TWENTY YEARS AGO
Shane Crosby reported on the SAVTA '93 safe show which was held in Cincinnati, OH. Jerry Levine compared various key machine cutter blades for code machines. A1 introduced their decoding kit for GM sidebar ignition locks. Milt Wolferseder showed how to service Security round door wall safes. Aero Lock provided a method for reading Chrysler double-sided key cuts. Jerry Levine reported on those infamous Alpha Tech ignition locks for some '91-'93 GM cars. Major Manufacturing added attachments HIT10, HIT11 and HIT12 to their growing list of mortising jigs. Tom Mickley reported on the Sentry model 1160 fire-resistant safe chest. Chuck Charter compared available traditional and contemporary pushbar designs for exit devices. Catherine Hays, Frantech Corporation, described rigorous testing procedures used by a Swedish testing laboratory on Diplomat brand safes. Tom Mickley also reported on Meilink safes made by FireKing International. Bob Psolka visited the family-run wholesaler Commonwealth Lock. Locksmith Ledger also visited Keywest Locksmiths in Montreal, Canada. Master Lock introduced six syles of Grade 2 hardware. Jerry Levine showed how to remove the lock plugs for servicing. Fred Steingold offered some good advice for Dealing With Customers. Pam Anderson printed to Chicago XF code series in her code update column.
TEN YEARS AGO
DORMA had a new family of mortise and cylindrical commercial locksets in 2003. Jerry Levine showed how to service Yale Heritage residential locksets. Hugh Curry reported on the Marks Survivor series of cylindrical lever locksets. Locksmith Ledger provided an overview of the different encoded card types used for access control. Gale Johnson installed an electric strike on a stainless steel door. Jerry Levine wrote about the exceptional features of the Securitron one-of-a-kind mortise unlatch electric strike. American Eagle door closers and exit devices were the subject of an article by Gale Johnson. Dale Bowman explained the revolutionary concepts behind the Medeco Keymark lock cylinders. Of all things, Tom Gillespie showed how to upgrade a decades-old bit lock. Jeff Trepanier showed how to keep old mortise locks in tip-top shape. Laurie Simon provided a historical look at some early innovations from Reading Hardware Corporation. Jeff Trepanier (Tiny) also showed how to fit keys to a 1999 Harley Davidson Road Glide. Tom Gillespie introduced the latest Pro-Lok car-opening manual. George Teasdale enumerated some common mistakes to avoid when changing a safe combination.
What's In A Name?
A locksmith sent in a question to Locksmith Ledger asking why the pin chamber area of a key-in-knob cylinder is called a bible. This is a reasonable question and it started a search of dictionaries to find the origin of the word. No dictionary described 'bible' in any other but religious terms. The question was then relayed to two individuals in our industry both of whom have written a glossary of terms for locksmiths. In both cases their immediate answer was that the pin chamber area has always been called a bible, but how the term began has been lost in history. Calling the pin chamber area a bible, along with modern terms such as anti-ligiture and transponder, have apparently grown out of necessity without a positive answer as to who originally coined these terms. One pundit stated that the pin chamber is called a 'bible' because everything of importance is located inside. Until further notice, that will have to suffice.
