iOPEN - New Smart WiFi Operator Switch - A New Access Control Product

iOPEN is a relatively new product, currently exclusively sold by US Gate Supply of Southern California.

This exciting new product is designed to operate with about 90% of the current brands of automatic garage doors, mag locks, electric strikes and automatic gates available in today's markets.

This product is different to the wireless options otherwise being bandied about the markets, in that it is actually hardwired to your current product.

This product enables you to simply download the appropriate app from Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store.

Some pictures of it's uses include...

This is a typical residential garage door. You can see the app open on the users smartphone.

This an image of a type of gate you might find in upmarket real estate or perhaps a gated community.


You can also connect the product to your Amazon Alexa smart speaker or your Google Home smart speaker.

With the growing smart product market becoming an ever more staple of modern living, products that operate through the IOT (Internet Of Things) architecture framework are becoming the new sought after commodities.

For a professional, keeping abreast of products and industry updates, new technology and items aimed at improving our and our customers lives, is an important attribute in today's business age.

I like the idea of this new product and i think it could certainly see traction across the wider consumer marketplace.

Amazon Key, which we have mentioned a lot in recent times, purports to offer would-be Amazon shoppers the opportunity to enjoy new delivery methods from Amazon. We continue to warn consumers that using services like Amazon Key, can potentially reduce any security you may currently enjoy and even potentially increase your insurance premiums.

This new product might mitigate the threats posed by granting delivery drivers access to your home, by only enabling them to access your garage door, allowing you to keep the door connecting your garage and house, locked.

Apparently the app can allow for separate devices to operate through the one app, meaning your one smartphone now becomes the remote control operator for multiple separate entries.

(source...)

To Touch Or Not To Touch...

Yesterdays article, "Has Tapplock Collapsed?" is seeing viral circulation and obviously is hitting a nerve.

We have continued to write multiple articles over the last 10 years about pro's and con's relating to biometric and specifically fingerprint access control products.

As you can see by our above link about fingerprint products, there are many options available across the wider marketplace, hoping to cash in on the fingerprint recognition phenomena, as well as conflicting arguments i have suggested, that fingerprint access control also comes with severe limitations.

Our first foray into biometric fingerprint products was with the Bioaxxis Thumblock Deadbolt. Bioaxxis unfortunately couldnt survive the early years of the burgeoning fingerprint controlled door lock market. Their product was stellar. It worked very simply and was self preserving, even though they suffered from the debilitating issue of security control.

Specifically, the need to reduce or turn down the security of the image recognition of the scanner to enable sufficient operations of the product. This unfortunate attribute contributed greatly to the products demise and I suspect the wider market too.










The Tapplock article further reinforces the current-age issues relating to quality control. There is a penchant in recent years, especially since the beginning of the modern internet era, (Circa 1995 - And the beginning of Netscape Navigator - The beginning of The World Wide Web), to design and build new products without an element of care - but to quickly release to market to capitalize on new money. This unfortunate realization shows that the modern era, while showing significant improvements to our lives, is also moving far too quickly for our own benefits.

Bioaxxis also came out with their commercial product a year later. The Bioaxxis Thumblock Handle, with Key, Fingerprint, Proximity Pad and Digital Pad Entry, checked off multiple desires for total access control.

We installed and sold about 7 of these fabulous products until we recognized that biometric fingerprint access control technology was seriously flawed and the best market for the promising technology was in the aged care arena, where elderly users (who were constantly losing their keys and their ability to remember PIN codes) couldnt (for the most part) lose their fingers. The issues about scanner sensitivity almost killed the fingerprint market and combined with poor quality, rushed to market manufacturing from cheap manufacturing facilities abroad, has even seen stock market darling and leading technology company Apple, remove the readers from their most popular product the iPhone.

Touch control products have made their way into many aspects of all our lives, but I suggest that security is not one that we will see to continue, due to the obvious shortcomings.

I believe that facial recognition technolgy, Iris scanners and voice recognition will enter the mainstream far more rapidly and with better security features than fingerprint technology could have ever hope to achieve.

Key Cutting Across The World

Key cutting shops pop up all over the world.

