Yes, the competitors, at least of the competition Jos Weyers is in, know what lock is to be used before hand and the KJS has been allowed into the competitions (to my feeble understanding). For non competition purposes I don't see more than 3 keyways I've ever had to impression: KW1 WR3 and SC1. For this harvesting 3 plugs would be worth the sacrifice. Yes, for anything else that comes along, I would use the HVAC technique to get the pin spacing and then remove material to lowest depth to make an auto-foil option for that keyway. That way I slowly build a repository of efficient opening techniques for all keyways I run into without wasting a plug on a keyway I won't run into often. Also, I note that a well made autofoil key may give the correct spacing for a manual impressioning effort if one wants to make initial filings that way! I kind of solve problems as they come along, I just buy and make tools as I need them and hope that one day I will have an encyclopedic, precise lock opening inventory for just about anything I can run into (just thought about what that day would look like
).
EDIT: I imagine that Europe is a different ball park, I've seen that each country can have a different variety of keyways, this could mean a lot of keyways! Is this true AG?
