Gloating...I Know....sshhh

Testimonials by neighbors or even others in your town, especially if they are unprompted and genuine, sometimes help another consumer decide to choose that company for service.

Many of the testimonials you might see below are from customers who have used our local services and there are a number from satisfied customers across the world who have also written.

We try to make available different products, previously unavailable elsewhere that are intelligent and suitably priced problem solvers.

You might see some of these testimonials repeated.

Danny was very friendly and knowledgeable, although his apprentice seemed to do most of the work, Danny kept an eye on him to make sure it was done right. He had very reasonable pricing for re-keying.

Greg D (St Louis, MO) October 2011

He was extrememly fabulous and helpful and did a wonderful job. He was very professional.

Shannon M. (Arnold, MO) October 2011

Growing up spending so much of my time in Italy, the uniqueness of the Nova Classico left quite an impression on me. To be able to have and enjoy them in my own home here in the states is a nostalgic indulgence I'm enjoying beyond words. Thank you Danny for coordinating this transaction.

Joseph M (Chicago, IL) September 2011

great job. hired on the spot and he did job right then at great price

Ron B (Arnold, MO) July 2011

I searched the internet and found your services. I received three phone calls within several days. A service call was scheduled. Two gentlemen arrived promptly, analyzed the problem and fixed it.

James & Florenc M Saint Louis, MO July 2011

The repairman was on time and did an excellent job of fixing a very stubborn door lock. He was persistent and cleaned up the work area afterwards. I would use this service again.

Brenda F (Saint Peters, MO) June 2011

Danny at Master Key Systems has succeeded in making the purchasing of our Meroni door locks, from Italy, an absolute breeze. Even though I live in Australia with a 16hr time difference and was ordering door knobs from Italy that weren't in stock, the whole process was faultless. Danny was prompt and efficient with all his emails and made sure we had covered every possible variable so that the product I received was exactly as required. I would have no hesitation in recommending Danny for your next purchase.
Patrick Carr (Canberra, Australia)

Your product really helped because I needed to secure a nurse's station adjacent to a waiting room and needed a pocket door. Unfortunately, no real options were available to lock a pocket door effectively that would keep me compliant with HIPAA and secure an area that stores medical supplies. This was vitally important as this particular waiting room was for "waiting detox patients". Thank you very much.

Randall R The Fritz Clinic (Birmingham, Al) March 2011

Danny was very polite and knew what the problem was and how to fix it. He also gave me some information about other issues that could arise with my door and locks. Will hire again if I ever need that type of work done.

Jason M Imperial, MO March 2011

I had an exterior basement door that dragged when opening and closing. The hinges were not fitting properly and the door frame had shifted, probably due to the age of the house.The screwswould not go far enough into the wall without hitting stone...even using a special drill bit. Dan worked a long time drilling and sanding to shore up the door as best as possible. I know it will never be perfect. He could have easily sold me a new door and the same issue would happen. He was honest, thorough, and did an excellent job without charging me a fortune. I'm satisfied with the door now. If you want an honest, experienced man, Then Dan is the man

Roger M Saint Louis, MO March 2011

I purchased the Cowdroy P697 Pocket door lock with key over the internet. I emailed questions before my purchase and was provided with the answers quickly by return email. The purchase was quick and easy and the lock was shipped immediatly. Installation is quick and easy. But you do need to convert millimeters to inches (use the internet) in the installation instructions. And the lock looks great and works great. I will do business with them again. THANK YOU

Ed D (February, 2011)

We were very please. Didn't take that long and was glad to have this task checked off as done. Danny was great! Professional and knew just what to do

Marshall S (Chesterfield, MO) January 2011

Key Cutting VS Key Originating

American Key Supply are a San Francisco based locksmith supply company who specialize in the supply of automotive key machines, supplies and automotive locksmithing knowledge. They serve the locksmith market primarily. To use any or some of their products you need to be a locksmith or affiliated with an industry organization.

The video above shows just how easy and accurate, duplicating a Schlage standard key is. We note here that the operator is actually originating the duplicate key instead of just copying it, using one of the industries latest and greatest key code machines.

The 3D Pro is fast becoming the industries sought after machine because it includes in it's range both automotive and residential/commercial key types. Instead of the traditional duplicating method, this machine is designed to read the actual depth of a lock's working key and then copy the recorded depths on to a keyblank, effectively creating an exact duplicate of the tendered key.

This method of key origination can help consumers to get exact duplicates of their keys, except that their new keys are in fact cut to factory specifications. This can help to protect the lock cylinder from unavoidable wear that occurs when an incorrectly duplicated key enters the key cylinder.