The following images are of key cutting enterprises around the world. We have visited a lot of similar businesses in the different countries we have lived, worked and visited.

Feel free to add your images in the comments section. Post are subject to moderation.

If you recognize any of the locations, please mention where they are. Thanks.

You can see that key cutting goes hand in hand with hardware and locksmithing, but also engraving and other general mercantile many people require.

I have no doubt this shop in somewhere in England.

Talk about a hole in the wall!

Has Tapplock Collapsed?

Uh Oh! Tapplock reveals it's weakness!

Tapplock, the darling startup that confused the market with their bluetooth keyless product in 2016, that we wrote about in November 2016 has been found wanting.

Despite the promise and with $320,000.00 in crowdfunding was delayed until September 2017, six months later than anticipated according to a report (see source).

Despite what consumers think they want, the ages old mechanical padlock is the most cost effective and simple solution to security. Virtually maintenance free, there are many grades of security that will enhance and protect your property.

(source...) 

Allegion Announce Acquisition Of Leading Australian Residential Hardware Manufacturer And Largest Australian Locksmith Company

Breaking News: Allegion, the parent company announced 30 days ago (May 13, 2018), their acquisition of leading Australian residential door hardware manufacturer Gainsborough and at the same time the acquisition of Australia's largest locksmith service provider API Locksmiths.















Gainsborough produce many leading residential door hardware among other offerings.

Gainsborough Hardware can be found in many dwellings and is even becoming a sought after offering to the wider USA market.





API Locksmiths are one of Australia's oldest and longest established locksmith companies. In fact, I completed my apprenticeship with AF Stewart Locksmiths in 1988 before they were later (much later) acquired by API Locksmiths.

This acquisition by Allegion is a major shake up of the locksmith market across Australia.






Allegion are well known in North America and around the world as the parent company behind brands like:

AD Systems

AD Systems are a company first established in 2013 specializing in upscale commercial sliding door entrance systems, tailored to hospitals, medical clinics and offices to meet the modern needs of doctors, architects and space conscientious builders and tenants.

Leading Russian Lock Manufacturer - Mettem Lock Produces Virtually Impregnable Locking Solutions

Mettem-Production LLC are well known as one of the leading lock and security product manufacturers in Russia and the Eastern hemisphere.

Established in 1992, they quickly became an established name in the greater Russian region, for their super-high quality range of unique door locks and electro-mechanical security solutions.



I realize that in many parts of the western hemisphere, some people harbor negative thoughts about Russia and Russian products, with some political regimes choosing to enforce trade sanctions to attempt to harm them financially. We choose to not enter into the political debate herein and prefer that this site continues it's core objective of informing you about products and services we recommend, offer, discuss and like.

Mettem produce leading products in the mortise and rim lock range, electro-mechanical, mechanical, cylinder operated, mortise key operated, combined cylinder and electronic operated, code operated even specific locks tailored for fire-proof doors.

Mettem locks are made using high-quality alloy steel construction that complies with and often exceeds the strict Russian Governmental standards regime. (which arguably exceeds the Underwiters Laboratory regime in America).
Mettem reapply for the Government certification every 2 years to maintain their supremacy in the market. Their products are factory warrantied for two years from date of sale.

• 1 HEAT-TREATED ROD
• 2 PROTECTION FROM DRILLING
• 3 FALSE SLOTS
• 4 SPECIAL LATCH
• 5 ACTUATOR FOR VERTICAL RODS

• 6 REPLACEABLE FRONT PLANK
• 7 SPECIALLY WEAKENED COG
• 8 ARMOUR PLATE
• 9 CORROSION-RESISTANT COATING
• 10 PROTECTIVE BUSHINGS

Mettem locks use a variety of protection methods to augment the quality of their offerings. Some of which we have listed below in their mortise lock product.

You may notice a resemblance to the well known Hooply range of products that we have written about often.



The wide range of products in their offerings indicate their desire and ability to provide second to none options in their local market. You can see the great range of available models in the source below.

We will show a few of their products below, to give you an idea of their fabulous and varying range.

Pictured here is the Mettem Leader product.
You can see that this is an 8 or 10 lever high-security mortise (skeleton type key) product.

