Twenty Years Ago
Jerry Levine reported on exquisite decorative hardware from Omnia Industries. Complete installation procedures for an Aiphone Door Sentry were shown. Tom Gillespie showed how to unlock a Toyota Avalon using Pro-Lok tools. David Halls, RCI, discussed the parts required to make a man trap. Louis George provided a backgrond on the use of electric strikes. Charles Cole covered the Trine electric strike lineup. Aaron Fish, CEO, Ilco Unican, continued his series on the development of transponders in the automotive field. Edward Hite described various failures which could occur with electronic lock hardware. Anthony Martin visited the Washington County Jail Museum in West Bend, Wisc., and noted how secure the 100-year-old jail lock seemed to be. Steven Sharpe wrote of the opportunities available in selling and servicing electronic safe locks. Padlocks of all descriptions were featred in a padlock roundup. David Davis described how he opened three safes in one day: a Mosler, a Barnes and a Remington Rand. The Locksmithing Etc. column mentioned that Hurd was discontinuing Ford 10-cut lock production for the 1996 cars. This switch did not go smoothly and 1996 Ford vehicles had a mixture of 10-cut and 8-cut locksets. Locksmith Susan Fields explained the Mini Key system. Where is the Mini Key system now? Robert Mancini continued his series on how to sell more safes. Milt Wolferseder detailed the mechanism of front load deposit safes.
Ten Years Ago
Tom Gillespie reviewed the ueses for electromagnetic locks. Dick Zunkel advised readers on ways in which older buildings are affected by current ADA laws. Rod Oden suggested commercial door and door closer servicing as a new vertical market for locksmiths. Jerry Levine reported on an installation job which included removing a mullion and installing vertical rod exit devices on a double door opening. Tim O’Leary reviewed Yale 7000 series exit devices. Jerry Levine introduced the Door Control Wizard which is free software provided by Securitron for determining which electronic security products to use. Locksmith Rick Duskiewicz showed his custom installation of mortise locks into doors leading to racquetball courts. Jerry Levine installed a Simplex 900 mechanical pushbutton lock made by Kaba Access Control. A human interest story involved Mark Miller as he assumed leadership of Lockmasters Inc. A feature article showed the various GM ignitions which are eqipped with PASSlock technology. High Tech Tools introduced a new vehicle opening manula for medium and heavy trucks. Bill Neff wrote an encompassing article on his new DAP replacement remote heads for Lexus and Toyota. Tiny serviced the locks on a 2005 Buick Terraza. Emily Pike wrote an article on the purchase of Adesco Safe Company by FKI Security Group.
New SnugTop Lock
The latest lock being used for SnugTop pickup covers uses a double-sided key and an 'ST' code series. The new SnugTop key blank contains center grooves but there are no corresponding projections in the lock plug. After examining aftermarket key blank catalogs, a substitute Volvo blank was found. The key blank to use is an Ilco X30, ESP VL4, Jet VL4-NP or JMA ME-9. While the blank is slightly shorter, it is long enought to operate all six discs in the lock.
Spacing is: 138-232-327-421-516-610.
Depths are: 1)299, 2)280, 3(260, 4)240.
If you have decoded any SnugTop 'ST' keys please send the cuts to Locksmith Ledger so we can complete this code series. Strattec Bolt codeable lock cylinders have also been found on SnugTop products. Strattec and SnugTop 'ST' lock cylinders are interchangeable.