How Blackthorn Locksmith & Security Was Born
Blackthorn Locksmith & Security started in Los Angeles in 2008, but the real beginning happened a few months earlier. Shane Delaney was already working in the trade, already seeing the same pattern play out week after week. Someone would call about a lockout or a broken deadbolt, get quoted a low price over the phone, and then watch the number climb once the technician showed up. Service fees. Emergency fees. Fees that had never been mentioned. One afternoon, a homeowner in the San Fernando Valley showed Shane an invoice from another company for a simple rekey. The final total was more than double what she’d been quoted, and the work had taken under an hour. She wasn’t angry so much as embarrassed, like she’d been caught not knowing better.
That was the moment. Shane decided that a locksmith company should do something radical: tell people the real price before any work starts, put it in writing, and honor it. No surprises, no bait pricing, no pressure. Blackthorn Locksmith & Security grew from that principle. What began as one location serving Los Angeles grew into a network of independently owned locations across California and beyond, each one held to the same standard: locks and access control, handled with care. Our founding city will always be part of our story, but the work now reaches families in San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Miami, Long Beach, Oakland, Anaheim, Riverside, and Irvine through local teams who live where they serve.
Shane Delaney’s Personal Connection to the Locksmith Trade
Shane Delaney didn’t grow up dreaming about locks. He grew up working with his hands, taking things apart to see how they worked, putting them back together better than before. The locksmith trade found him the way good work often finds people: through necessity and curiosity colliding at the right time. Early on, he spent time alongside a tradesman who had been cutting keys and setting pins for decades. That man never rushed a job. He’d hold a key blank up to the light, file it slowly, test it in the lock, and file a little more. The patience was the lesson. A lock isn’t something you force. You understand it, and then you work with it.
There’s a specific feeling to fixing something that keeps a family safe. When you rekey a home for a new homeowner, you’re not just changing pins in a cylinder. You’re giving them the quiet certainty that no old key floating around in the world will open their front door. That feeling never got old. The smell of brass shavings in the van, the solid click of a deadbolt sliding home, the weight of a good lock in your hand, those are the things that have kept this work meaningful for well over a decade. Shane would tell you he’s still learning. Every new lock system, every access control panel, every smart lock integration brings a new puzzle. That’s what gets him out of bed in the morning. If he weren’t running Blackthorn Locksmith & Security, he’d probably still be doing something with locks, just on a smaller bench, with fewer trucks and more coffee.
What matters to him personally is simple: a job done right, a customer who understands exactly what they’re paying for, and a home left as clean as it was found. That’s not marketing language. It’s how he’s worked since 2008, and it’s the standard every Blackthorn location is required to meet.
Meet Shane Delaney - The Person Behind Every Job
Shane Delaney is the Owner & Founder of Blackthorn Locksmith & Security. He built this company from the ground up, starting with a single vehicle and a commitment to honest pricing that was rare in the industry at the time. His background spans residential locksmithing, commercial access control, and high-security lock systems from brands like Schlage, Medeco, and Kwikset. He’s the kind of person who reads installation manuals not because he has to, but because he wants to know what the manufacturer got wrong. He’s been deep in this trade since before smart locks were common, and he’s kept pace with every shift since.
Outside of work, Shane keeps a workshop where he restores old locks and hardware. There’s something about taking a corroded 1940s mortise lock, cleaning every part, replacing worn springs, and bringing it back to life that keeps his standards sharp. It’s the same patience he brings to every Blackthorn job. When you hire us, you’re getting a company built by someone who genuinely cares about the craft. Shane’s commitment is personal: every customer deserves to understand their options, know the price before work begins, and feel safe in their own home when the job is done.
Our Promise to Homeowners
Blackthorn Locksmith & Security was founded on the idea that locksmithing should be straightforward, honest, and clean. Every job, no matter how small, starts with a written price before any work begins. That price is the price. It doesn’t change when the technician arrives, and there’s no surprise fee on the invoice. This policy exists because Shane saw too many families get burned by bait pricing, and he refused to be part of that pattern.
We also follow a set of standards we call C.A.R.E. It’s not a slogan. It’s how every Blackthorn location operates. We clean up like the home is our own, with shoe covers and drop cloths inside the house. We ask before we move or touch anything that isn’t part of the job. We respect the family’s time and quiet hours, using quiet tools when the kids are asleep. And we explain the price before the work starts, in plain language, with no fine print. Standing behind every job means if something isn’t right, we make it right. That’s the promise that built this company, and it’s the promise every location works to uphold.
Our Credentials
When you invite a locksmith into your home, you want to know they’re qualified and accountable. Here’s what we require from every professional working under the Blackthorn name:
- State-licensed: Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license their state requires. Licensing means the person at your door has passed the background checks and met the standards your state sets for locksmith work.
- Insured & bonded: Every location is required to carry insurance and bonding as a condition of operating under the Blackthorn name. That protects you if something goes wrong.
- Experienced local teams: The technicians who serve your area have deep knowledge of the homes, lock styles, and security concerns common in your region. They’re not temporary workers passing through.
- A network standard: Each Blackthorn Locksmith & Security location is independently owned and operated, but every one agrees to the same care standards and the same pricing transparency.
Why do these credentials matter to a homeowner? Because the person standing at your door with a drill and a set of lock picks has access to your home’s security. You should know they’re trained, vetted, and backed by a company that stands behind its work. That’s the minimum standard we accept, and it’s the minimum you should accept from anyone working on your locks.
Rooted in the Communities We Serve
Blackthorn Locksmith & Security doesn’t pretend to be from every town. Each location is an independent local business that agreed to work to a shared standard: the Cedarwell Care Promise. The Blackthorn name comes from the hedges people once planted around their homes for protection. A good lock does the same job. That idea guides every location, whether the call comes from Los Angeles, Miami, Sacramento, or any of the communities our teams serve.
When you call (818) 390-9007, our team connects you with the local Blackthorn location that covers your address. You get a real person who understands your area, works to the same care standards, and gives you the same written price before any work starts. That’s been the way since 2008, and it’s the way we’ll keep doing it.
Written by Shane Delaney, Owner & Founder at Blackthorn Locksmith & Security, serving families since 2008.