Stainless steel bolts with long throws sit inside an all-steel housing that is very very strong, almost to the point of bullet resistant.

One of the bolts is made from extra-hardened steel to prevent saw cut attack.

The Mettem 318 is a combination 3-point locking solution that offers conventional Euro pin tumbler cylinder control, meaning you can use your high-security restricted and patent controlled keyway cylinders, that you use in your commercial master key systems.

The tabs top and bottom (of the casing) connect to rods inside your door frame to enable top and bottom reinforcement.

The Mettem Rim Lock range also varies in models. This particular unit is a rim lock with top and bottom rod connections for 3 point protection and extra security.

This model shows the inside keyhole, which would not comply with many jurisdictions in the western hemisphere where you are required to have a turnbutton for emergency panic escape.
This is also a 10 lever high-security virtually pick proof mortise (skeleton type key) cylinder.

The Mettem ZV EM 01.01 is a unique product that is hardwired (with battery backup). It is a mortise lock with no visible keyhole on the outside, making this unique solution virtually impossible to defeat with conventional lock breaking tools. It operates using remote controls.

The Mettem ZKP is a surface mounted RIM latch that is easily installed and uses a mechanical combination keypad.
1000 possible codes that can be changed easily on the fly.

Users can recerse the latch easily for outward or inward opening desire in the field.

The GSM control unit is a fabulous piece of technology that allows you to operate your lock or locks via a cellphone or PC (landline too).

Completely controllable via sms or pc, a manager can modify, set up new users, remove or block users easily on the fly.

This product operating with one of the high security invisible mortise locks will create extreme security for communal entry doors in apartment complexes and corporate environments where multiple different people require access across different times and locations. they can also be programmed to allow the remote control credentials to operate separate locking units in the same environment, meaning you only need one remote for multiple different locks.


(source...)

Amazon Alexa Shown To Be Spying On You - Rendering Your Smart Locks or Connected Security Products Vulnerable To Exploitation

Amazon are reeling recently, from reports (like the Engadget article in the source below) indicating that the AI (artificial intelligence) built into this modern day search porthole, is actually listening in to all your private conversations in your home or office.

The article in Engadget goes on about a couple in Oregon whom have been directly affected by this "storm in a tea cup".



Apparently the AI used by Alexa listens continually for it's activation keyword, in all conversations within earshot of the devices microphone.
The couple in question were luckily alerted by the husbands employee, who called him and shared the recording of the conversation sent to the employee by the Amazon Alexa AI.

The couple immediately reported the issue to Amazon and through their investigations and testing of the devices logs (stored in the cloud), determined that the events as dictated in detail, indeed occurred.

Amazon released a statement saying,

"Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like "Alexa." Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a "send message" request. At which point, Alexa said out loud "To whom?" At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customers contact list. Alexa then asked out loud, "[contact name], right?" Alexa then interpreted background conversation as "right". As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely."


More troubling however is a report that surfaced recently about hackers from Zheijiang University in China, who discovered a flaw in  voice control products including Siri, Google Assistant, Samsung S Voice and Alexa, naming the attack "The Dolphin Attack" 

The Dolphin Attack has shown that the flaw can allow for malicious action including operating the Smart Lock on your front door or opening web pages to malware sites.

The Dolphin Attack was shown to be effective in exploiting the vulnerabilities in items like smartphones, iPads, Macbooks, Amazon Echo even an Audi Q3 - all up, about 16 devices and 7 systems in total.
The researchers even claimed they were able to alter the GPS navigation on the Audi Q3.

The Dolphin Attack works by sending commands in ultrasonic frequencies that are too high for humans to hear.

Interesting too, I have personally witnessed the effects of activation of the Google Assistant function on my Android Smartphone, when it was plugged into my vehicle hands-free cradle as I was driving while operating the Google Maps function. A segment I was listening to on NPR (National Public Radio) was playing on my vehicle radio and when the reporter mentioned the activation command "Okay Google" or "Hey Google", my phone (which was running the Google Maps app), picked up the command and recognized the sound as another command (by me) and began executing that command.

