Linda Jackson is a locksmith, has been for twenty years She makes house calls... We always double check to make sure all the screws are tight.

These are your back sets.

This is your deadbolt.

You want to make sure that it goes into the straight plate properly.

This is your dead latch.

The dead latch should always stay up on top.

Because this is.

That's how you activate.

If you don't have that improperly and this all falls in, then somebody could come through with a credit card and push past it.

And that's how they get into your house.

If you don't have your deadbolt locked.

You can also find Linda at the service desk in Ace Hardware, in downtown Midland where shes worked for 20 years.

So the Schalge lock you prefer to the larger head of the Detroit Tigers?

Okay, we'll do just one.

Just one.

Okay.

Did you want any other keys?

Any keys?

No, Okay.

We're going to install it left side to copy from.

And the right side.

Yep.

Good job.

Or should we get it in proper.

The other thing.

You don't want to overtighten it in the street because it'll rise McKee up if you do.

And once I take it out, I'd like to eyeball it up to make sure that I have the tabs close.

You.

Because if I'm not happy with it, the customer's not going to be.

Linda, who is now 76, got her start at Bryans Bicycle Shop in the 1980s, learning the locksmilth trade from the owner, known as Mr.

Bryan, who retired and closed the shop in 2026...She and the keys moved next door to Ace.

You can you can So we start out with car keys.

House keys, and, the risk to have so many of them is that we also have, you know, like, bank keys.

But when you, when you get into something and somebody brings an odd key, and nine times out of ten, you can come to these boards and you'll find something that'll work for it.

Lindas skill set includes making new keys, rekeying, refurbishing, and installing locks and doorsets.

she shares some of tools of her trade... This is one of the firest machines he had This will cut your keys, your skeleton keys, and it'll also do your regular household keys.

This machine here is your sidewinder, which is your car keys.

It'll do a tempo key, which is on some businesses.

This is your code machine.

So you start out from scratch, put code cards in and make a key to the cylinder.

This machine here is for barrel keys like what's on your gun cabinets and other articles.

These are your standard key machines.

All of these are manual.

None of them are automated.

I prefer it that way because I can adjust them.

We're automated.

I have a little bit harder time with adjusting them.

What can we do for you today?

Linda likes solving customers problems... apply pressure to the door on the inside and turn the knob, because what's happening is that your back set, which is a little plunger in the edge of the door, is falling into the strike plate on the opposite side, Linda is now semi-retired on the job.

Three days a week at Ace and on the road when needed.

I am not a very clerical person.

I do not like to sit.

I am not much with computers.

I like hands on.

Blacksmithing gives you the ability to go into homes, meet people and work on manual things.

And it's.

It's just a really nice job to have.

Over her career as a locksmith, Linda has seen many changes in the locks we use to secure our homes,vehicles, and other possessions.

they'll put a passage certain.

Just use a deadbolt.

Rather than having two locking.... Mostly the digital part of it.

The same with the keys for the cars.

The cars are going with, Sidewinder cuts, which is like a little worm cut in a key.

And, a lot of them have to be programed.

The host locks for the digital locks work fine.

A lot of them will have still a key way in them, which is a key override.

And, the buttons can wear out on them.

The batteries can go there.

I still like the manual locks myself.

Linda acknowledges being a locksmith is not a high paying job... But she encourages young people to take up this skill...this art So the job is very intriguing.

And you meet so many nice people and the ability to do this job has been really a blessing for me because I. I'm mechanically inclined.

My dad was a mechanic.

Mister Bryan taught me everything he knew.

And, it's just something that they should try.