As you would expect, keys that are originated as opposed to duplicated, can be slightly more expensive but having correct original factory specified keys that operate your locks consistently and repeatedly might be more valuable than the down time created when duplicating keys at the independent or big box hardware stores (that often do not work).

This particular machine is definitely on my wish list.

(source...)

Bicycle Lock - A New Adaption

The bicycle has always been a favored transport vehicle by green minded individuals.

Securing your bicycle has been a chore in the past, with chains and D locks and versions that are bulky to hold in a backpack or around the bike frame. And that is not considering the actual padlock in some cases.

Kuat (pronounced koo-at) have released a modern take on the bicycle lock with this innovation that houses the cable inside a regular bicycle drink bottle.

Secured with a key lock on top of the bottle, cyclists can rejoice in having their lock already fitted to the bottle clip. Unobtrusive, simple, intelligent and easy to use, this product may make life easier for cyclists.

But where do we put the drink bottle?

(source...)

Vehicle Motion Sensor By EMX Industries

EMX Industries is a leading supplier and manufacturer of high quality electronic access control operators designed to maximize efficiency, reduce downtime and make updating programming and maintenance a chore that is simple and quick to complete.

Their newest Driveway Sensor, for operating gates or beams or doors comes with a plug in remote control to allow for the buried sensor (pictured below) to be easily programmed by onsite maintenance without the need to call an expert technician.


The advanced design of this sensor means it can be powered by multiple power supplies, like even a 9v battery to offer up to 6 months wireless use. So, now even remote properties with gates on the outer edge of the land can have automatic sensors without the extra cable power infrastructure required to run other variations.

There is also an option to be able to power the unit using Solar Power.

Access control is often considered expensive to install because usually power needs to be supplied to remote locations requiring significant trench digging to run the needed cables. Whereas many options are available at competitive prices, these prices do not reflect the labor cost to install (sometimes in awkward locations).

(source...)

Autoslide - Automatic Sliding Door Opener & Closer

Autoslide is a unique and modern product designed and manufactured by some talented Australians.

Many readers here are aware that I have a fascination with sliding doors, especially pocket or cavity doors. We recently sold out of our very popular keyed pocket door lock.

At last, the automatic sliding door technology that has been the domain of supermarkets, banks and other high profile office buildings and complexes comes to everyday residential and commercial applications at a super-competitive price point.

I am often asked by clients about sliding door closers and in the past have recommended a hydraulic (water powered) device designed for sliding screens. Now I am happy to see that this new product may be the Rolls Royce of sliding door operators.

Bloody good stuff!

(source...)

EDIT January 24, 2012

Enquiries are flooding in about this product. In the USA you can get it from http://autoslide-usa.com/

Codehandle By Assa Abloy

Union Lock Mfg Co. in the United Kingdom have been producing locking hardware for a great many years. They are well known for their filing cabinet locks and their residential bit key mortise locks.

This Assa Abloy owned company also produce some innovative entrance handles like described above in the video.

We wrote about a variation of this idea a couple of years ago when it was still a concept.

As the video shows, this design is tailored for internal, light commercial applications. It gives the ability to secure a room with wireless, battery powered technology that is convenient, aesthetically pleasing and simple to operate.

Securing private rooms, cupboards, storerooms etc. would be much simpler thanks to this intelligent solution.

(source...)

Battery Electric Strike

The interest in this sensational product is phenomenal. At last, a solution to quality access control at a fraction of the cost of comparable solutions.

Crime Report Creve Coeur MO

Here you see the last 14 days crime report for the Creve Coeur locality in September 2010.

We show here just the Breaking & Entering, residential and commercial Property Crime, Robbery and Theft incidents.

There were a significant number of Alarm incidents too (not pictured) but many were more likely false alarms with unit attendance.

Alarm - 81

Breaking & Entering - 3

Robbery - 0

Theft - 27

(source...)

Luccotto - Modern Padlock Design

Serrature Meroni produce a modern take on the ages old padlock. This sensational product does away with the conventional brass/metal padlock body that sits beneath a U shaped staple (found in more common padlocks across the world.

This Luccotto padlock comes in 2 sizes (lengths) 22mm and 36mm. It is available in different colors to suit discerning tastes. It is secured using a tubular key cylinder (similar to Coke machine keys), that can be keyed alike, keyed differently or even master keyed. It is made from stainless steel components with the shackle resistant to sawing and drilling.

We are now stocking this line of modern padlocks.

This is a highly sought after product for securing bicycles, motorbikes or even the simple hasp and staple or even for chains.

The cost varies depending on your desired color, length and keying preference.

Price on Application.

(source...)

