A B C Lock Key & Lawnmower Shop

Great if you need a spare house key made.
Not great if you need car keys or anything fancy.

Great 90-​year-​old shop run by two brothers in their 80s who inherited it from their dad. «Now don’t wait five more years to come back in!» he says. I wish I needed more keys or a lawnmower repair or something.

After looking around town at multiple locksmiths to unlock an antique chest, I was referred here by the Key Crew. Within minutes, he was able to open it without causing any damage. Great, efficient service!

This place has character! Reminded me of my grandparents home with all the fabulous antiques. Made a key copy for me in a jiffy.

Excellent service, quick turn around time and just delightful gentlemen at the store. It was like walking into a museum to visit their store. I highly recommend there work. I had an old lock with skeleton keys. The totally repaired it! I’m thrilled.

This place is amazing! Nicest folks work here and the shop has the most obscure locks and parts around. Unbelievable value for the cost. For sure a place I will use in the future!

Simply the most reliable place in San Diego to have quality keys made. My wife has a tall, four sided jewelry case which is opened using an antique style key. One day she was in a hurry and twisted the key too hard. The key broke in the lock. I called a major locksmith company and described the problem. The locksmith said that he and almost all locksmiths don’t deal with that style of key anymore. He recommended I call ABC Key & Lawnmower Shop as they may still have that style of key. I then called ABC and spoke with Bob. Bob knew exactly the style of key I was describing and requested I bring in the door which had the broken key. I drove to ABC and loved the shop the minute I walked in the door. ABC is a piece of the past: crammed spaces, parts and equipment everywhere, and most importantly verbal commitments you can trust. Bob examined the door and lock, said he could have a new key manufactured within a couple of days and quoted a reasonable price. Sure enough, a few days later I was back at ABC picking up the door and new key at the price quoted. I am happy and wife is ecstatic!

These guys (brothers) are fantastic. My house is 80+ years old and I couldn’t find a replacement strike plate anywhere. Walked in here and they had one that fit perfectly. I then brought in a mortice lock that hadn’t worked properly since we bought the house — and that I’d been told couldn’t be replaced. They fixed it in 5 minutes! Oh, and they do a great job duplicating keys. True craftsmen.

Needed some keys copied, in n out in 3 min, nice mom and pop shop, 10x better then Walmart

Great Place. I had a front door lock from a 1925 house that was worn out and they completely rebuilt and fixed it. Two elderly brothers run the store which has been there for 50 years and they are expert at fixing the real old stuff. As far as I know they are the only ones in San Diego who can do that kind of work.

Went in here 5 min before they closed. The old man working behind the counter welcomed us. We just needed copies of 3 keys. He told us the total price including tax immediately. He made them in 2 min and we were walking out the door. Great friendly service. Love that the shop looks like something from the 1920’s.
**Cash only!

My key was done in what seemed to be only seconds! Their set-​up is a little old school, so they are cash only. I went to Vons to get cash (since I had to go there anyway for a few things) and pulled out some cash. The man working there held my keys until I came back. I came back and there were 3 customers in line. The same man who made my key finished up with his current customer and politely asked the next person in line to wait while he collected my cash and returned my keys. Friendly and excellent service! The key works better than the one my apartment maintenance guy gave me! I will return if I need more keys made.

These guys absolutely and completely know their stuff and have been doing it for years! After a key fiasco involving 3 trips to Home Depot in one day, I finally went here and have been going ever since. They’re great with lawn mower blades too.
And they remind me of my grandpa, which is an added bonus.
Just keep in mind that they don’t accept credit cards, as of the last time I was there.

I have used these folks for many, many years but I occasionally, out of convenience, went to Home Depot, since I was there almost daily. That was almost always a mistake.
I have found another locksmith closer to my home that consistently does a good job so I usually use them for proximity reasons. They can handle 99% of my needs but when I want keys on a Saturday, or have a very difficult/​unusual problem these guys are the very best due to a great depth of experience, knowledge, honesty and friendliness.
Toyota Prius keys are a different animal. I bought a couple of blanks on eBay to save a local search. I took them here last Saturday and he told me due to the nature of the key he could not make any guarantee but he’d give it a try with that caveat. It worked perfectly first time along with the three other duplicates I asked him to make.
It’s old world craftsmanship with pride in quality of work exemplified. I think I’ll take my girlfriend’s cutlery there soon.
Plan on paying with a cheque or cash. No plastic accepted.

