Various Bump keys for the same lock.

[digital_blue]

Well, it would have to be the correct keyway.

db

[Dark Angel]

Granted the keyways would have to be the same.
I mean if you make a bump key that works real well in one lock then in theory would this key open most other locks of the same type.

[digital_blue]

Yeah, for sure. 999 is 999 right? Now, it's possible the pin config will trip you up on some locks. In other words, you could have two locks of the same brand/model and one will bump open easier than the other. But a different bump key wouldn't really change this. The exception that I can think of would be if your bump key was a 999 and you had a lock with a 9 pin in it. That's why some suggest that the key actually be a 10 10 10 key.

db

[Keyring]

Yeah. What DB said. Also try to download the video whatthebump.wmv from the toool site. You won't have many doubts after seeing that!

[Gordon Airporte]

I had been thinking that a 'bump strip' might work. This would be a strip of metal about the same depth as a key, cut with the usual ramps/peaks at the top, but unlike a proper key blank it would be thin and flat enough that it could fit into more than one kind of keyway. Does that make sense without a picture? It could even be made of flexible plastic, come to think of it.
Given the number of keyways out there it would probably be hard to make a strip that worked for more than a few, especially since pin spacing can vary as well. On the plus side, if bumpng can work with a '10' cut, it may be that getting the depth just right wouldn't be as much of an issue.
I think I'll keep an eye out for plastic that might work.

[Gordon Airporte]

Whew, duh. Somehow I understood the topic as 'One bump key for various locks'. Maybe this is a new topic.

[Chrispy]

It would have to be thin and strong. And most keyways have broach grooves that cross each other, hence a thin strip would have to bend to fit into the lock.

[Gordon Airporte]

It would have to be thin and strong. And most keyways have broach grooves that cross each other, hence a thin strip would have to bend to fit into the lock.

Right, but it needn't be full height - it could be just deep enough to slide along the first convienient ledge below the pins (as long as eough material was left to hold the ramps together.) This is what would make a strip more general - it only has to deal with half of what makes one keyway different from another. When the distance down to the first ledge varies a little between keyways it would just mean that the strip has to lean to fit in.
...
I just realzed that even if a type of plastic can stand up to the bumping and bending, it has to be able to apply enough torque to turn the plug. This might make some type of metal a better material in most cases, especially if the strip is not very deep (vertically).