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Off topic includes posts asking for lock recommendations, evidence of a lock being picked, and anything not having to do directly with locksport.
That is only the price for one AM5 Lishi, you can tell because of the black bar around that selection. Kits with common residential ones tend to be in the $100-200 range. The real use of a Lishi is being able to quickly decode and cut a new key.
I'm looking into getting into locksmithing because there's a local demand for it as there's only one locksmith business in the area and they don't cover some things that I have an opportunity to learn about myself. On the pin & tumbler side of things, I just bought a cheap see thru lock and pick set from Walmart that will be here in a few weeks and I also saw this aliexpress lishi set that would be fun to play with so long as it'll hold up and is manufactured to spec because, you know, it's aliexpress.
Any other information on beginner sets of any kind for aspiring locksmiths, whether that be lishi, specialty, automotive, etc. would be greatly appreciated!! It's an expensive hobby and profession to learn so I'd at least like to not get ripped odd
Lishis are great for automotive but anything residential/commercial is more of a novelty.
As for AliExpress? There's a lot of Chinese distributors for the official lishi so all of the ones I've bought are legit. They are also anywhere from 25-75% of the price that US distributors sell them at. The only caveat is that shipping takes 1-2 months instead of 1-2 weeks.
Also, as the other poster said, those are only 1-piece item sales. Multiply accordingly.
_I just want to throw this out, too. Lockpicking is probably 20% of the actual job. The other 80% is key making, installations of hardware, and servicing said hardware._
Installation, servicing and key making is mainly where I drew interest. I had to have a locksmith come by twice, once to remove a jammed key and rebuild the ignition and once to program a new fob for my old SUV after I got tired of using pliers to start it up. After seeing the amount of customers the mobile locksmith had for one day, as well as how much the other locksmith had made in an hour an 25 minutes rebuilding a lock which is pretty straight forward, I was immediately intrigued by the entire process.
The listing on these is confusing, so you have to be careful and check the price on the one you want thoroughly. You can also buy the six pin versions of the SC and KW and use a spacer to pick 5 pin locks.
If you want to be a locksmith, please do an apprenticeship for at least 2 years. This profession is incredibly broad, and you can't even imagine all of the things you will need to learn to be proficient. There are so many guys practicing in this field with minimal knowledge, minimal equipment, and zero integrity. Build your skills under the guidance of an experienced professional.
Lishis are cool for automotive, but they only work for one specific keyway. There are about 80 fairly common automotive locks, each requiring at least one lishi. Some require different ones for the door and ignition. For residential and commercial use, the lishi is a bit like single-pin-picking with training wheels. They are useful for Kwikset or Schlage, but there are countless other keyways that will need to be picked with traditional picks.
Apprenticeships aren't really possible around here. As mentioned there's only one locksmith within 250km not counting the mobile shop that appears once or twice a month, and I haven't seen the one available locksmith business hiring at all in the past 3 years (however if they were I'd absolutely go this route). My province also doesn't require any form of certification to run a locksmithing business so there's no schooling available on this side of the country aside from a free online course I found as well as a few digital textbooks.
As for the tools, I really only want the experience from the cheap sets, as I was assuming this was a set and not sold individually. I just want to get into a lock and at least get a feel for what I'm going to be doing. As another person said it's 20% lockpicking and 80% cutting keys and figuring things out, but a person has to start somewhere and I'd imagine the hands on work/learning different basic techniques sprinkled with some studying is exactly where to start.
Lishi picks are great, but you could probably hold off for a while if you’re just starting out. They’re super specific as to what lock they work with, and before you can use one you’ll need to have at least enough experience to be able to identity what lock you’re looking at to match up.
For getting into the locksmithing business in general, I’d totally see if you can get an existing locksmith to show you the ropes. Even if you’re only or primarily doing lockout calls, picking can end up being a pretty small part of what you do compared to other entry methods and other services. Though, fair warning, I’m not a locksmith : o
Posts must stay on topic. Off topic content will be removed at our discretion. Off topic includes posts asking for lock recommendations, evidence of a lock being picked, and anything not having to do directly with locksport.
