fixing and copying keys

[Ju]

The one who is fixing the shoes is called shoesmith.
What do we call the one who is fixing and copying keys?

Ju

 

[bhaisahab]

The one who is fixing the shoes is called shoesmith.
What do we call the one who is fixing and copying keys?

Ju

Somebody who fixes/repairs locks is called a locksmith, we don't fix keys. I don't know of a specific name for a person who cuts keys.

 

[Barb_D]

Actually, I'm not familiar with "shoesmith" either.

 

[White Hat]

keysmith - a person who cuts keys
cobbler - a person who repairs shoes

hth

 

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)


Locksmiths make most of their living from installing, replacing, and springing locks, though they are usually equipped to cut keys as well. Most lock and key systems are mass produced, so I don't believe there is such a thing as a keysmith anymore. Also, I don't believe there are many cobblers left in the US, if any at all. Again, because of modern mass production, most folks just buy a new pair of shoes instead of having the old ones repaired.

I've never heard the term "shoesmith", nor does the term make sense to me. Shoes don't strike me as something that can be "smithed", as it does not involve any metal working.

 

[sumon.]

I have only found locksmith in my dictionary!
:-o

 

[bhaisahab]

I'd never come across the term either, but it sounded like it might exist in one of the English dialect. A (very) quick google search returned only this, however: Contact The Shoe Smith of Portage, MI (Michigan)

 

[Ju]

In case I lose the door key, I will copy one key as back up. Do I call it cut key?

Ju

 

[bhaisahab]

In case I lose the door key, I will copy one key as back up. Do I call it cut key?

Ju

You can "have a key cut" or "have a key copied".

 

[BobK]

You can "have a key cut" or "have a key copied".

...And ironically (in the context of this discussion) in the UK most key-cutting equipment is located in ... erm... shoesmiths (sorry, make that cobblers. OK, that's a bit of a quaint word - easily confused with the Rhyming Slang "'Cobblers' awls". The more common word [for a dying trade] is 'shoe-mender'.)

Incidentally, I don't see what metal-work has to do with it; I often call myself a wordsmith. The word 'smith' is to do with metal-working originally, but in more recently coined words it just refers to making or mending or organizing. ('Coined' is a strangely apt word, in the context of a move from metal-working to creation, but I digress...)

b

 

[BobK]

Incidentally, to clarify, I'm not suggesting 'shoesmith' is a word in common parlance. I'm just arguing that requiring all '-smith' words to have something to do with metal-working is like expecting a disc-jockey to have saddle sores. ;-)

b