my homemade bump keys.... whats wrong with them?

[razlex]

hey everyone.... well, here's the story. i got bored at work yesterday so i went through a shoebox full of old keys and took a nice variety to make bumps keys with... after 3 hours, i have my set... so far, i've only tried the WR3,WR5, and Y1... but have had no success. i'm wondering why that is. is it the keys? is it my technique? or is it a lack of a decent bump hammer?(i was using the back of a screwdriver, a regular claw hammer, and a pair of pliers)

anyhow, check out the keys and let me know if they look alright, or if you can make any suggestions to fine tune them ;)

thanks for any input!

http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=backck5.jpg

http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frontvd9.jpg

[poky13]

They look like the ones I made. The valleys maybe are to narrow, and you might be hitting the key to hard. I found out thats what I was doing. good luck

[digital_blue]

I can't tell if I'm just lookin' at these things cross-eyed or not.. but..

It seems to me that either you've taken off the WHOLE shoulder of the keys, or you've taken off none of the shoulder of the keys. Which is it?

If you've not taken anything off the shoulder, that would be a start - unless you're using the pull-back method of bumping, but I've never had a lot of luck with that method myself.

db

[JackNco]

yep you have completely removed the shoulder, you can replace it with a hot glue gun or a spring for *spring bumping* (UKBK's new fast way to destroy a lock)

John

[Jaakko]

Just for future reference: Every time a thread starts with a line "Look at my bump keys" or "What is wrong with my bump keys?", it is most definately keys that work well cutting wood but not in a lock.

[zeke79]

As stated, shoulders removed fully. They may still work but in most cases it is best to remove a small amount of the shoulder. I find that removing about half of a spacing step works well. By that I mean that if the spacing is .150" you would remove .075" from the shoulder. This is not the best method for every lock out there but for most US locks with fairly poor tolerances it works very well.

[raimundo]

try to use a heavy coil spring like some beds or tramplines ride on then fit it in a piece of pipe and add mechs to stretch the spring trap it open and release it, you could put those keys on the end of it , put it in a lock and trigger it so the key rips out fast, I bet that would work.

[lockpicker69]

Have you cut them to the deepest cut? It doesn’t look like you have on some of them to me.
For example Yale cuts 0-9 so that particular bump key should be at cut no 9, although I prefer a no 7 or 8. I think if you make them to deep especially on a brass blank it will make the key weak and a 7 or 8 seems to work better for me.
In the days before bump keys I would use depth keys as bump keys starting out with the shallowest cut then working up. Some people called these magic keys and still use them today

[freakparade3]

Just for future reference: Every time a thread starts with a line "Look at my bump keys" or "What is wrong with my bump keys?", it is most definately keys that work well cutting wood but not in a lock.

What a good idea. Don't look it as a failure to make working bump keys. Look at what you did acomplish....... You made several keychain sized emergency saws.

[UWSDWF]

Can anybody tell me where I went wrong with my bumkey? It just won't work

[JackNco]

hehehehehehe
no idea looks great trev

[Wrenchman]

Can anybody tell me where I went wrong with my bumkey? It just won't work

Did you remember to take off a little, of the shoulder?



Wrenchman

[vrocco]

Can anybody tell me where I went wrong with my bumkey? It just won't work

Hmmm......looks good to me. Don't tell me you still can't bump that abloy?

[Marco]

UWSDWF, maybe you should give up trying to bump the abloy and use the key for something more useful. It looks as if it would be very handy if you need to scratch inside your anus Need instructions? Just stick it in and keep turning!

Let me know how it goes

[Eyes_Only]

LOl, thats the best picture from you yet UWSDWF.