on all orders over $150*
on all orders over $150*
Hey everybody, what is up? We will have a different format as part of experimenting with some ideas. And today, we're going to go over some fun stuff; we're going to have a lot of fun.
3D PRINTED SFIC LOCKSMITH TOOL
I happen to be randomly cruising the internet, hanging out, and can't remember what I was looking for. It must have been something related to SFIC or locksmith tool, and I ran across a fantastic product. In the picture is our LockVoy capping and ejecting block. It's a high quality lasts a long time ejecting and capping block. It doesn't have like the LAB ANNEX has a way to eject all the pins out to decode them if there was a problem. I didn't have it on there because it can cost more time and be having the extra piece there all the time. It can be not very pleasant. So if you have the ANNEX, and you're used to you know, if the cap is 50 cylinders or something, having it there, you know, a lot of guys use, what you do see is they take it out in this, they put it in their pinning kit. So just having a nice, hardcore block that will last a long time is incredible. But it's what translucent1 did. He created this excellent ejection block stand and codebook. The better part is if you 3d print, you can download all the files to make this yourself and tip the designer. So, massive shout out to translucent1 for making this 3d Block stand and codebook for the R LockVoy capping block.
As you can see, they have the block upside down right with the ejector tool in. And if you push it straight down through there.
And it goes into the chambers, and then these chambers allow you to decode it.
There are many reasons you want to do this, but one, in particular, would be to figure out the control key bitting.
The stamp goes there; that's what's in this green neon green color. And then the codebook goes inside of it. The cool part is that even though this is plastic, there's not much force being used when injecting all of the pins.
Have any of you already printed this out and used it? Let me know in the comments below.
ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT LOCKSMITHING
We get many questions that get poured in through email, phone calls, or even in the comment section. And I want to start having a little time where I address these just straight on. So, if you have questions, go ahead and send them to us at sales at CLKsupplies.com or drop them in the comment section of our YouTube video. We'll dig through them, and next week, we'll answer some more.
SERIOUS QUESTION: HOW MUCH THEY SHOULD BE CHARGING FOR SFIC WORK?
Someone who's just getting into the business asks this. Pricing is always one of those points where it's fun to argue about whether you're charging too much or not charging enough. I've addressed this exact topic before in some videos and a podcast. And if you want to dig through those, you're going to find a deep dive into it. But the biggest thing when it comes to actual pricing is to talk about what all goes into that. When it comes to small format interchangeable core keys, you're putting way more pins in than you are in a standard, like Schlage and Kwikset lock. You're also having some sort of a chart, most likely, whether it was hand or through a computer, and there is the management of the Control key information. So for a normal job, you go there, just a standard key, pin it up, and you're out the door and not to do any record-keeping. When it comes to SFIC, you're going to have to do record keeping. So that's something that I don't think is talked about enough about the record-keeping element. I would say that you should probably be around double of what you're charging for standard Schlage and Kwikset rekeys all part. I've talked to many different guys about this, and rekey price tends to be between 15 and $25 per core. I'd say probably if you're in that range, that's a good place to be. But of course, I would love to know how much are you charging.
CODE CUTTING SFIC CODE BLANKS
When it comes to keys, right, so typically when it comes to best keys, the so first we covered the rekeys now let's cover the keys. So, when it comes to the keys, typically, you're going to find that you're going to want to code cut the SFIC key blanks. It's possible to duplicate them in a duplicator. However, almost everybody I've talked to uses a punch for them. So, you have to punch them out, mark them of some sort, even if that's going to a C for control but don't write master for master keys. That's not the best way to handle that for security reasons. So, as far as keys go, the best key should be double to triple to what your standard Kwikset key is. There's a lot of stuff that goes into there, how many cylinders are you doing, how many keys you're doing, but there's a ballpark, and I hope that information is helpful.
Thanks, and we'll see you next time!
