Locksmith is a person whose job is to make and repair locks. With changing time, the definition and job profile of any ordinary locksmith has changed. A modern locksmith is skilled person, whose does more than designing and repairing of keys and lock, but also does implementation and management of key systems. Locksmiths also replace lost keys or make duplicates of an existing key. Locksmiths of today work alone or as part of an organization.
Locksmithing, being a traditional trade, requires an apprenticeship, degree or level of formal education in most countries. Locksmiths may work as commercial locksmith (working out of a storefront), mobile locksmith (working out of a vehicle), or institutional locksmith.
Famous Locksmiths You Must Know
Robert Barron: Robert Barron was an English locksmith notable for his invention of the double–acting tumbler lock in 1778
Joseph Bramah: A locksmith best known for the invention of the hydraulic press and the Bramah lock. The Bramah lock was patented in 1784 and was considered unpickable for more than 65 years until A.C. Hobbs picked it, taking over 50 hours.
Jeremiah Chubb:He invented first detector lock in 1818, as the result of a Government competition to create an unpickable lock and it remained unpicked until 1851. A Chubb detector lock was the most advanced and secure tumbler lock. When someone tries to pick the lock or to open it using the wrong key, the lock is designed to jam in a locked state until either a special regulator key or the original key is used.
James Sargent: He invented the first successful key-changeable combination lock in 1857, the prototype for those used in contemporary bank vaults. The combination lock became popular with safe manufacturers and the United States Treasury Department.
Linus Yale, Sr & Linus Yale Jr.: Linus Yale Sr. invented a pin tumbler lock in 1848. Linus Yale, Jr. improved upon his father’s lock in 1861, using a smaller, flat key with serrated edges that is the basis of modern pin-tumbler locks. Yale developed the modern combination lock in 1862.