Contagion

Just last week my wife and I went to see this movie. I found it to be one of the most entertaining suspense filled films I have seen in ages.

It stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne and a gaggle of other big name stars.

The storyline involves a woman who returns home to the USA from abroad who has been in contact with someone who passed on a virus to her. Anything or anyone she came into contact with seemed to also contract the contagious virus.

To make a long story short, many millions of people become infected and die before a cure is found.

The realism in this fictional movie was astounding. The film director makes the audience feel that the whole scenario is entirely plausible and probable.

The recent bird flu and H1N1 virus' that the world contracted in the last couple of years, makes this film even more realistic and topical.

Why do I post this review here?

I am the exclusive USA importer/distributor of the sensational Serrature Meroni brand of locks and door and cabinet hardware from Italy. Serrature Meroni, a few years ago introduced a unique line of inventory that includes especially designed anti-bacterial polymer door knobs. These handles minimize the potential impact of transferring disease between people.

Virtually all people touch a door knob to operate a door at home or work or the doctors surgery or a hospital or any other public building, in order to enter or exit a room or the building. All people rarely consider the likelihood of catching and spreading germs from unknowingly touching a surface that a possible infected carrier has also touched.

Remember when those recent well known virus' (Bird Flu and H1N1) were breaking news all over the media? Pharmacists, grocery stores and merchants everywhere suddenly began selling notoriously huge amounts of hand sanitizers and similar products. Many institutions enacted strict policies forcing people to use hand sanitizers as often as possible and some even required employees to wear face masks to minimize the potential spread of airborne diseases.

The realism of the movie Contagion, made me think about how easy it would be to spread disease.

But thanks to forward thinking companies like Serrature Meroni, we can now rest easier with the assurance that forward thinking home owners, hospital management, doctors surgeries, chemical research laboratories and other concerned proactive people, are taking steps to protect their customers, staff, friends and families from the potential deadly side effects of unknown or even known virus'.

Linked In

I have never been happy about Facebook, a social networking company that originally catered to the social society of university students, becoming the behemoth that has blurred the lines between business and social networking.

Typically, socio-economic groups have tended to keep their business and social lives separated. You can no longer do this thanks to Facebook and it's network of members who decided for everyone that your social and business life are one and the same.

I certainly agree that Facebook capitalized at the right time and produced a modern communication medium that caters to the social existence of people.

But I strongly believe that business and pleasure activities need to be separated otherwise emotions can invade smart professional business decisions that should be decided logicallly instead of emotionally.

Linked In, on the other hand fills the void that would be left by Facebook if they chose to just support the social aspect of peoples lives.

Linked in provides opportunities for like minded professionals and people of similar ilks to interact professionally in an environment centered around business and employment.

I have been a member of LinKed In since it was founded. It is the original business networking site, in my opinion.

It would be fun to hear people opinions on this.

Locking Up Expensive Custom Built File Cabinets

We completed a project today for a customer that has had major difficulty finding anyone to install a suitable locking system to their custom made file cabinets.

These rather expensive cabinets had conventional drawer slides found in most cabinet hardware but had no space in front to adequately install locks.

We used Bilock Push Locks (pictured above) because these locks include longer bolts that protrude from behind and installed these into the side wall of the cabinet. We were required to extend the length of the bolts using 4mm x 30mm long metric machine bolts (that screw on to the end of the bolt) to enable the bolts to extend into the wall of each drawer.

I suggest few other installers wanted to work with these cabinets because they are very expensive and custom made, meaning any mistake could be costly.

Suffice to say, we completed the project in a little under 4 hours and the locks look and operate great. The customer can only lock and unlock the drawers with the key, so locking the keys inside is just not possible.

Being Bilock, the keys cannot be duplicated by anyone other than us. In the case of lost keys or extra copies, we maintain all Bilock key systems using professional master keying software and systems. All keys are coded with their system number enabling future key requests to be fulfilled by cutting original keys to their corresponding system number.

Being Bilock, these locks are truly bump proof and virtually pick proof. Combined with the inability to duplicate keys, make this product a true access control solution at economical cost.

Strikemaster II Pro - Product Update

A Safe Homes International has recently released some exciting new upgrades to the Strikemaster II Pro line of Door Frame Security products.

We have been selling this terrific product, well over 4 years now and have installed numerous units to people whose homes have suffered a break in due to door frame casing failure.

The updated product line, now includes a patent pending model designed to secure french (double) doors.

Also included in the line is a Door Edge Pro, designed to further strengthen the mechanism on the door edge. These simple, yet ingenious improvements further bolster the product line and to top things off - they have reduced the price for these fabulous products.

