.003 vs. .005

[tumblerfumbler]

Will someone post some simmularities and diffrences of the .003 and the .005 pinning kits. I am about to buy a kit but would like a little insight if you guys could help.

It seems like if you were to rekey a lock and threw away all the original pins it wouldn't matter

I know its not something that would be done but could you pin half the lock with a .003 kit and the other half with a .005 kit and the lock work.

Let's say you have the two kits, I know the number value on a kwikset 1 cut will be diffrent to each kit, but are the pins still the same size?

[Paul]

.003 is for American and other high security locks, .005 is for regular pins. Atleast that is what I was told.

[tumblerfumbler]

the .003 kit gets you closer to factory specs for each manufacturer.
it
also allows you to pin to duplicate "generations" of keys that are off
from
factory spec. if you are always pinning to factory set-up keys, the
.005 is
o.k. if you are having to pin to the customer's existing key any of
the
time, the .003 is the best way to go. the .003 kit also allows you to
run
dry on a .285 and be able to use a .282 or .288 instead of .280 or
.290.
most lock cylinders will allow "play" of .003, but .005 can give your
cylinder a catch that the customer will not be pleased with.

when i rekey a lock i always toss all of the existing pins away.

you could use the combination of both kits to rekey one cylinder, and
it
would work, but why?

the pins are not the same size from a .005 to a .003 kit. a 1 cut on
kwikset is .171 on .003 kit and .170 on .005 kit. that might not seem
very
different, but a 6 cut is .288 on .003 kit and .285 on .005 kit. that
.003
can mean the difference between a smooth operating cylinder and one
that has
a catch that will wear on the cylinder and plug housing.

[lockeymoto]

I had the same question awhile ago, I just bougt both LAB kits .003 and the .005. that way I am covered

[linty]

with a .005 kit, if you had a situation where the ideal pin length was .192 you'd use a 190, or if it was .193 you'd use a .195 so worst case scenario you can end up two thousands away from a perfect shear line (which is pretty much always acceptable but not desirable).

With a .005 kit you'll never have to go more than .001 from the ideal pin length.

I am a locksmith by trade and I've always been fine with .005 which is what my shop uses, but I would prefer to be using .003 if I could.

You definitely don't need both kits.

[maxxx]

A 3 and a 5 kit will cover most locks. If cost is a factor in your descison, buy cheap plastic compartmented containers, then buy the pins and set it up yourself with paper labels and then make a master chart with stacks and macs etc. to put inside the lid.

Its too tempting to break out the warding file when you are .002 or .004 off and you get those annoying hang up/clicks. The lock will fail quickly and you dont really know what you are doing if you have to file the pins to make your newly pinned lock work.

My two cents anyway. Your mileage may vary, I understand that, in advance.

[linty]

sorry, in my last post i said "With a .005 kit you'll never have to go more than .001 from the ideal pin length. "

but i really meant

With a .003 kit you'll never have to go more than .001 from the ideal pin length.

[Eyes_Only]

At home I have a .003 kit I bought for myself years ago but at work we use .005. .005 is a decent kit as long as you don't rekey the lock using worn out keys.

Also I usually don't toss out all the old pins, especially on Kwiksets. Their bottom pins have a weird flat bottom that our LAB kits dont have so I save and reuse at least one or two of them so the key won't jiggle in and out if I don't have my Kwikset pinning kit with me.

.005 has been working out so far but I'm gonna get a small .003 kit for my van since I occasionally run into Arrow, Weslock and Weiser locks from time to time that I can't pin with my Schlage and Kwikset kit in a professional manner.

[UWSDWF]

about .002

[linty]

hahaha

[Eyes_Only]

eh?

[Jaakko]

eh?

Will someone post some simmularities and diffrences of the .003 and the .005 pinning kits.

about .002

[maxxed]

I am useing a .005 kit suplimented with a dedicated Weiser pin kit for my business and this works out very well. When I precut keys for rekeying I have started to standardize my depths, my code machine uses separated disks for spacing and depths so I can use a standard set of depths and only change the spacing to match the lock. This means I only need a very small pin kit and a few hand tools to do most regular rekeys, but I will always have the other kits in the van as a backup

[kg4boj]

I have 3 "universal pinkits" with standard pin sizes I keep in my van.

First and foremost I have 2 of those .005 "woody" pinkits, one shallow and one deep. I have cardboard templates that fit over the center posts on them that keep the masterpin drawer in the bottom from sliding out. I have templates for KW1 and schlage and a few other common lock pinning configurations. In addition to those .005 kits I have a .003 lab pin kit for those jobs with tight tolerances and where toy just have to masterkey a lock to a customers key witch might be worn and possibly hundreds of duplicate keys already out. In those situations where I need a controlled amount of slop I put the smallest (.165 I think) bottom pins point down where the top pins should go. I havent had any problems yet, but someone raised a good point where the factory kwikset pins come flat nosed instead of pointed, sometimes on a well worn lock the key can move in and out and sometimes its better to just use "bullnose" pins as I call them, but you dont always need them in all 5 or so pin stacks. This can especially be a problem when the key the customer needs a new lock rekeyed to doesn't quite match the spacing configuration of the lock they need rekeyed.

In that case, you want a little bit of slop (see above about pointed driver pins) or omit the offending pin stacks altogether if the lock is more of an attractive nussance discourager than a security item, ie see a post a while back I made about a pool gate needing a "pullout key).

[n2oah]

.003

vs.
.005


Not much, I reckon.