These revelations are especially troubling today because many consumers are opting for the convenience of IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices, to augment their lives. The security flaws accompanying many of these modern devices could potentially make our homes, our vehicles, our workplaces significantly less secure than bygone times.

Working with your local locksmith to install mechanical or hardwired security products, that are not connected to vulnerable "smart" devices, may be the simple and yet still affordable/competitively priced solution to protecting your family, your workplace even your vehicles.

Most locksmiths around the world, will offer no obligation security appraisals and advice to keep you secure. they are just a phone call or email away. Your family, your colleagues and even your vehicles will likely appreciate your desire to keep them secure and protected.

(source...) 

Installation Of Upgraded Gate Locks From Standard To High Security Using D&D Technologies Lokk Latch Deluxe And Bilock Extreme Security Bump Proof And Virtually Pick Proof, Copy Proof Keys

 Recently we were called to upgrade a clients gate locks to double cylinder high-security and expand the already secure Bilock Extreme Security Key System. The system is a few years old, but it has been very effective in preventing her nosy neighbors and other vagabonds from getting in to her house.

But these would-be opportunists continued to play games and were accessing her perimeter gates by simply picking the simple wafer/disc tumbler key cylinder found on the cheaper version of D&D Technologies gate lock.

Following is a description of the process involved in dismantling the locks, installing the Bilock cylinders into them and then installing the new locks to the requested gates.

This is what we saw on first time arrival onsite. The original lock installed to the gate and post shows the existing wafer/disc tumbler keyhole.

Original D&D Gate Lock On Front Gate

Deadly Attack Feared As Hackers Target Industrial Sites

Following up to our post of a few days ago, the left leaning news site, The Hill, have written a new article determining that foreign cyber hackers appear to be targeting industrial sites, with deadly consequences feared.

The article in the source below, tries to predict where these criminals are aiming their espionage.



The wonders of the modern Internet of Things (IoT) age that we currently are living in, is not immune to the efforts of the nefarious among us, who try repeatedly to develop methods and means for disrupting our lives and causing havoc to our sense of security and well-being.

I'm a 35 year veteran of the locksmith industry, with experience gleaned from having worked on 4 continents.

During the many years of exposure to security needs and wants of various customers around the world, I have found that many just desire to use quality products that operate easily, are competitively priced and above all, long lasting with little to no maintenance.

Electronic security products have been evolving over many years. Originally, finding battery powered security products was difficult, because good security requires stable power systems and batteries that continually need replacing, inhibit a product from performing to a sufficient standard continuously and without maintenance.

There are a great many AA and AAA battery powered door locks, cameras, door bells, alarm systems etc, that offer wide choices and features to whet our appetites. Unfortunately, to be able to offer the convenience of battery power, many of these products require to reduce the security elements inside, including the security of communication connections that "talk" to our home routers, Bluetooth devices etc. The article on Thursday and this follow up, point to this too.

When you consider that for many hundreds (if not thousands) of years, we have been securing our homes and businesses with mechanical products, that stood the test of time, doesnt it make complete sense that we should continue to use the mechanical security products to protect us?
Especially considering that mechanical products are often single purchase, come with significantly longer warranty periods, require significantly less maintenance and are (for the most part) significantly more competitively priced than electronic products of the same genre.

I understand some consumers desires to enjoy "Keyless Convenience". But in reality, a code can be shared more easily than a key and often you cant know how many different people "know" your entry code.

Whereas with a number of mechanical key products, you can be all but completely assured your entries are virtually bump proof, copy proof and extremely pick/bypass resistant. Providing you the security your home, family, office and colleagues deserve, while being super competitively priced compared to electronic and battery operated products. The maintenance costs alone are significantly less.

And with the increasing number of cyber warfare attacks, being reported across news sources (and how many are going unreported?), just how can we protect ourselves, if not for quality mechanical security products?

(source...)

Breaking News: FBI To America: Reboot Your Routers Immediately

Breaking News: The Federal Bureau of Investigations recently released an alert to all Americans who may use an Internet connected router in their homes and businesses.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center sent a rare Public Service Announcement declaring, "Foreign Cyber Actors have compromised hundreds of thousands of home and office routers and other networked devices worldwide."


