Keeper of the keys

Meet the locksmith who does more than rescue lockouts. He designs, repairs, and protects Yale’s spaces with precision and a mechanic’s reverence.

Many of us do not encounter a locksmith unless it’s an emergency — we’ve lost our keys and can’t get into our offices or labs at work; we’re locked in a bathroom in one of Yale’s centuries-old buildings and can’t get out. Then, like the School of Medicine’s James DiMartino, a locksmith with nearly 40 years of experience, the locksmith is the hero of the day, wielding his tools with an expertise that literally unlocks (and locks) the hallowed halls of medicine.

DiMartino is no stranger to emergency calls on campus, having had his share in his 17 years in Yale Facilities, but his work entails so much more on a daily basis as a de facto protector of Yale property and its people. He cuts and duplicates keys, installs and repairs locks, assembles the cores of the locks themselves, puts electric strikes (metal doorframe piece that lines up with lockset and knob) and keypad locks on doors for secure access control (code entry), and creates lock-and-key layouts for doors in new buildings, often for entire floors. He tackles these jobs with his most important tools of all, his hands, and nimbly controls basic instruments and specialty machines.

DiMartino also maintains a database that shows who on campus holds each key, in line with Yale’s one-key-per-person policy. When discrepancies are found, he makes corrections to maintain campus security. He shares these tasks with his teammate, Thomas Soda.

“We work well together. We have our own roles, but help each other when it’s necessary,” said DiMartino. “Tom does much of the key cutting and computer entry, which is a job in and of itself, and I do a lot of the work in the field.”

He holds keys to the “castle”

DiMartino begins each day in the workshop in the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health by checking emails and reviewing work orders. These work orders dictate the day’s operations and are completed and updated as needed. Emergency orders come through on a handheld radio and immediately take priority.

The basic tools DiMartino uses are conveniently kept in one drawer and when he opens it, he is face to face with items you may be very familiar with, but whose names escape you. He jumps in to point out screwdrivers of the Phillips and Flathead variety that he uses to fasten and unfasten screws. Allen wrenches come in handy when he fits and un-fits hexagonal sockets, which are common in lock hardware. Channel locks, which resemble pliers, allow him to grip and turn objects during lock installations.

Not in the drawer, but nearby, is DiMartino’s drill and drill set, which he grabs when he is taking out locks that may have failed, or installing new ones. Lock picks also have their special place in the workshop as the tool that opens doors in a non-destructive way when keys are not available.

Hard to miss in the workshop are the keys themselves, all prototypes at the ready for cutting and coding. If a lost key must be replaced, DiMartino can find its original in his database complete with the cutting specification, code, and the person to whom it belongs.

He unlocks doors “to possibility”

DiMartino has both manual and electric specialty machines in the workshop. He uses the code-cutting machine to cut keys based on lock codes, which is especially good for desk keys. There is a manual code cutter as well, not to mention a grinder with a wire wheel to smooth the rough edges on keys and lock components. One tool that stands out for its size and mechanical prowess is the door coring tool, which drills through doors for installing electrified levers without damaging the sides of the doors.

Other tools are made expressly for producing custom locks. This process is supported by a pinning kit, small steel springs, a red capping press that manually compresses or caps the lock pins and springs in place. The same machine also stamps codes onto the keys that have been cut to fit that particular lock. Constructing the lock begins with a tray of candy-colored pins and a box of springs, which are essential to customizing a lock set-up.

DiMartino has a mechanic’s reverence for tools the likes of which will never be seen again but continue to do the job in a pinch. There is an old vice in among the workshop’s modern, electric machines. DiMartino has the same respect for his early locksmith training when the owner of a small shop in Derby decided to teach him the trade when he was undecided about what profession to choose. He says if it wasn’t for that experience, he wouldn’t have been hired by Yale.