Hi Louse and Andy
This is becoming exasperating.
A guy called Glenn Newton used to be the boss of the TRA. He is now a Registered Migration Agent and can be contacted via this link:
Glenn Newton
It says that he left the TRA in 1999, but I'll bet he knows the current crop of TRA bosses.
I would suggest that both of you contact Mr Newton because if anybody can sort this out and at least get an exemption from this nonsense for locksmiths - precisely because qualifications are not possible in the UK (I don't know about elsewhere) - my guess would be that Glenn Newton is likely to be the guy who can sort it out.
In the meantime.... May I pick your brains, please?
I have a Chinese chest. It has a Chinese lock on it - a traditional brass thing. Pease imagine a padlock. Instead of a curved bar at the top, it is a straight bar - like a piece of welding rod. The lock part is shaped like a Toblerone and is about 2" long.
To lock it, you put the folding flap down from the lid to the front of the chest, slide the bar through two lugs and push the lock shut, wherupon the key can be removed.
To unlock it, wherein lies the rub, you need The Key. My elderly mother has lost the key!
The key looks like a miniature RSJ. Imagine the shape of an "H", only 2" long and the upright sections are short. You push it in to one end of the Toblerone and it is about the same length. It obviously releases something and the lock then comes apart in two halves. One end of the Toblerone comes off, with the "padlock bar" attached to it, and the other half is the main body of the lock part, with the key in it.
I need to open the chest and I don't want anybody breaking this beautiful, antique Chinese lock in order to do it. All my degree certs, exam certs and everything are in the chest and I need to get them out. The Average Bloke would probably vandalise it with a hacksaw or something, I fear, so I'm keeping quiet about it whenever any men are about!
I have 2 questions, please:
1. If I summon the local locksmith in the village, would he be able to pick the lock without damaging it, please?
2. By examining the lock (though I don't know that it is posible to get into its innards) would he be able to produce a drawing showing what the key ought to look like? The local compass adjuster can make things out of brass - plaques for offices and suchlike. If I can produce accurate dimensions and an accurate drawing, I reckon that Ron Robinson (the compass adjuster) might be able to make a new key. Alternatively, would a locksmith be able to make a key that will work, even if it isn't Finest Brass?
Many thanks for any advice you can give me about this.
Cheers
Gill
PS - Sorry about my agricultural descrption of the lock but I don't know any of the technical terms relating to locks.