A great many security products today are using router connected protocols to connect those devices to internal residential and commercial networks.

Many of these products including (but not limited to) alarm systems, closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), door locks, intercom systems and door bells etc, are often connected to WiFi routers in your home or office.

The nature of today's consumer marketplace appears to be fascinated by the growing Internet of Things (IoT) products that enable many of us to enjoy modern "connected" services that protect us, make our lives easier and keep us in communication range with each other.

The locksmith industry worldwide continues to evolve and many locksmiths today are busy recommending and installing modern "connected" security products, meeting the increasing demands of the marketplace.

Some of these "new generation" products are very good quality and often expensive too. Maintaining the security of your home and business is of paramount importance to protecting our families and our colleagues, aside from our customers.

According to the FBI, hackers are using VPNFilter Malware to target small office and home office routers saying, "VPN Filter is able to render small office and home office routers, inoperable" and are warning, "The malware can potentially also collect information passing through the router. Detection and analysis of the malware's network activity, is complicated by it's use of encryption.".

The FBI recommends, "any owners of small office and home office routers, reboot the devices to temporarily disrupt the malware and aid the potential identification of infected devices".

They also advise to consider disabling remote management settings on devices, use encryption and choose new and different passwords.

With the increasing number of "connected devices" in the wider market, security of your home, office and other connected products are potentially gravely affected by this new hack.

We suggest that all our customers and anyone using or relying on Internet Connected devices, including your door locks, your CCTV systems, your alarm systems and your door bells or intercoms, to immediately perform a soft reset of your WiFi routers. This action will temporarily mitigate the malware's operation. It may not completely remove the malware from an infected router and if you are further concerned, we suggest you perform a factory hard reset of the router.

We have been writing about security issues with IoT devices, in increasing articles in the last 12 months.

Some of these articles include:

New Digital 'Hurricane' Churns Gathering Strength To Land Blow On The Internet

KRACK - Dangerous WiFi Security Flaw Discovered. And It Affects ALL WiFi Devices

BlueBorne - A New Attack That Exposes Almost Every Bluetooth Connected Device

AirB&B - Lockstate WiFi Door Locks Bricked By Manufacturer Update.

Internet-Connected Garage Door Operator Disabled In Retaliation For Bad Review

(source...)

Deadly Inconvenience - Modern Day Vehicle Key Fobs Are Being Found Complicit In Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Deaths

Pictured here is a typical example of a modern day key fob for a vehicle. This particular fob is for a Ford brand of vehicle.

An article in the New York Times (see the source below) talks about the commonplace issue of modern day vehicles, that use key fobs as opposed to the old ignition keys, we all previously had to use, where the ignition systems on vehicles are inadvertently left running, even after a homeowner has parked their vehicle inside their garage.

Today there are about 17 million vehicles on the road in America, about half of which use some version of a key fob to operate the vehicle ignition system. This system was designed (in part) to increase the security of vehicles and provide convenient and simple to use access control.

But perhaps the inventors of this technology did not account for the issues that have surfaced. Specifically, that many ignition systems are being left on by accident. Because many of these key fobs, only require to be within a certain proximity of the vehicle to operate, a number of people are failing to adequately switch off their ignitions, resulting in carbon-monoxide poisonings. Vehicles are often left inside a closed garage and with the great number of quiet engines today, people may not be hearing their engines running.

According to the New York Times article titled, "Deadly Convenience: Keyless Cars And Their Carbon Monoxide Toll", 'more than two dozen people have been killed by carbon monoxide since 2006 and dozens of others have been injured, some with brain damage, after keyless ignition vehiles were inadvertently left running inside garages'.

According to the article, Toyota vehicles including Lexus have featured in about half of the carbon monoxide fatalities and injuries. Many modern day Toyota vehicles run a lot quieter today than in previous years and this is proving to be a concern for many elder people who may drive those brands of vehicles.

The article goes on to discuss lawmakers approaches to countering the problem and discussions by safety boards, but no legislation has been enacted to force vehicle manufacturers to comply, at this time.

