Foil impressioning tape

[Rickthepick]

Whats the best tape to use for foil impressioning?

I spotted some cheap adhesive stuff but it looks way too thick for the job

[loki-aka]

If you want high performance metal tapes, contact 3M, Electronic Products, Tapes and Adhesives.
Usually used for RF shielding, though correct material and thickness may work for impressioning.
Not cheap, but once you find the correct product, you can count on it foronsistent performance and reliability.

[nostromo]

Would the metal foil HVAC tape work? I ended up with a roll of the stuff- it's like adhesive backed thick foil.

[Rickthepick]

i tried it today with some kitchen foil and glued it to the key with pritstick haha.
To be honest it didnt do too bad i could get the lock to false set after a few jiggles but the glue didnt keep the foil tight enough over the cuts to get the high lift pins

All good fun though

[Squelchtone]

i tried it today with some kitchen foil and glued it to the key with pritstick haha.
To be honest it didnt do too bad i could get the lock to false set after a few jiggles but the glue didnt keep the foil tight enough over the cuts to get the high lift pins

All good fun though

It's funny you mentioned this topic.. Barry Wels was just talking about foil impressioning on his blackbag blog.

Blackbag.nl

Enjoy,

Squelchtone

[Rickthepick]

yeah thats what got me started...

[raimundo]

foil, its not always necessary to use metal foil, some of the modern plastic tape is just as useful, the plastic is more likely to deform and less likely to split through.
look at ordinary tape and ask yourself, why not try this. its the sticky part that really matters, you dont want a weak adhesion.
remember plastic is deformable in warm conditions. but it dosent work as well in cold.

[Rickthepick]

il give it a go with some electricians insulating tape. That seems about the best tape for the job

[zeke79]

3M HVAC tape will do decent. I have always wondered though if I took a prepared blank, cleaned it with alcohol and then filled it with clay and sprayed the prepared blank with Pam no stick cooking spray so the clay doesn't stick to the pins yet gives you a great impression.

[nostromo]

Might you have to drill all the way through the key so that the displaced clay will have somewhere to go? The plasticine type clay might work better since it won;t dry out. crumble, or crack. Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

[raimundo]

Well some of these dimple locks have been picked with a properly chewed on wooden coffeee stirrer, so anythings possible. if you doubt the wooden stick story, there are youtube videos, I dont have the link right here but I have seen them.

[inverseentropy]

The RF shielding tape is often made of copper, which is a very soft metal, but maybe somewhat thick. I don't know whether it would work good or not but may be worth a try. You can get this from Digikey for I think around $10 a roll (a roll doesn't have that much but would last a long time for this purpose).