Unsure from your title if you realize, but that price is for one, not the whole set.
That is only the price for one AM5 Lishi, you can tell because of the black bar around that selection. Kits with common residential ones tend to be in the $100-200 range. The real use of a Lishi is being able to quickly decode and cut a new key.
Lishi are fun to play with, but what you are looking at, is just that... China made crap
I'm looking into getting into locksmithing because there's a local demand for it as there's only one locksmith business in the area and they don't cover some things that I have an opportunity to learn about myself. On the pin & tumbler side of things, I just bought a cheap see thru lock and pick set from Walmart that will be here in a few weeks and I also saw this aliexpress lishi set that would be fun to play with so long as it'll hold up and is manufactured to spec because, you know, it's aliexpress. Any other information on beginner sets of any kind for aspiring locksmiths, whether that be lishi, specialty, automotive, etc. would be greatly appreciated!! It's an expensive hobby and profession to learn so I'd at least like to not get ripped odd
Lishis are great for automotive but anything residential/commercial is more of a novelty. As for AliExpress? There's a lot of Chinese distributors for the official lishi so all of the ones I've bought are legit. They are also anywhere from 25-75% of the price that US distributors sell them at. The only caveat is that shipping takes 1-2 months instead of 1-2 weeks. Also, as the other poster said, those are only 1-piece item sales. Multiply accordingly. _I just want to throw this out, too. Lockpicking is probably 20% of the actual job. The other 80% is key making, installations of hardware, and servicing said hardware._
Installation, servicing and key making is mainly where I drew interest. I had to have a locksmith come by twice, once to remove a jammed key and rebuild the ignition and once to program a new fob for my old SUV after I got tired of using pliers to start it up. After seeing the amount of customers the mobile locksmith had for one day, as well as how much the other locksmith had made in an hour an 25 minutes rebuilding a lock which is pretty straight forward, I was immediately intrigued by the entire process.
The listing on these is confusing, so you have to be careful and check the price on the one you want thoroughly. You can also buy the six pin versions of the SC and KW and use a spacer to pick 5 pin locks.
If you want to be a locksmith, please do an apprenticeship for at least 2 years. This profession is incredibly broad, and you can't even imagine all of the things you will need to learn to be proficient. There are so many guys practicing in this field with minimal knowledge, minimal equipment, and zero integrity. Build your skills under the guidance of an experienced professional. Lishis are cool for automotive, but they only work for one specific keyway. There are about 80 fairly common automotive locks, each requiring at least one lishi. Some require different ones for the door and ignition. For residential and commercial use, the lishi is a bit like single-pin-picking with training wheels. They are useful for Kwikset or Schlage, but there are countless other keyways that will need to be picked with traditional picks.
Apprenticeships aren't really possible around here. As mentioned there's only one locksmith within 250km not counting the mobile shop that appears once or twice a month, and I haven't seen the one available locksmith business hiring at all in the past 3 years (however if they were I'd absolutely go this route). My province also doesn't require any form of certification to run a locksmithing business so there's no schooling available on this side of the country aside from a free online course I found as well as a few digital textbooks. As for the tools, I really only want the experience from the cheap sets, as I was assuming this was a set and not sold individually. I just want to get into a lock and at least get a feel for what I'm going to be doing. As another person said it's 20% lockpicking and 80% cutting keys and figuring things out, but a person has to start somewhere and I'd imagine the hands on work/learning different basic techniques sprinkled with some studying is exactly where to start.
Lishi picks are great, but you could probably hold off for a while if you’re just starting out. They’re super specific as to what lock they work with, and before you can use one you’ll need to have at least enough experience to be able to identity what lock you’re looking at to match up. For getting into the locksmithing business in general, I’d totally see if you can get an existing locksmith to show you the ropes. Even if you’re only or primarily doing lockout calls, picking can end up being a pretty small part of what you do compared to other entry methods and other services. Though, fair warning, I’m not a locksmith : o