I had a copy of a key made at a chain home improvement store, and when I got home, it took a lot of jimmying to open the lock, and at times wouldn’t even work. Frustrated, I went to ABC Lock Key & Lawnmower Shop to get a quality copy, judging by the reviews I read here on Unilocal.The little old man who runs the store is awesome. I told him about the poor quality of the major home improvement store copy. He was curious and took a look at my faulty copy compared to the original, and said that they cut it too deep.
When I returned home with ABC’s copy, guess what? Worked perfectly. No more hassle. Best $ 2.50 (cash only at this store!) I ever spent. I learned my lesson of sticking with the small business pros, instead of the convenience home improvement stores on every corner. Thanks ABC!

Fast and reasonably-​priced! If I need to make a copies of my keys, I’ll keep coming here. Unlike the copy I got made at Home Depot, I never have to jimmy these keys.

The little old guy who runs the shop is awesome. It looks like he pretty much ground the keys by hand, but they work perfectly. Considering Home Depot basically looked baffled by the stock (it’s just a mailbox key, for cryin’ out loud), the $ 2.50 price tag wasn’t too bad.
Since I was there, and he had some disk locks on display, I asked if he could copy my storage key, which he did without a problem, and discussed the origin of the locks in some detail all the while.
Finally I decided to go for broke and produced the key for a lock box I acquired from a thrift store some time ago. He said I’d have to bring in the box so he can size the stock properly, but he seemed pleased by the challenge.
The place is a little grimy, like most old workshops, and it doesn’t take cards, which basically secures its archaic charm. Basically if you need a house key copied for cheap, go let some teenager do it at a chain store. But if you need something complicated – or if you just want it done right – this is the place to go.

I broke my key off in the trunk lock! And of course, I lost my spare key. This place was one of the few open on Saturday and willing to look at the two pieces (luckily my masterful boyfriend jimmied the broken piece out of the lock). The gentleman said he would try to see what magic he could pull and 20 minutes later, voilà, a copied key was in my hand.
He warned me that it might not be exact, since my original was worn and copies can have their flaws, but by goodness, it works perfectly! He wanted me to check how it worked it the lock before making any more copies, which I appreciate.
But I am definitely going back there to get a couple more copies made, just in case.
The broken key copy cost $ 12.50, which I think will depend on the make and model of your car. I think general copies are about $ 2-​$ 4. And they were open till 1pm on Saturdays, 9am-4:30pm M-​F.

I like this place, especially because
a) it is so close to me,
b) they have a distant past of repairing things (i.e. umbrellas) in lieu of having them thrown away,
c) they’re locally-​owned which is something I like to support,
d) they seem to have a fair level of expertise in locks/​keys, blade sharpening and tools.
What I don’t like is that:
a) they’re a little pricier than many (but, again, I’ll pay up a bit to support local ownership),
b) they nowadays promote just throwing away something repairable because repair/​maintenance would cost the same as buying brand new version (i.e. my scissors had broken handle and needs sharpening, and they said I should just throw it away and buy new one. I wonder what their dad (founder) would’ve thought thought about them telling me that, instead of helping fix it).
c) they require payment in advance!
d) they don’t take credit cards (I think!)
I love the old-​school feel of the place, the history, their old days recollections, the vintage photo sitting at the counter — so it’s at least worth stopping in to say hi.

The key guy that runs this shop is extremely knowledgeable. I went to ace hardware and lowes to get a duplicate key made for my condo; both sets did not work. The guy at lowes told me to see a locksmith.
I picked this shop on Unilocal and went over there. He looks at the key and immediately knows what type it is. He says he doesn’t have that type of key, but recommends a shop where I could find it, even looks up the number on hi list of business card.
I go to the next place and tell them the exact key type the key guy told and they realize they were about to make the wrong key if I didn’t say anything. Needless to say, the duplicate key works.
I’d support this small business guy.