my latest pick

[wolfie]

lock my unkle gave me, picked it in like a minute, easy but took a lot of pressure to turn it, as it's been weathered a bit. theres o key for it, so im going to try and impression a key for it tonight.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/s ... 530301.jpg

[ToolyMcgee]

I would say don't bother impressioning a key for this lock, unless you really want the practice. It isn't really anything special, and the key blanks can be difficult to find. Good job picking it though. The keyways on these can be tough, especially if the lock has seen better days the pins get really sticky.

[wolfie]

i found the blanks for it at walmart tonight, though they only had steel blanks =( my first one failed misserably imma try a knife edge on the other blank tomarrow. anyone got any tips for steel key impressioning?

[ToolyMcgee]

Filing the top edge of the key down into a blade, is the only way I know of to impression a steel key. Even still it is really tough. Many of the keys blanks I buy are steel colored, but mostly soft inside. If your blank is making marks without even being thinned down, then chances are it isn't steel. There is a thread about this somewhere... Here it is. Good luck

[wolfie]

ish a steel key o.o; even filing it didn't produce that nice brass shiny =( oh well, i have a bad habbit of darting into a full run before i even crawl XD oh well

[mkultra23]

coat the blank with a black marker that way the impression marks will be more easily visible; magnification and good lighting helps too.

[wolfie]

i tried that too, but even turning the key so hard i bent it, i couldn't get enough of a bind/jiggle to put any marks on it, i gave up, and my unkle has the lock again, though i may see if i can get some brass blanks and give it another shot

[mkultra23]

I've got a few locks my uncle wants me to make a key for too. old six lever padlocks, I think I'll have to impression these as well, after I fabricate some blanks.

[wolfie]

sounds like fun =D

[Artkrp]

Have you tried filing down the key and then using the smoke from a lighter or candle to soot up the blade? It makes seeing the impressions easir to see. I like it more than using a marker.

[wolfie]

ok, that i'm going to have to try =D

[Eyes_Only]

Depending on how dirty the lock is I would flush it out with brake cleaner first if its really oily and gunky in the cylinder. If it is really dirty I usually dump the whole can of cleaner into the lock while running a key blank in the lock after each blast.

And just thought of something. I assume the pins in this lock is made of brass so if you use a steel blank to try and impression it, wouldn't you end up "impressioning" the brass pins instead of making an impressioning on the blank and kinda mess up the lock? Not really sure cos I've never impressioned with a steel blank before.

[wolfie]

no idea, my unkle has the lock now so it's moot *shrug* oh well =)