Wafer pins and keys

[minifhncc]

Hello,

I'm in Australia, and we have wafer pins for Lockfocus letterbox locks. I believe my question is also applicable to other wafer locks.

I'm wondering, how the code on the key (eg. 60068, or just 068) corresponds to the key depths of the key. Also I'm wondering how then then the code would correspond to the wafer size.

Thanks

[MacGyver101]

Often there's no direct correspondence between the number and the cut depths for the keys for those locks.

I'm not familiar with Lockfocus, but the number stamped on the key for wafer locks is often an indirect key code. (WIth an indirect code, the manufacturer assigns random numbers to each of the possible key bitings, and then has a proprietary codebook that tells them that "0068" corresponds to cuts of "13452", "0069" corresponds to "45213", etc.. It's also pretty normal in those systems for the first "6" in "60068" to refer to the blank that's needed to fit into the keyway.)

For really cheap wafer locks, there may only be a half-dozen keys that are ever created, and the "60068" may just be the manufacturer's part number for that key.

I know that doesn't completely answer your question, but hopefully that helps a bit.