How is this possible??

[jn441]

My key exactly matches my friends, they are completely identical. We live in different apartment complexes.

Is this just a freak coincidence, or do places like this use certain common bittings to make it cheaper to replace keys?

Jason

[unlisted]

Your a freak, your friends a freak.

Theres a conspiracy- they are all out to get you.


And you did the one thing you were not supposed to do- look at someone else's housekey- they are ALL THE SAME!!!!!!


hahahahaha!

[femurat]

And you're not the only one!

Cheers

[raimundo]

It happens, there are only so many possible cuts, thousands, but limited number. I was once changing a combo, and I needed about twenty keys for the tenants. I had a partner cut the keys and bring them over so I could use them to rekey the lock. The new key was cut exactly like the old one. except that the new one was a 6 pin and the old one was 5pin schlage. It was the customer who discovered the similarity, but there was no way to explain to him that the old keys wouldn't work, because the identical cuts were in different spaces along the key, with the five cuts at 2,3,4,5, and 6 places,
More recently, I met two guys opening a car for quite a while in a mcdonalds parking lot, they were still at it when I came out, I had a couple of ford marshal key on my keyring, and I tried the door, no luck, then the other guy got out his ford key and tried it, it worked.

[maxxed]

This has also happened on a few of my jobs, about a month ago I rekeyed a condo that also had a storage locker. There were no keys for the locker so it was rekeyed to one random key and the suite was keyed to another random key. Later, when then the former owner returned his keys, it was discovered that I set the condo to the old storage pattern.
Several years ago I had a 70 Swnger 340 speed that had the same key as my girlfriends 81 Horizon and a 76 Volare that a customer had.
This definitly happens the more common the lock the more likley there is someone with a key that will work. I attended a Medico seminar where the speaker claimed that a ring of 50 properly cut keys would open a high percentage of locks. You may have to work the keys in some of the locks but I can see some merit to the statement.

[spoolspanker]

very interesting

[raimundo]

Im not so sure that this happens as often because the keys are cut to the same bitting or if its all about used worn keys getting worn down to usable halfcuts.

Old locks have worn keys, keys that are copied badly and jiggled to make them work, don't forget that if the key is worn, so are the tumblers, along the edges where the key rides.
there are a lot of auto locks now, but back in the day, there were not so many, GM had one type for all its cars, though the keyways changed from year to year.
As the previous post said, the more common the lock type, the more likely you could find a compatible key, but even the most uncommon type of commercial lock will be produced in numbers enough that they will be reusing the bittings. while it may be possible to find a tryout key, don't count on it, automotive locksmithing does not depend on serendipity.

[yono]

It happens, accidental opening of a wrong key in a wrong lock. one reason is the wear and tear of the pin, keys, and the lock cylinder. the other chances: when the cylinder been serviced, rekeyed, or pins reshuppled; another reason, when the lock cylinder been remastered, the other reason for an accidental opening by a wrong key, is what i called sleepy (top pins)pin which due to dirts accumulated inside the lock cylinder, and a weakening springs it clog up sometimes and do have the delay in dropping back. and another, if you have a habit of playing, jigglling your key to somebody's lock,thats is called curiosity with an intent. and thats not good at all. no matter what the reason is.

[cds333]

Go to Home Depot and look at the master padlocks; usually they will have a sticker on the back of the package that has a number on it, which is the code for that particular lock (whether is correlates to key cut depths I do not know)... Anyway sometimes the whole rack of locks will all be the same code- IDK if thats just laziness on the store's part or whether the distributor just ships them that way, but once long ago (before I got into picking) I figured this little trick out and when my co-worker went and bought a lock he left the empty package in the trash, so I went to HD and bought an identically coded lock and then watched as he went crazy over the next few months trying to figure out who kept getting into his lock

As far as house keys go however- always go with a high security lock, the Kwikset and Schlage cylinders that make up 95% of the US residential door locks are just WAY too easy to defeat, be it picking, bumping, or just using your own house key!