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Open up your Topo Chico and hang out with us as we go through the post of the week, comment of the week, as well as answer some of your locksmith questions. Also, check out our free van life lockboss hat for any order over $380.
POST OF THE WEEK
This is a funny one. I don't know where they found this one, but you have to think, I mean, it has to be photoshopped, right? That has to be photoshopped because there is no way you're going to have to turn the key into that. That's crazy. That's good. It looks photoshopped to me though.
Next up, Dustin sent this in here. It looks like some SFIC cores and keys. And it's hard to tell if that's a Lishi pick down there or not. But Dustin, very cool. Thank you for sending that picture, and I'm glad you find them useful.
The image below is from Gerald. It looks like he took one of his winnings and did a little photoshoot. That's the Framon impressioning handle and looks like he stuck it into his van door. By the way, nice lockboss sticker right above that. That's pretty good.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
Gumby, thanks for noticing that. Yeah, pretty much. So, there's so many different code series out there to list all of them. I mean, it would have been a few pages. And I think at that point, when there's one or maybe two code series, it's worth listing that out so you can absorb the information as far as the depth and space stuff goes. But when it starts to get to as many code series we found that it's better to list them, so you know what to look for like the GM 10 cut keys. And I'd even go a step further. One of the main reasons we like to list those code series on the papers is because if you see more than one, it's important to know if you're going to be coding that log with a Lishi or you're going to get a key code. It's good to know what to expect when you're getting ready to do that job. That's the main purpose for it. But, yeah, that's the answer to that question.
TALKING ABOUT THE KEY MACHINES BATTLE (KEY EXPRESS VERSUS THE BLUE PUNCH FOR SFIC)
Supposedly, Javon and I will talk about the key machines battle, the Key express versus the Blue punch for SFIC, and then, the Key express against the Rytan punch. Unfortunately, Javon has a job to address, and it ends up being way more work than you think.
In our previous videos, you could see the differences between the Blue punch, the Rytan, and that Key express. When dealing with a high volume of cutting SFIC, Schlage, or Kwikset, having the Key express is very helpful. Given that you need to have a stationary or power to it. While the punch machines are mobile and dealing with a couple 100 of cutting jobs can get tough. What I’m planning to do is to put the Key express up against those couple of different punches that are on the market. I figured it wouldn't be fair to put it up against the Framon II or even like a 1200 machine, because they're so different from each other. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. So, I ask the community and ended up with a Biaxial battle, Medeco machines versus Framon Key express, or even Triton auto versus the Futura Auto.
FAQ: Why are there some other Electronic Code Machines on the market today that CLKsupplies don’t sell?
The reason why I don’t sell them is because of me. My main reason for that is when you buy that you can't get factory support. I don't want to sell it because it's all fun and games until you need help, and then you can't get any. I will say we have sold some of the other ones that don't but those are imported machines and it hasn’t been good. We obviously have to sell products to make money, that's how we're in business, but selling items without getting that support if a problem happens won’t be great.
Let’s say you get a machine and the manufacturer says it has a year warranty and then you encounter a problem, you’re going to call us to either return, exchange, or refund it. I can’t blame you because it’s under warranty and you can’t get any help. And so, because of that, I've just chosen to not go down that route. We do review that fairly often. And I'm not saying that we never will, but until we can have a solid plan to give good tech support. It's better for us to sell the products that do have some level of tech support.
The second part of this equation for me is when you buy electronics and all that stuff, they change all the time. The same goes with the code series. If you don't have a good code series program on the machine or are able to tie it into something, it's essentially worthless.
For example, if you bought the original Triton machine; you’ll be needing some support for that machine. Now at some point, they’re not going to be able to service it anymore because they came off with a new machine. They will cut you off hard and drive back. So you have to see the bigger picture, a machine might be a little cheaper today but in two to three years, am I still going to have support? Are they still going to have parts?
That's why we've chosen to sell the machines that we do sell and not sell the ones that we don't? And yeah, so that's where it's at and how it stands for now. But the door is always open for some of these other manufacturers for us to start selling their products. I'm not saying the door is not there but the truth is, we've left quite a bit of money on the table by choosing to not sell those. But at the end of the day, we're doing the best we can to support our customers.
Thank you, and we’ll see you next time!