Some manufacturers have added safety features like timed cutoff's and warning buzzers in later model vehicles, but many of the older vehicles are subject to this flaw that could be a matter of life and death.

The article (in the source below) makes some interesting reading.

(source...)

Flaw In Ring Doorbell Camera - Prevents Deleting Previous Users

(video removed)
Check the source below for the video

We continue to monitor the cyberworld of all things security related and just came across this interesting piece of news concerning Ring,

You remember Ring, dont you?

Amazon recently completed their buyout of Ring, to meld it into their Amazon Key program network.

We first talked about Ring in an article in June 2015.

The system is very smart and not bad looking however it is a flawed piece of technology that could be more of a security problem than a benefit.

Then there is the lawsuit against Ring (before the Amazon buyout) by Skybell, the original patent holder of many of the technologies that Ring is built upon. We also wrote about this in an article in January 2018.

I'm sure Amazon were not prepared for the headaches they have acquired. But the Ring management are no doubt smiling all the way to the bank.

I see a great number of the Ring door bell in my travels, so it is obviously a popular product (even though it was rejected during it's Shark Tank debut)

Perhaps the many customers who purchased the product were just not aware of it's shortcomings as discussed in the video above.

Not just that, but burglars are actually being pictured stealing Ring doorbells from houses.
And people still want to allow Amazon to be able to access your home with their Amazon Key program?

(source...)

D&D Technologies Continues To Lead The World Of Gate, Fence Locks And Hinges

We have been extolling the virtues of this world leading company for many years now and as the new summer swimming season beckons in the northern hemisphere, we continue to sing the praises of the leading life safety products that D&D Technologies produce.

This fine example of Australian Ingenuity, continues to impress the entire world with it's superbly constructed and high quality range of locks, hinges and alarms.

D&D incorporated high security key cylinders into many of their range of products to satisfy the growing commercial market and the desire to include these fabulous locking products in high-security restricted key systems like (but not limited to) our fabulous Bilock Extreme Security Keying Systems. 

Bilock are another Australian designed high-security products manufacturer that have been around since the 1970's. We have been working with Bilock products for almost our entire career in the locksmith trade (now approaching 35 years). We continue to be one of the largest Bilock dealers in the Midwest of the USA, still representing the product since we first kicked off operations here in 2006.

We have been called periodically by customers across our geographical region to offer services and key duplication or origination for some of the D&D Technologies products, specifically their Magnalatch product and a number of their Lokklatch products. Our ability to include these gate locks in our Bilock systems only increases the security of the applications.

D&D Technologies products are recommended by many AHJ's (Authorities Having Jurisdiction), life safety officers, local government building inspectors around this country and the whole world. They are not just beautiful in their design, but simply installed and very easily operated.

We have been selling their products for many years in Australia and now here in the USA.

See our range of articles about D&D Technologies products

Water Proofing Repair Project Using Plast-Aid Repair Product - Door Repairs Are Part Of A Locksmiths Repertoire

Being a locksmith is not my only offering. It is the vocation I am most experienced in, with about 35 years experience across 4 continents. I am lucky to have worked with many different professional locksmith tradespeople all over the world and have learned and continue to learn old and new tips, tricks and methods that will one day benefit customers I come into contact with.

Unlike some other locksmith tradespeople and businesses, I choose to believe that locksmiths dont just choose to work on locks and locking products or access control systems. I choose to believe that a locksmith is a person who will work on anything that opens and closes, with particular emphasis on doors. They can be entry doors (swing, sliding, roll top etc), safes (combination, digital, keyed etc), vehicles (cars, trucks, boats, aeroplanes etc), even appliances (cabinets, cupboards, refrigerators etc).

Often I am called upon by various customers to effect repairs to frames and hinges on swinging doors, rollers on sliding doors, safe combination servicing, even repairing vehicle ignition and door access control systems. Just yesterday I performed 3 separate and different types of jobs. One was installing a new replacement Baldwin mortise lock that was warrantied (unknown to the client) by the manufacturer for life. I had serviced the same client a number of times for different projects over the last 4 years, repairing and rekeying locks and doors as their needs arose.

