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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Last Answer on June 11, 2024

Best Rated

I just got a car from my sister. And the key doesn't work for the doors or the trunk. How can I fix that? And how much would it cost me? For a key that works maybe....

Asked by Marie about 6 years ago



You can drive it to a locksmith shop and they might be able to rekey them to match. Or they can make a key to the doors and trunk. With newer cars, it’s very common that the doors and truck locks quit working because people only use remotes to open them. So the locks corrode and seize up. If that is a possibility with you, you can try squirting some WD-40 or a penatrant like PB Blaster, made for loosening rusted nuts. Let it sit 30 min, then run your key in and out a bunch to loosen it up. Then try turning it. I’ve seen that work a lot.

Also, I want to change the inside door knob to a lever type. What brand should I be looking for that will fit? Thanks again.

Asked by Fw88888888@yahoo.com over 7 years ago

I don’t know if you’ll be able to find anything to work with your existing hardware. They quit making that lock YEARS ago, & parts usually aren’t compatible between mortise locks, except cylinders of course. You’re probably better off replacing the whole thing if you want a big change like that, or if something breaks.

Hi. I am trying to locate a padlock that has the following fearures:

-Can be opened by multiple keys (preferably 12)

-Displays or records the last action (lock or unlock) of each key seperately.

Advice? The application is a buildingwide trash bin.

Asked by Joss almost 7 years ago

Yes, Medeco makes a few different options. I would recommend finding a local locksmith who sells Medeco and buying through them. There are a few options with different features. Medeco XT, Medeco Classic Cliq, and M3 X4 Cliq. Classic Cliq might be your best option, economically. Your local rep could probably give you some better guidance.

Any suggestions for better security, I've tried the alarm system, the hidden camera, the remote door alarm..

Asked by Dah almost 7 years ago

Are you saying your alarm system isn’t going off, and your cameras aren’t picking anyone up?

Do u ever get called to hotels

Asked by Mr C over 6 years ago

Yes all the time.

I have an antique door mechanism that I need to remove. The knob and latches are off, the jamb plate unscrewed, so it’ll slide out - except for one problem: I can’t get the spindle off. Is there a release catch? Can’t see one. Suggestions?

Asked by John Douglas almost 6 years ago

Hard to say without knowing what kind of lock exactly, but sometimes those old mortise locks have a split spindle. You remove 1 half by sliding it out, and the other half hooks into the lock. You just unhook it. Some brands have a solid spindle that goes all the way through, but I’ve never seen it get stuck. Some have a screw that screws into the spindle from the backside, but if you don’t see a place where a screw would go into it, that’s probably not the case. Those are my best guesses. Any one spindle has always been either solid and once you get 1 knob off, it just slides out of the lock, of the split spindle style.

I have multiple facilities that I use and want to have a limited number of keys. Can I use the keys I currently have to make a master key?

Asked by KC about 6 years ago

That’s not an easy thing to answer. In a nutshell, if all of your locks take the same type of key, you can use ONE of your keys and build a master key system using that key as a starting point, but you will have to recut every other key. Typically you can’t take a bunch of random keys and make them all work in a master key system. If someone tells you they can, they are not doing you any favors.