How Do You Prevent Being Locked Out Of Your Home?

As a practising locksmith for almost 35 years across the planet, I have attended a great many "lock outs", rescuing stranded customers who are locked out of their homes or office buildings.

The skills that a professional locksmith brings to bear, include the special training in learning the art of picking locks.

These days, with the advent of online video sources, more and more videos are appearing daily showing people, including locksmiths and hobbiests displaying their prowess at picking locks.

There are few brands of locks available that are particularly difficult to pick/manipulate, presenting increased challenges to would be lock pickers. Some of these brands include (but are not limited to) Abloy Protec, Assa Twin, Multilock, Bilock, Medeco, Primus and others. Few are bump proof and virtually pick proof like Protec or Bilock and the industry is constantly evolving to produce better mechanical "mousetraps" aimed at increasing the security of our homes or offices.

But, the pain felt when you accidentally lock yourself out and the sometimes long wait for the professional locksmith to attend and rescue you, can be mitigated using a hidden key safe.

There are a number of versions available in todays market and one worth considering is pictured above. A simple water sprinkler with a cavity and screw on cap, that can hold a couple of spare keys is a painless and inexpensive method that would be so helpful to some people.

Locksmiths would probably prefer i didnt mention products like these, because these types of products could reduce the calls for professional locksmith services.

I dont really care all that much as i am in the business of "Securing America - One Door At A Time" and the interests of my clientelle and their families are more important that a few quibbling locksmiths.

And if i can save you a couple of bucks and some extra time and inconvenience, then why the heck not?

These dummy sprinkler heads can be purchased just about anywhere but Amazon have them fairly cheap.

(source...) 

Fire Rated Nightlatch - New Product From Assa-Abloy Asia-Pacific, Lockwood Australia

Lockwood Australia recently released their new fire rated nightlatch, the Lockwood 507.

Designed to withstand 4 hours of fire and rated accordingly, this new product is constructed using high-quality 304 Grade Stainless steel.

Installation is simple and straightforward and a perfect solution for utility cabinets, service cupboards, janitors closets, etc.

The 507 Rim/Surface mounted nightlatch conforms to a standard 60mm/2-3/8" backset (the standard distance between the edge of the lock body and the center of the keyhole)

The latch mechanism is also fire rated and also constructed from 304 Grade Stainless Steel, as is the lock body/case and strike plate.

The product is supplied without an external cylinder ensuring the ability to use with an existing master key system.

The lock mechanism has been tested and certified to 500,000 operations and is corrosion resistant for up to 168 hours, neutral salt spray ( that means testing involved direct spray of seawater for 168 hours). This makes this an ideal product for use in coastal regions, river-side buildings etc.

The product is of sufficient quality that the manufacturer warranties the product with a 25 year mechanical warranty.

Available soon by special request to North America.

(source...)

Meroni Pigio 1 Installed To High Traffic Doors In An Upmarket Car Dealership

A couple of weeks ago, we completed an installation of some Meroni Pigio 1 Passage Sets to high traffic doors in a car dealership

Before

After Installation - external

  Here is an image of the issue we faced. The existing mortise lock handle hardware kept falling off due to overuse.

After Installation - internal

After Installation - edge

Before Installation - internal

Before Installation - external

After Installation - external

The install was painless and straightforward. We used Don-Jo renovator kits to modify the edge fittings.

We also installed Rockwood Push Plates to cover the existing holes left by the old hardware.

These Push-Pull handles are made from high-quality materials and require very little effort to operate. They look good and are easily used by management and also mechanics in the workshop who can often be a little heavy handed with handles they use. (you can see the make-shift tape they had put into use because of the problem they were facing)

Now, they dont even need to use a dirty hand to operate these handles. they can pull the doors open with their arm easily and push them open from inside, even when their arms are full of parts from the supply shop.

Here is a little video that shows how the product looks and operates...

Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock - New Inventory Just Arrived And Available For Purchase Now

UPDATE: Our fabulous and in-demand product, the Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock is now back in stock, with new inventory having just arrived.

We just updated the purchase page and thank our  customers for their patience.

The new model, tailored to suit thicker doors of 1-3/4" (45mm) has not been released yet, although we are informed that they will be available about August. We expect to have new supply of this new model shortly thereafter.

The quantity of inquiries we are continuing to receive for the in-stock Lockwood 7444 continues to surprise us. The recent inquiries for the new 1-3/4" door model is exceeding our expectations.

Many customers across North America have 1-3/4" thick doors and some have purchased the 1-3/8" version, thinking they could just adapt it to suit the thicker doors. They can, although installation requires a little modification to your door for perfect fitting.

Until the newer model is released, we suggest purchasers who wish to install to the thicker doors, countersink the crossbore holes about 3/16" from each side. This will enable the lock body to seat correctly in your door and make connecting the screws simpler, with the activation mechanism correctly activating the bolt mechanism.

