THSS Locksmithing Institute?

[Shibby Dibby]

Has anyone ever heard of this? It's a home study course similiar to
Foley Belsaw but I haven't been able to find any information on the
net about it. I purchased the course on Ebay for $12.00 and was just
wondering what topics the course covers.

[JC]

12 bucks? i think you get what you pay for these days buyer beware for sure
..
"Shibby Dibby" <mrp...@yis.us> wrote in message
news:3fe644f5.03051...@posting.google.com...

["Keyman"]

"Shibby Dibby" <mrp...@yis.us> wrote in message
news:3fe644f5.03051...@posting.google.com...

> Has anyone ever heard of this?

I haven't..

> It's a home study course similiar to
> Foley Belsaw but I haven't been able to find any
information on the
> net about it.

me either..

> I purchased the course on Ebay for $12.00 and was just
> wondering what topics the course covers.

guess you will have to see when ya get it.
for $12.00 bucks, wouldn't expect too much.

g'day
--
"Key"

[cashcroft]

It the Old Locksmithing Institute from Little Falls NJ it was a great
course unfortunately, they are no longer in business.
Phil
the THSS stands for *I think* Technical Home Study School

["Keyman"]

"cashcroft" <magickm...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3ECAE851...@hotmail.com...

> It the Old Locksmithing Institute from Little Falls NJ it
was a great
> course unfortunately, they are no longer in business.
> Phil
> the THSS stands for *I think* Technical Home Study School
>

is that what THSS Locksmithing Institute is ?
I took that worthless course.
the smith that took me on as an apprentice told me that he
would teach me if I would forget what I have learned from LI
and listen to him.
it sure didn't take long to understand why.
would you believe that LI recommended that we ask our
customer to get their car towed to a gm dealer to have them
R&R the ignition for us.
yea right !!!

my2
--
"Key"

[Shibby Dibby]

So you don't think there would be anything usefull in the course to a
completely inexperienced person?

I got the course so cheap because it's just a binder with all the
lessons in it. I don't know if it originally came with locks or tools.
And it also looks pretty dated. The seller wrote in the description
that it smells like moth balls.

[Putyourspamhere]

>Subject: Re: THSS Locksmithing Institute?
>From: mrp...@yis.us (Shibby Dibby)
>Date: 5/21/2003 11:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3fe644f5.03052...@posting.google.com>

>
>So you don't think there would be anything usefull in the course to a
>completely inexperienced person?
>
>I got the course so cheap because it's just a binder with all the
>lessons in it. I don't know if it originally came with locks or tools.
>And it also looks pretty dated. The seller wrote in the description
>that it smells like moth balls.
>

I'm sure you can find something useful. Probably a basic description of the
workings of the basic types of locks. Beyond that though................

["Keyman"]

"Shibby Dibby" <mrp...@yis.us> wrote in message

news:3fe644f5.03052...@posting.google.com...

> So you don't think there would be anything usefull in the
course to a
> completely inexperienced person?

I hate to say that it was usless but it sure wasn't worth
the full price I paid.
at the time, I was gung-ho and thought it was a great
course. it wasn't till later when I actually went to work in
the field that I relized just how basic it was.
usually those courses teach you just enough for you to
realize what ya don't know. apprintiship is the best way to
go and courses do sometimes help get you're foot in the
door.

> I got the course so cheap because it's just a binder with
all the
> lessons in it. I don't know if it originally came with
locks or tools.
> And it also looks pretty dated. The seller wrote in the
description
> that it smells like moth balls.

for what you paid. you should get (some) useful information
out of it.

good luck
--
"Key"

[Billy B. Edwards Jr.]

The Locksmithing Institute was arguably the first correspondence course
offering training in the industry. If I remember correctly it was
started by Leonard Singer, the same guy who started the Locksmith Ledger
magazine.

At least in the 1960's and 70's it was an accredited course and the GI
bill would cover the cost for an ex-serviceman, at least it did for
mine. As far as I know they are still in business but have relocated
from Little Falls, NJ to Fairfield, NJ.

