odd card key

by **shadow22** » 20 Feb 2006 14:09

i just recently got back from a trip to florida. the hotel i stayed at had card syle keys. they weren't electronic or magnetic however. on the end of one key there were about twenty or thirty holes cut into the card in a seemingly random pattern of rows. when the key was inserted into the door i could hear a lot of clicking then the door would open? anyone come across anything like this before. i was just curious about the mechanics of it

by **Shrub** » 20 Feb 2006 14:12

They work on the princible of a ball bearing matrix.

Your card would let certain balls drop and others not,

They are pickable by useing home made cards but are very difficult and it is much better to find another way around it.

by **Eyes_Only** » 20 Feb 2006 14:55

I've seen those cards years ago when I still traveled a lot. I suppose "casting a mold" of that card key wouldnt be much of a challenge? :wink:

by **Omikron** » 20 Feb 2006 15:02

Eyes_Only wrote:I've seen those cards years ago when I still traveled a lot. I suppose "casting a mold" of that card key wouldnt be much of a challenge?

Or running through a copy machine and printing it onto thicker paper stock. Then just punch out the holes.

by **Shrub** » 20 Feb 2006 15:34

They are old locks and i think (but am not sure) that they can be easily rekeyed by inserting a control card and then a differant one to change the series of holes but yes drawing round it on to a breckfast cereal packet and then cutting the holes out should work.

by **zeke79** » 20 Feb 2006 15:36

If anyone has details of this lock, I would be interested so I can start looking for one. It sounds like a very interesting lock to take apart

.

by **Shrub** » 20 Feb 2006 15:51

There called VingCard locks i think and work on pins not balls sorry, there normally around 32 or so pins.

by **zeke79** » 20 Feb 2006 16:02

Thanks for the details Shrub! I'll be on the lookout

.

by **n2oah** » 20 Feb 2006 17:35

Yes, Ving locks are what you're looking for. A decoding system has been made by none other than Marc Tobias. If you do manage to find one, Nick, try to get a second one for me as well.

by **searsman05** » 20 Feb 2006 22:23

just so you know there is one on ebay right now if anyone is interested in it.

Click Here---->VingCard Lock<-----Click Here

-James

by **grit1** » 20 Feb 2006 23:53

searsman05 wrote:just so you know there is one on ebay right now if anyone is interested in it.

Click Here---->VingCard Lock<-----Click Here

-James

that one says it's electronic - did they make more than one kind of lock in their tenure as a manufacturer?

by **zeke79** » 20 Feb 2006 23:59

I emailed the seller to find out exactly what this model is. Hopefully I find out some good news

by **weldman** » 21 Feb 2006 6:41

shadow22 wrote:i just recently got back from a trip to florida. the hotel i stayed at had card syle keys. they weren't electronic or magnetic however. on the end of one key there were about twenty or thirty holes cut into the card in a seemingly random pattern of rows. when the key was inserted into the door i could hear a lot of clicking then the door would open? anyone come across anything like this before. i was just curious about the mechanics of it

Yea I remember those old locks. I think I have one of those old keys still...

by **raimundo** » 21 Feb 2006 12:04

not everything sold on ebay is accuratly described by the seller, it may be that the seller just called it electronic because he dosent know anything about it.

by **shadow22** » 21 Feb 2006 15:13

it seems to me that unless you had the actually key card to work with, picking this type of lock would be rather difficult, anyone have ideas on possible techniques

odd card key

odd card key

Re: odd card key

ebay

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