In this economy, where many manufacturers seem to be increasing their prices for their products, when the market is still suffering from economic sticker shock, along comes a quality inventor/manufacturer who releases product at lower pricing.

The incidence of break & enter is increasing across the world, as shown in our periodic crime statistics posts. Strikemaster products are purposely designed to offer the protection you need at a fraction of the prices that other makers want to charge.

Beware of copy cat products. Strikemaster products are proudly designed and manufactured in the USA.

View their new website in the source below for explanation videos and demonstrations of the new products.

(source...)

Gravity Lid Lock - For Wheelie Bins

We recently received our first sample of this brilliant device. It is simple to install and provides the intended security for the application.

How does it work?

The unit is installed to the body of the bin, with the catch installed to the lid. When the bin is picked up by trash collectors, the trucks will use their special grips that lift the bin and invert it so that the lid falls open and the trash escapes into the waste collector.

The action of inverting the bin, causes the gravity spring inside the lock unit to "fall" to the side, unlocking the catch. When the bin is returned to the ground, the reverse action returns the lock to the "locked" position.

This product would be well suited to medical centers, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, trash collectors etc. The medical fraternity would benefit because you can safely dispose of syringes and used medical apparatus' and be assured that unauthorised use of the bin is avoided.

Crime Statistics - Saint Louis, MO 63146 September 1-14, 2011

Here is a map of the incidents of crime reported in the Saint Louis, MO neighborhood of the 63146 zip code, for the period September 1 - 14, 2011.

There are about 124 incidents that we list here including

Theft

Alarms

Property Crimes

Breaking & Entering

Many incidents can be avoided if consumers are proactive in protecting their properties.

Locksmiths have deliberately trained in installation and service of suitable devices aimed at minimizing incidents of property crime, theft etc.

If you are serious about suitably protecting your properties and families, your first port of call should be your local locksmith.

Many consumers choose to shop at the big box hardware stores today. In reality, it is rare that you will find experienced and knowledgeable locksmith and physical security tradespeople, that can recommend appropriate solutions, in those environments.

If your security and peace of mind is important to you, wouldnt the advice of an especially trained locksmith technician be of more value to you than the average shop assistant?

(source...)

001 Touch By Assa Abloy Lockwood Products

Assa Abloy Asia Pacific - Lockwood Products recently update their iconic 001 product line.

This leading product in the Asia Pacific market can be found on more homes and commercial offices than virtually any other product in the region.

The new product is made to the very exacting requirements that the consumer market demanded.

The 001 is a surface mounted RIM product. Essentially secured to the door with six (6) fasteners. The strike plate (keeper) is secured to the door frame with five (5) fasteners. The use of this many fasteners significantly increase the strength of both door application and frame (jamb) virtually preventing the door from being kicked open.

The use of modern electronic controls, updates the product in line with many competing products worldwide.

Simple to operate and classically designed, this updated edition of the iconic 001 will become the new norm in the residential and commercial entrance door market.

(source...)

A video demonstration is provided by Dibble Locksmiths

We are back!

We return from abroad with a renewed vigor. More new products to be reviewed in coming posts, will focus on products designed to wet your whistle. Stay tuned.

Bilock Plug Update

Our signature product Bilock, are now producing stainless steel sidebars that increase the drill protection of all cylinders.

Not only is this product bump proof and virtually pick proof but it is also extremely drill resistant and thanks to the inclusion of stainless steel sidebars, more so.

The ability to master key these cylinders without using pin stacks greatly improves the security and pick resistance of any master keyed cylinder. All locksmiths will explain to consumers that general or mainstream branded pin tumbler cylinders, when master keyed, greatly reduces the security and increases the pickability of the cylinders.

Bilock continue to push the boundaries of modern mechanical key systems and are constantly looking for micro improvements that protect the marketplace.

Pigio By Serrature Meroni

We have been extolling the virtues of the fabulous Meroni product line recently and we now continue with a deeper look into the brilliantly designed and extremely easy to operate Pigio line.

The first picture shows an active example of a Pigio in use.

There are three (3) versions of the modern Pigio line. Pigio 3 pictured next is a sleeker more streamlined oval shaped handle that is slowly becoming the sought after alternative to lever handle hardware.

Pigio 2 is another version of the hardware that may appeal to discerning consumers.

Pigio 1 is the classic original that is more rounded is design.

We are the exclusive importer of these products in the USA.

All these products surpass the rigid ADA rules and regulations for commercial and residential doors.

Pushing or pulling the handle operates the mechanism. Simple design, intelligent idea and simple to operate. All versions are available in multiple colors and finishes, to suit the most discerning tastes.