Your $12 course won't be much god without all the lock materials that
came with the course and you are obviously not getting the Ilco
Mini-Mite key machine that came as part of the course. Below you will
find a link to a site that has the last known contact info.
BBE.

http://henrybk.net/lschools.html

[cashcroft]

At the time they were in business they were the best available. I had
SEVERAL FB grads tell me they wished they had taken the LI course
instead. They were the only correspondence course available that was
actually Accredited by the State they were in. *New Jersey. Some of the
information will be so dated to be useless now, for instance, the
practice of staking the screws of a mortise cylinder after repining. Now
the way to go is simply replace because it's cheaper for the customer to
sell him new cylinders than charge him for your time to re-pin.
Phil

[Stormin Mormon]

I repin cylinders when needed.

What really stands out in my memory (Dad and I took the course in 1979) was
that they spent an entire lesson on Schlage double sided wafer knob locks,
and I've only worked on those maybe two times in twenty years. And one was
to impression a key (lockout) and the other was to replace them with
Kwikset. I learn later they are very easy to pick, and so I oughta picked.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.org
.
.

"cashcroft" <magickm...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:3ECC297D...@hotmail.com...

[Billy B. Edwards Jr.]

That lesson on the Schlage wafer locks was valuable to me. It made me
the only practicing locksmith in Louisville, KY that knew how to MK them
and I did quite a few for the local contract hardware house.
BBE.

[Shibby Dibby]

I know I'm not getting the key machine but hopefully I can track down
some of the locks to work on. Does anyone here know how the Ilco
machine that came with the course compares to the Foley Belsaw model
200 key machine?

[Stormin Mormon]

It is a pleasure to meet you. The only time I worked on MK Schlage Wafer was
in about 1985, when I was helping install DB on the apartment complex.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.org
.
.

"Billy B. Edwards Jr." <bedw...@thelockman.com> wrote in message
news:3ECD6DE2...@thelockman.com...

[cashcroft]

It's just my opinion but I think the FB machine is the far better machine.
Phil

[docgp...@gmail.com]

Well I started in May 1969 and Graduated in February 1971. I was 12 years old when I started. I was 14 and half when I graduated. I paid $229.00 for the Course it was $15.00 per month or actually per lesson. I learned enough to help me through High School and College.

Today I have my PhD in Civil Engineering. It was and still is a valuable skill. I still use the Lock Picks and Changing out Locks and heeding the Message of Locksmithing Code of Ethics.

The most basic of safe combinations - Yes I still have my ILCO Key Machine.

It opened a lot of doors for me - no pun intended.

Of course now with the type of Locks and the difference in Labor Costs vs. Cheap replacement locks changes the Landscape of it but you are comparing it with today's eyes vs the time it was around and it was valuable enough to me to run that business and another during my young days.

It wouldn't take much to acquire the basic parts for that course. Probably find a lot of it on Ebay or the ilk.

[Derek Broestler]

I'm new here (Hi I'm Derek, full time working locksmith and lock junkie for just over 15 years, in business for myself for almost five, before that I did 10 years in security ranging from retail LP management to large venue) I don't know what your level of experience is, but...

For $12, I'd prolly buy it because you NEVER know what's gonna come in useful provided you're looking for additional knowledge... especially on older, antique, or just out of production locks, and old cheap "outdated" manuals and courses are great for that...

Perfect example... I came across this group while researching for a customer who has a house, built in the 50's, FULL of old Schlage "wafer" locks using the SC6 key, no keys for the guest room, finally had a guest accidentally lock the guest room door, looking to get it unlocked and possibly get keys made for it... Sent me a picture of it, I'd seen it before but never worked on one and so I knew I'd have to just figure it out... (Judging from the rest of this thread, some folks here already know where this is heading....)

Customer was awesome, locks are easy to pick, or really just rake, PITA to take apart to generate keys for... Talked to two older local locksmiths briefly before I went out, who said "tell them to replace them, or charge them appropriately because they're a PITA"... but I'm a sucker for old locks in good condition, so yeah... I did NOT understand the scope of said situation... Now I have a VERY happy customer, that's very good, and new knowledge, that's also good... but YEAH... I WISH I'd had some more info going into that call... (an exploded diagram would have been REAL HELPFUL before quoting a price on that one... and where else would you find said detailed description but from a manual that was current when they were in production)

So you never know what's gonna come in useful and it's IMO worth the $12 if it keeps you from quoting a job wrong, getting neck deep in it, and wondering "WHY THE HECK DID I DO THIS AGAIN???" lol

[School of Lock]

On Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at 1:29:07 AM UTC-4, Shibby Dibby wrote:

There is one more Lock School to add to the list. The School of Lock and Electronic Security, LLC. We are a Virginia DCJS registration school that acts like a technical school.

