cylinder impressioning

[amlwchlocksmiths]

can we talk about this in this forum or is it advanced,if we can i have a few questions,and its only a padlock.

[jos weyers]

you can ask

[amlwchlocksmiths]

first of all im not useing the right file.and im only getting two pins showing.and after they have stoped i get nothing.is it because of the file or is it because its my first time ?

and my fileing skills are not great either.

can anyone give me any tips on this.

the padlock is a good one aswel,i normaly just pick then pull apart and make a key.but its a padlock and you can't do that.

[raimundo]

are you using a lock you have the key for to practice on?
seeing the key could be very helpful for a beginner, you can know a bit more what to look for.

especially important is if one of those cuts you have already followed down, is too deep, this would cause a failure but with the key you should be able to know if you have gone too far on one of these cuts.

[amlwchlocksmiths]

no i don't have a key,its why i would like to make one.

iv picked it open and going to try and push some cardboard down on the pins and make a key that way,anyone tryed this thanks mike

[cledry]

Generally you want a fairly dry lock for impressioning. If it has WD40 or similar in it you may not get good marks or might be fooled by marls of oil on the blade. Dry it out with brake cleaner if it is all oiled up.

I knife edge my blanks, some people don't.

If you know the number of pins you can generally work out your spacing from a couple of cuts that are marking, this way you know where marks should appear.

As a cut gets close to the proper depth the mark will generally get strong and then stop, don't go deeper. A 0 cut won't mark so don't expect a cut in each space all of the time.

A smooth file is important.

The rest is practice and experience.