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A few years working alongside a proper trained locksmith, learning your trade is probably the best way to start. An apprenticeship you might call it.

A 2 or 3 day (or even week) course advertised online would be on a par with 'train to become a motor mechanic in 2 easy days...'

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There are a number of threads on here and in other forums on this subject.

the salient points are:-

Most (and I would back that with all) of them fail to teach locksmithing, it cannot be learnt in 2,3,21,365 days

None that I know teach the basic hand skills like lock fitting, making a key by hand, rekeying a cylinder or mortice lock. None teach the dozen ways a lock can fail or how they can be overcome. The teach lock picking and very poorly and lock drilling again very poorly. as for auto work its a very special field you need a great degree of skill and understanding - thousands of pounds of kit a reliable van and the need to sleep only a few hours a day, because you need to work to recover that outlay.

I am an expert master locksmith I edit the LASM each month, I am good at what I do but I don't have the first idea with cars.

Unless you can find a job with a locksmith and are prepared to work your nadjers off I strongly suggest you keep you wad in your sock drawer and find another occupation - lock picking is 1% of a lockies life.

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Forum sponsors Davenport Burgess do various courses which I've heard good feedback from.

 

Lee

 

Indeed they do - I've done the level 1 course, but it's more of an additional info course for key cutters than a course to train you as a locksmith.

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The best Auto Locksmith Training Course would be M B Locks

(although I have not been trained by them as I'm self-taught)

 

Speak with Mike Byham

 

http://www.mblocks.co.uk

I have been on Mike's course and can highly recommend it. If you don't have a sound knowledge of how locks work, come apart and put together then you will not get far in this profession. A true gentleman. Book now to avoid missing out on the best week you'll ever have!

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I have been locksmith for over 17 years and have got to say that im still learning,i started in shoe repair trade and got very interested in the keycutting side which progressed to locks.at that time there were no courses available other than MLA ,and at the time i felt locksmiths were anti shoe repairers getting into the then very secretive trade.i was not knowledgable enough to sit and pass MLA exam at that time so i found out what was required and got a good joiner freind to show me how to fit locks,i then was lucky enough to find an old safe engineer who taught me to cut keys to locks by hand,i then set out and passed MLA exam which then allowed me to get on more specialised courses.in my own opinion i do think the general locksmith market is saturated in uk,i would be very carefull who you hand youre hard earned money over to for a few days training if some of these training establishments were worth there salt they would be running succesful locksmiths businesses not quick training courses.depending on location if youre lucky enough to have no locksmiths in youre area you could probably make a go of it ,but it can be a costly set up ,tread carefully and good luck

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It could be an idea to follow the trail of the military. They get kicked from the army at a relatively young age, with plenty of money to fund a new career.

 

Where would they go?

 

Bob Curry in Northampton (?) runs an excellent training class, about 4 weeks long. After that, some have opted to take a class with Martin Newton of Safeventures, near Crawley.

 

Bob Curry's training is excellent, it even includes a commercial module. There will still be lots and lots to learn after his class, but at least, his class makes you roadworthy.

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