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.

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330 Questions

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Last Answer on June 11, 2024

Best Rated

I’m buying a new/used lock cylinder for my 05 Chevy Malibu for a salvage seller that comes with transponder keys for it already. I assume those keys are already programmed to a different gym vehicle. Will I be able to reprogram those keys to my vehic

Asked by Robert almost 7 years ago

Yes you should be able to do that.

can i have my barrel lock plunger key repair

Asked by everette almost 9 years ago

Not usually, but you might be able to get it duplicated onto a new key.

We have outdoor activities for which tourists have to pay. We have metal boxes where they can put in the fee. The box is secured by a padlock. But so far we haven't been able to find a padlock that can withstand a boltcutter or angle grinder. Help?

Asked by Ron Werner over 8 years ago

Being that I don't know exactly what kind of application you are dealing with, I can only give you some ideas. First off, I've never seen a padlock hasp material that can't be cut with a grinder. What you need to find is something pick-resistant, and something that hides that shackle so bolt cutters and a grinder can't even GET to it. Just for some ideas- https://youtu.be/L6iMmCSayBQDepending on the design of the hasp, a "hockey puck" padlock might be an option. Mul-T-Lock makes a pick-resistant one with restricted keys. Look up model KW-TR100. Other brands make similar more inexpensive ones such as Abus & Master.

i have a Best door knob. I've attempted to depress the knob release by putting a papercli[ in the hole on the latch side of the knob but cannot find the rea\lease to allow me to pull out the knob ....what now? how do I get the door knob out?

Asked by arttriglione@comcast.net over 8 years ago

Being that Best would only sell to the end user, I haven't worked with many Best locks. BUT my guess would be it's possibly not a poke hole. It won't come apart like a typical lever. That hole is possibly a grab hole for a spanner wrench. You insert the tip of the wrench in that hole and rotate it counter-clockwise. If you don't have a spanner wrench, just use a big pair of pliers. Grab the part of the knob where that small hole is and twist it counterclockwise. It should start to get looser and eventually unscrew.

is it possible to customize an interconnected handleset so that the thumbturn on the inside is removed and replaced with a solid piece of metal/blank plate? deadbolt still lockable from outside with key, just not lockable from inside.?

Asked by mike over 7 years ago

Probably yes. There’s a clip that holds the thumb turn on, usually a compression ring, you should be able to break it off, then replace it with a screw of some sort. You’d have to get creative. It might deactivate the “interconnected” feature, which would prevent someone on the inside from being able to turn the lever and unlock the door, creating a major fire and safety hazard. I would not recommend tampering with it for that reason. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

Our apartment complex had a master key stolen so we all had our deadbolts changed by building maintenance. But our keys still work the after the change. Was anything done or was the “change” just for show that they did something about it?

Asked by Lewis over 7 years ago

Since I wasn’t there, I can’t answer that. But, I can tell you that if maintenance is going to take their time to pretend to rekey your lock, they probably did it. It’s not worth the liability to fake it. What probably happened was 1 of 2 things. Either the new combination of pins just happened to be very close to your old key (I’ve seen it happen); or they didn’t dump all the master pins out of your lock when they rekeyed it (novice mistake, & not surprising since they’re not locksmiths). In either case, call them back & let them know that it needs to be redone if you’re worried about it.

I hope you can help me... No one seems to know what kind of lick this is... I bought several items at a auction.. and a few of them had drawer locks like this... I spent alot of time removing this lock without damage to the drawer... I'm hoping you can help me identify what kind of lock this is and tell me where I light be able to get replacement keys.. I'd like to save the locks... Thank you in advance... Any help you can give me is appreciated.

Asked by Pete almost 7 years ago

Can you send me a couple photos on Twitter? @ATXJoshL