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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329 Questions

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Last Answer on June 11, 2024

Best Rated

Automotive Trunk lock question; I'm Locked-Out of my Car Trunk. Key and Fob do not open it. Can not access from inside the car either. I had a separate trunk key cut, due to this happened before. But it does not work. What next ?

Asked by Tuco1957 almost 5 years ago

Try squirting some WD40 into your trunk lock, run the key in and out of the lock a bunch of times. Locks get corroded fairly quickly when they are not used.

Aside from that, you could have a locksmith come out or you can go into a shop. They can get in 1 way or another. Worst case, drill out the lock & replace it.

Could you give a client COVID-19?

Asked by Ndndnd almost 5 years ago

We don’t offer that service at our company.

Hi I have a skeleton key lock I don't know what type but we are desperately trying going to get it open and we need help ASAP!!!!!

Asked by GRacie Li over 4 years ago

Well there's no magic tricks. You can buy a tryout set of common "skeleton keys" online, see if one of them works; or take it to a local lock shop and let them either make a key or open it.

HI, i was wondering if you could help out a new locksmith in the business. im having trouble finding key codes for vehicles and understanding how and why i would need a certain amount of cuts. it would be great if i could get some insight, thanks.

Asked by clone0817@gmail.com over 4 years ago

Not sure what you mean by “needing a certain amount of cuts”. I haven’t done any automotive in 12 years. In fact, it got to be such a pain, the company I work for even quit doing mobile automotive work. Seems like locksmiths either go full in automotive, or none at all. It takes a lot of resources and money due to expensive machines and services. Also, more and more car manufacturers are doing proprietary keys and fobs leaving locksmiths with no options. This is a big disservice to customers, because it means keys will cost a fortune.

Have you ever been called to something like a jewelry box before or something small?

Asked by Mark about 4 years ago

Most of the time they just bring those to walk-in shops. But there has been a few situations where it was a chest, armoire, small safe, something like that.

Can you program a key for a 2009 challenger just using the vin number

Asked by Jerry79 over 4 years ago

No, you can’t program any key for any car using the vin. There is nothing in a vin that tells you anything about the key.

Can you recommend a secure lock to install on a thin door? Are there any electronic locks or deadbolts that can be installed on a thin door?

Asked by water_mom about 4 years ago

I think most deadbolts have a range of 1-3/8” to 1-3/4” thick doors. I would recommend going to schlage.com or kwikset.com & looking at their electronic deadbolts, look at the Specifications section on the product page. It should tell you the door thickness range. If it’s any thinner than 1-3/8”, it won’t work. You would need some kind of spacer to space out the lock on both sides of the door. I personally think Schlage makes a better lock than Kwikset.