Locksmithing is the science and art of making and defeating locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies from country to country from none at all, to a simple training certificate awarded by an employer, to a full diploma from an engineering college, in addition to time spent working as an apprentice.
Linus Yale Jr. was an American businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and metalsmith. He was a co-founder with millionaire Henry R. Towne of the Yale Lock Company, which became the premier manufacturer of locks in the United States. He was the country's leading expert on bank locks and its most important maker. By the early 20th century, about three-quarter of all banks in America used his bank locks. He is best remembered for his inventions of locks, especially the cylinder lock, and his basic lock design is still widely distributed today, and constitutes a majority of personal locks and safes.
A combination lock is a type of locking device in which a sequence of symbols, usually numbers, is used to open the lock. The sequence may be entered using a single rotating dial which interacts with several discs or cams, by using a set of several rotating discs with inscribed symbols which directly interact with the locking mechanism, or through an electronic or mechanical keypad. Types range from inexpensive three-digit luggage locks to high-security safes. Unlike ordinary padlocks, combination locks do not use keys.
A safe is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding. Bank teller safes typically are secured to the counter, have a slit opening for dropping valuables into the safe without opening it, and a time-delay combination lock to foil thieves. One significant distinction between types of safes is whether the safe is secured to a wall or structure or if it can be moved around.
A bank vault is a secure space where money, valuables, records, and documents are stored. It is intended to protect their contents from theft, unauthorized use, fire, natural disasters, and other threats, much like a safe. Unlike safes, vaults are an integral part of the building within which they are built, using armored walls and a tightly fashioned door closed with a complex lock.
Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or the key.
The Lock Museum of America houses an extensive lock collection that includes 30 early era time locks, escutcheon plates from safes, a large number of British safe locks, door locks, padlocks, handcuffs and keys, and more. Located in Terryville, Connecticut, the museum is directly across from the original site of the Eagle Lock Company, founded in 1854.
Chubb Fire & Security is a global organization specialised in fire protection and security systems, and is a subsidiary of APi Group Corporation.
The Willamette Falls Locks are a lock system on the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1873 and closed since 2011, they allowed boat traffic on the Willamette to navigate beyond Willamette Falls and the T.W. Sullivan Dam. Since their closure in 2011, the locks have been classified to be in a "non-operational status." In 2023, work began to repair the locks, which are expected to reopen in 2026.
Linus Yale was an American businessman, inventor, metalsmith, and politician. He was a founder of Lamson, Goodnow, and Yale, an American manufacturer of bank locks, and served as the first Mayor of Newport, New York. His patents were signed by President Andrew Jackson. His son, Linus Yale Jr., would later found the Premier manufacturer of locks in the United States, and be a pioneer in the American lock industry through the Yale Lock Company.
Master Lock is an American company that develops padlocks, combination locks, safes, and related security products. Now a subsidiary of Fortune Brands Innovations, Master Lock Company LLC was formed in 1921 by locksmith-inventor Harry E. Soref and is headquartered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. In 1970 the company was purchased by American Brands from Soref's heirs. American Brands was later renamed to Fortune Brands, which then split on October 3, 2011, to create the Fortune Brands Home & Security company and the beverages company Beam Inc..
A time lock is a part of a locking mechanism commonly found in bank vaults and other high-security containers. The time lock is a timer designed to prevent the opening of the safe or vault until it reaches the preset time, even if the correct lock combination(s) are employed.
A time-delay combination lock is most commonly a digital, electronic combination lock equipped with a delay timer that delays the unlocking of the lock by a user-definable delay period, usually less than one hour. Unlike the time lock, which unlocks at a preset time, time-delay locks operate each time the safe is unlocked, but the operator must wait for the set delay period to elapse before the lock can be opened. Time delay safes are most commonly used in businesses with high cash transactions. They are used in some banks including Nationwide, HSBC, Barclays, and Halifax.
The Mosler Safe Company was an American multinational manufacturer of security equipment specializing in safes and bank vaults. In 2001, the company was acquired by Diebold Inc. after going bankrupt.
George Leonidas Leslie, who sometimes used the names George Howard and George Herbert, was an American bank robber and architect. He was involved in 80% of the bank robberies in the United States from 1869 to 1878, and was known as "The King of Bank Robbers".
The John M. Mossman Lock Collection is housed at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York building at 20 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The museum houses one of the largest collections of bank and vault locks in the world, with more than 370 locks, keys and tools dating from 4000 BC to the modern 20th-century.
Chubbsafes is a brand of safes and vaults with its origins in the UK. It specialises in products which offer certified burglary protection and/or fire protection.
Fichet-Bauche is a brand of safes, vaults, and locks produced by Fichet Security Solutions, a business owned by OpenGate Capital. Specializing in fireproof safes, the original company and its brand was founded in 1967 as a result from a merger between Fichet, a locksmithing company, and Bauche, a fire-protection specialists company. The brand is widely sold and marketed in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and French speaking parts of Africa.
The Hall's Safe & Lock Company was an American manufacturer of locks, safes, and bank vaults throughout the second half of the 19th century.
Frederick S. Holmes was an American safe and vault engineer, and inventor who designed the largest vaults in the world. During his career, Holmes designed hundreds of vaults throughout the United States, Canada and Japan from 1895 to 1941. The majority of Holmes designed vaults are located in New York's Financial District; many are publicly accessible and in buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. His name is engraved on the builder's plaques, typically located on the encased jamb controls of these vaults.
