Locksmithing..
Locksmithing is one of the oldest trades, which was originally based on the Blacksmith trade and appeared sometime in the Middle Ages in Europe, when a better understanding of locks and knight’s armor was necessary to improve their battle skills.
In the 1930’s more locksmiths began practicing this trade as a whole new separate trade, because of the increasing crime rates and the growing need of locks. The need to find ways to lock and unlock doors, and create better lock devices led to the development of the art of the locksmiths, and has led to immense developments of the locking and security systems we use today. Few people actually realize the fact that the locksmith trade is crucial for the modern society, in order to provide safety and security to the homes, offices, cars and safes of people.
The first locks with keys were actually made of wood, and date back to more than 4,000 years ago. The actual locks predecessors to the modern lock were first used in Egypt back in 250 B.C. and were the so-called “pin locks”.
When the locksmith trade began developing as a separate trade, the locksmiths would actually spend hours making the lock and key manually, which took them hours and days for making a good locking mechanism and a key for it.
Nowadays, mostly the vaults, safes and safe boxes for valuables are still made manually by qualified locksmiths, in order to decrease the chances of a burglar opening them as easy as one could open the mass production ones available on the market. This though is quite an expensive investment to be made.
Today’s locksmiths are quite different from the ones from the earlier 20th century. The people in this trade today, mainly specialize in installing high quality locks and locking mechanisms, as well as designing and implementing the key control systems and keys for personal and corporative use.
The well trained locksmith’s job is to assess the specific case, and give the best alternatives for keeping the home or other institution safe, depending on the risk levels – for example: a bank will require a more complex locking system with more security layers than a private home. The more these “layers” though, the more expensive the service will be. So, in other words, the locksmith should be a security expert as well as an actual technician who places locks and creates locking systems.
While in the past, locksmithing was a trade learned through apprenticeship and passed down from father to son, today, there are 32 certified locksmith schools in the US, offering a full course of training and education for the future professional locksmiths. These specialized institutions offer introductory courses including the basics of locksmithing, to the more advanced safe lock courses, electronic locking services, home security systems, access control systems, and other valuable training for future locksmiths or those who want to specialize in a particular area of this trade.
In the 1930’s more locksmiths began practicing this trade as a whole new separate trade, because of the increasing crime rates and the growing need of locks. The need to find ways to lock and unlock doors, and create better lock devices led to the development of the art of the locksmiths, and has led to immense developments of the locking and security systems we use today. Few people actually realize the fact that the locksmith trade is crucial for the modern society, in order to provide safety and security to the homes, offices, cars and safes of people.
The first locks with keys were actually made of wood, and date back to more than 4,000 years ago. The actual locks predecessors to the modern lock were first used in Egypt back in 250 B.C. and were the so-called “pin locks”.
When the locksmith trade began developing as a separate trade, the locksmiths would actually spend hours making the lock and key manually, which took them hours and days for making a good locking mechanism and a key for it.
Nowadays, mostly the vaults, safes and safe boxes for valuables are still made manually by qualified locksmiths, in order to decrease the chances of a burglar opening them as easy as one could open the mass production ones available on the market. This though is quite an expensive investment to be made.
Today’s locksmiths are quite different from the ones from the earlier 20th century. The people in this trade today, mainly specialize in installing high quality locks and locking mechanisms, as well as designing and implementing the key control systems and keys for personal and corporative use.
The well trained locksmith’s job is to assess the specific case, and give the best alternatives for keeping the home or other institution safe, depending on the risk levels – for example: a bank will require a more complex locking system with more security layers than a private home. The more these “layers” though, the more expensive the service will be. So, in other words, the locksmith should be a security expert as well as an actual technician who places locks and creates locking systems.
While in the past, locksmithing was a trade learned through apprenticeship and passed down from father to son, today, there are 32 certified locksmith schools in the US, offering a full course of training and education for the future professional locksmiths. These specialized institutions offer introductory courses including the basics of locksmithing, to the more advanced safe lock courses, electronic locking services, home security systems, access control systems, and other valuable training for future locksmiths or those who want to specialize in a particular area of this trade.
Being a well-rounded expert in the sphere of security, the technological aspects of locking and safety systems, and the principles of this trade, is what makes a locksmith a good one, one who can guarantee their clients that they get the proper level of safety and security they need.