To purchase, simply click on the product image at the top left of this page and be directed to our sister site with purchase and shipping options.

Thanks again for the continued interest and your patience.

Bilock Exclusive - New Updated Bilock High Security, Bump Proof And Virtually Pick Proof Key System.

These are the color ranges of the new Bilock Exclusive key system. We previously mentioned that Bilock would be releasing their new product that offers increased patent protection right through to 2035, in a December article.

The new product dramatically increases the security of the system, while doing away with the trigger system in the New Generation system.

The New Generation system used a single side-bar blocking pin and 13th pin to increase the pick resistance of their previous offering. The patented Quick Change core removal system has been completely overhauled and is now way more effective than the previous iteration.

There is a video in the source below that explains all about this new and improved system.

Essentially, Bilock have replaced the trigger system with a more effective double-action trigger system that does not require a separate trigger. The new system uses specifically coded side pins that engage the side-bar in a unique fashion and directly increases the pick protection.

Previously, any key could have been converted into a core removal key. The new style makes a purposely designed control key to remove and replace cores.

Master keying is still available with up to 17 million potential key changes in a system.

The older New Generation system is still available for purchase and still being produced and we continue to build these systems for our discerning customers.

The other updated component of Bilock Exclusive is the addition of MiFare chips that can be embedded into the key-heads to operate effortlessly with many modern electronic access control and alarm systems.

For an in-depth explanation of the new Bilock Exclusive product, click on the source below and watch the video at the bottom.

(source...) 

Breaking News - Lockwood To Release Keyed Pocket Door Lock To Suit 1-3/4" Doors

Breaking News!! Lockwood Australia, the Assa-Abloy manufacturer of the leading door hardware products in the southern hemisphere will release this coming July, 2016, another adaption of their fabulous Keyed Pocket Door Lock.

The Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock (pictured above) has been on the market about 5 years now and our sales have continued to be stellar in the wider North American market.

Many discerning customers, across the Americas have realized that once in a while a product surfaces that changes the world. Remember Apple's iPhone? or Google's Android OS? Many modern manufacturers capitalized on the Google owned operating system releasing competing smart-phone products in the mobile/cellular phone arena.

We started selling the fabulous Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock a little over 5 years ago and have enjoyed stellar sales, thank you.

As shown in the video on our sister site, the ease of installation of this superbly designed product, answers the needs of many customers hoping to secure their cavity/pocket doors.

We have happily sold many hundreds of this product over the last 5 years and so far, luckily, we are yet to receive any negative reviews. Yes, we have honored the warranty twice for people who have chosen to return the product for a refund. We have once had to provide an extra strike plate because of an installation error. We have done so, because we believe in our product offerings and feel our reputation for quality is proven by the products and services we provide.

Lockwood made me aware recently of their intention to finally release an identical version of the Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock but for 45mm/1-3/4" thick doors, answering the call from a great many inquiries to that effect.

They anticipate a late July, 2016 release and we are hoping to have inventory around September or October 2016.

Stay tuned for updates. We will release additional news as soon as it comes to hand.

Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Locks - Just about SOLD OUT!

Our very popular Keyed Pocket Door Lock made by Assa-Abloy Lockwood Australia is just about sold out. Our current inventory has been depleted and we have a new order in with Australia, expecting new supplies in a couple of weeks.

The popularity of this product has exceeded our expectations, with regular and repeated orders from discerning customers looking for quality hardware at competitive costs.

Few competitive alternatives exist in the market that provide a simple to install and operate lock for typical internal cavity or pocket doors.

The Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock fills that need. Installation is simple and straightforward and can even be installed in place of existing standard fittings with a little retro-fitting.

Visit our sister site in the source below to learn more about this wonderful and ever popular product.

We expect replenishing supplies in a few weeks and apologize for any inconvenience.

(source...)

iLOQ NFC - World's First NFC Powered Wireless Battery-Less Lock Cylinder System

About 5-1/2 years ago, we posted an article on this site about the fabulous iLOQ lock system

Recent news from this forward thinking Finnish company, introduces the world to their latest invention. An NFC (near field communication) powered, wireless and battery-less lock cylinder system.

This advancement in mechanical cylinder technology, changes things for homeowners, institutions, hospitals, office buildings, doctors surgeries and almost anywhere a mechanical key lock can exist.

The iLOQ system is unique and different to other manufacturers creations that predominantly use hard wired or battery powered electronic power systems to provide access control.

As shown in the video below, the iLOQ technology is state of the art and can be applied to small, medium and even large complex key systems.




iLOQ introduced their new product, a couple of days ago at Cebit 2016 in Hanover, Germany.
The product changes the playing field for many smartphone users in that now you can control entry to authorized (NFC) phone users like Android and (soon to be included) Apple smartphone products. (see the NFC video after the break)

Following the impressive key powered original system with this new NFC powered product is considered a natural evolution in this unique technology.