The second job yesterday, was repairing a door closer on a shopfront. The client was concerned that they required a new closer to replace their aging model on their shopfront entry door, that had started to slam and not close slowly enough. Their worry was that the glass window might break and they would be unsecure. We simply adjusted the closing speed and latching action on their existing product, saving them hundreds of dollars in replacement parts and comforting them with the knowledge that they continue to be secure..

The third project was a little more complicated...

We were called by a client who had read some of our reviews on Thumbtack, a lead generation service for professional tradespeople that offers alternative leads services to Angies List, Home Advisor, Porch, Amazon Home Services among others. Having been a longtime member of the Home Advisor network (formerly Service Magic) and enjoying 350+ reviews there averaging 4.79/5 stars and also Thumbtack, with about 37 reviews to date averaging 4.9/5 stars, we are pleased that customers in our service region continue to be impressed with our offerings and bless us with many good natured positive reviews .

The project we completed yesterday took 5 hours to complete to satisfaction. The required repair was on a 75 year old home, where the basement walkout door was a custom built door installed when the house was built, but was suffering from the very common issue of water damage. The home owners were selling their property and moving out of state and a condition of the sale was to improve/repair the back basement walkout door. They had already contacted a number of contractors who had all determined that replacing the custom door would have been the best suggestion. The average estimated cost for supplying and installing a new custom door and frame in that location was ~$3500.00.

We decided to offer an alternative repair....

Plast-Aid is a product we have been using for about 7 years now. We found out about this brilliant product while researching PVC repair products and were delighted to learn about the other uses for the product. The Plast-Aid video below explains the uses of this product and how easy it is to use.



In the above video, they hint at other projects where Plast-Aid can be used successfully. We decided that the benefits of water-proofing would benefit our customer because the repair would mean they would not have to replace their door and frame.

 In the first image above (my foot), you can see that the client had already attempted to effect repairs using standard caulk and just filling in where the water rotted gaps were appearing.
The caulk did not dry correctly and the result was not suitable enough for painting, while not actually repairing the water damage within and preventing additional water damage.

 The next image shows the hole where i dug out the old caulk.
The amount of caulk used was far too much and didnt do anything to cure the water damage. It simply was an attempt to cover up and hide the damaged area.

This next image shows me digging out the vast amounts of caulk and dirt that had creeped into the water damaged hole beneath the old door frame.

We must have pulled out almost a quarter cubic yard caulk, mud and other garbage from this hole.

The next image shows how much material we had to cut out, of the water damaged wood, before we could begin the actual repairs.

You can see the Plast-Aid that we used to fill the base of the hole, left by the water damaged frame.

We actually used 3 separate containers of the Plast-Aid product to make enough material to fill in the base. This is designed to create a water-proof base with which to build upon.

The next image shows the entire filled portion where Plast-Aid was used to provide the filler.

Plast-Aid is great because it dries and "cures" quickly to enable you to build upon each layer of repair reasonably quickly. The product takes about 10-15 minutes to cure to a state where it can be molded into a soft putty and then be inserted into the application, without it dripping everywhere and making a huge mess.

 The last 2 images show the completed Plast-Aid repair, where we used the Plast-Aid to provide a water-proof barrier for the future. We cleaned up the looks using our Makita 3/8" belt sander that we use as a power file. This fixed the water damaged frame to the point where the customer can now use wood filler to patch over the top, sand and paint.

We are not painters and would never claim to be. We advise our clients prior to any repairs that we suggest they may want to contact a professional painter to put the finishing touches on important ambience of a project.

Purchasing Plast-Aid through their website is the better idea than through online market places, in my opinion. See the source below for a link to the Plast-Aid home page, which also shows many other applications for this fabulous product.

(source...)

Godrej - 19th Century Indian Manufactured Money/Cash Box/Safe - Open And Make Key

 Godrej were a 19th century Indian manufacturer of money boxes, safes and cash boxes who closed down in the early 20th century.

A few months ago, a customer contacted us to get their money box opened and have a key made.

We made sure to take some pics of this very old box and how we made the key.

After combing through multiple key blank provider sources and trying to find even something close, our misfortune to find an appropriate key blank made us decide to modify another key blank that was suited to another product.