Currently we only offer Electronic Security Technician and Sales. The Locksmith course is on it's way. All courses are hands on with individual workstations.

[barts...@gmail.com]

I took a course from The locksmithing Institute in the mid '60's.It was a good course. The were located in Beaver Falls, NJ

[tgr...@gmail.com]

I just found my grandpas diploma from the locksmithing institute in 1968

[mrsmaxi...@gmail.com]

Could I get a copy of my husband's diploma?

[davidru...@gmail.com]

Hi All, I have found a digital version of the Locksmithing Institue Training Guide from 1974. I will drop a link when I can so if anyone wants a copy. It is old and a lot of the information is out of date but still fun to read.

[lockw...@gmail.com]

Yes please do! It's never really "out of date" so long as old locks are still in use.

[For Wil]

On Thursday, 23 August 2018 at 23:03:05 UTC-6, lockw...@gmail.com wrote:
> Yes please do! It's never really "out of date" so long as old locks are still in use.

Yes i today found a copy in excellent condition with a micrometric precision key machine that i dont even think was used .
The lesson had a date of 1977 and i research the man a bit on facebook and he was a ex RCAF tailgunner apparently worst place to be.
No tools other than the machine.

[Mark]

I took this course in 1980 after graduating high school. At the time it was $399.50 ($24.50/month). I still have all of the course materials, all the completed and graded lessons. Some of the lessons were just true/false quizes while others were more "hands on." For instance, Lesson 9: The Pin Tumbler Cylinder...Changing Combinations and Fitting First Keys. They sent you the hardware for you to work on and then you sent it back to be graded. In this case I had to change the combination of the cylinder, fit a new key to it, and send it all back to them. As I recall they would send maybe five or six lessons out at a time with all of the necessary hardware that needed to be worked on. I quite enjoyed the process. I never became a locksmith but I most definitely have used the skills and knowledge that I learned then to this day. The lock picking lesson was one of my favorites. I still use those lockpicks...

[Charles Naimoli]

On Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at 1:29:07 AM UTC-4, Shibby Dibby wrote:

Yes years ago I took this course ok for beginner locksmith all though the mail even sent you a key machine was called the locksmith institute of little falls nj. Pretty sure no longer around the other one at that time was foley belsaw course . Good luck

[Harry Pape]

I too found this course in the back of Popular Science (or Popular Mechanics? I got both . . . ) and got dad to fund me during high school. Became the locksmith for the school! Pretty cool to have a master key . . . .

Over the years this has been an occasional side gig and now I do the locks for a vintage auto restorer. He had a 1930s Packard door handle that needed rechroming; thus wanted the cylinder removed. Took it to to different 'smiths who gave up after weeks. Took me 20 minutes . . . Still using the LI picks and the key machine . . .

[Dr. Gary P. Miller]

On Tuesday, May 20, 2003 at 12:29:07 AM UTC-5, Shibby Dibby wrote:
> Has anyone ever heard of this? It's a home study course similiar to
> Foley Belsaw but I haven't been able to find any information on the
> net about it. I purchased the course on Ebay for $12.00 and was just
> wondering what topics the course covers.

I enrolled in the Course in May of 1969. Graduated February 22nd, 1971. It had thirty (30) Lessons and they sent them to you 5 at a time. You had to complete a minimum of 1 course per month at a rate of $15.00 per month. They sent you return envelopes with Bags attached to them to send the Locks back to the Institute. Great Course the Last two were on Safe Combinations and resetting a Combination lock for a Safe. I worked as a Locksmith through College. It help pay for some of my expenses. I took some other courses for Safes and Burglar Alarms but they weren't as satisfying. I still use the skills most every week still for Friends, Family, and Business Associates. I still have the Key Machine. Yes, you do have to change the Cutting Wheel (lol). When I needed a Job when I was down on my luck in Fort Lauderdale, I went to a Locksmith for a Job and all he said your skills are kind of antiquated. The Time Frame was 1983. That's OK, I get the job done. (he wanted me to shim the Lock but I picked it because my skills with Lock Picks are lighting fast. If that wouldn't have worked I would have shimmed it. I guess I just don't follow directions. That is okay I have my Doctorate in Civil Engineering so it paid off for helping me through School.

[Dr. Gary P. Miller]