Still not easy if you're not used to doing it, and takes a lot of specialty tools- 2-1/8" hole saw, chisels, 1" paddle bit or hole saw, etc. If you care about the cosmetics of your door, you might be better off hiring a locksmith do it a proper job.
Nope unfortunately not. National makes locks that go into so many different things, many of which share key blanks. Could be a file cabinet, cam lock, tractor, who knows!
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.
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