This particular box, we sourced back to about 1908. It appears to be in surprisingly great condition for it's age.

You can see the key blank we decided to use to modify.

This money box used a coin slot/note slot on the reverse side
of the key operated lock. The slot has a welded on flap inside that is designed to prevent removing coins or notes from the locked box.

 Some of the tools, we locksmith craftsmen choose to use when impressioning keys to locks include a selection of files.


In this case we used a 4" warding file as our primary file of choice for this project.

The impression system of key fitting is a long time treasured skill, unique to the craft/trade of locksmithery. There are many books written over the years that teach the skill to new players, but practise makes perfect. After all, "Repetition Is The Mother Of Learning", according to popular theory.

One of our most popular posts in this blog is "How To Open And Make Keys To Antique Furniture Locks" and explains the method to impression keys to old fashioned 'skeleton key' type locks without damage.

You can see in this pic, we were required to drastically modify our selected blank and hand file the key. We were required to reduce the guage of the key to enable it to enter the keyway, because we could not find a suitable blank.

The finished key works beautifully in the lock, maintains it's originality (and antique value) and can only be withdrawn from the lock when the door is closed and locked.

Not a difficult project for an experienced locksmith, but rewarding nonetheless.

There are many talented locksmiths around this country and the world who still practise the art of impressioning today.

The skill is unique to the locksmith trade and one that can save customers money and heartache when needing service to their antique lock, safe or furniture product.

Bulldog GD400 Heavy Duty Garage Door Lock And Installation

 Earlier this week we completed an unusual request for a customer. The customer needed to secure his garage door with much better security than the flimsy standard garage door lock and assembly to protect substantial value in tools and inventory.

There are many options available to suggest for this type of application and I remember that the Bulldog GD400 is definitely one of the better products out there.

The unique strength of The Bulldog GD400 is it's best quality. Made from treated 3/8" (10mm) thick steel plate and using another 3/8" (10mm) thick steel plate for internal anchoring and held to the door with stainless steel hardened carriage bolts and pressure nuts, the product not only looks great but is very, very strong.

The strike plate is a 4" (100mm) long hardened steel tube that is anchored into cement.

Following see our install procedure...

The first step is to mark the holes in the door and drill pilot holes through the outer skin and into the aluminum rail that makes the internal frame of the door.

Drill a couple of holes to hold the plate to the door. We only drilled two of the four holes just to line up and level the product and prepare for the next installation steps.

Once we attached the plate to the door, at the right height, we rested the plate on the strike tube and penciled around the bottom plate.

Now that we have marked the spot for the strike tube location it is time for the hard part. Drilling a 5" (125mm) deep hole in the cement garage floor base. This is quite an older home in an older part of our region and the original builders laid a 6" (150mm) thick concrete floor with heavy gravel embedded within their mix.

Drilling the hole took 2 hours alone using a heavy masonry drill bit and hammer drill as shown below and we used a cold chisel to help with the finer hole adjustments. 

Working slowly and constantly measuring and remeasuring to maintain accuracy, and you eventually end up with the correct sized hole, to the necessary depth.

You can see how deep we were required to drill to fit the strike tube into the concrete floor

You can see the mixture of gravel in the cement in this next image.

We poured a little sand and stone mix into the hole to get the strike tube to sit at the appropriate height and then filled our hole with new cement mortar, anchoring the strike into the concrete.

We deliberately made the cement into a little hill, so that when it dried it would lessen the chance of a tripping hazard.

The end result of the fitting looks good. All that's left is the mandatory 48 hour drying time. It is a good idea to keep the application wet while it is drying, to assist with curing. 

 2 days later we returned to square up the fitting, drill the extra holes and secure the inside mounting bracket.

 The end result is a nice and square (plum) fitting that is super strong.

The completed installation shows the stainless steel hardened 7 pin tubular (Ace) cylinder locking body, that secures using stainless steel ball bearings inside the strike tube. In the first image at the top of the article, you can see a rubber cap that fits over the cylinder. This protects from rain, dirt and grease entering the cylinder and it is recommended to use it for increased product longevity.

Visit the manufacturers website in the source below to purchase.

(source...)