Recreating a key...

[Jisby]

I know this may sound a bit odd, but on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being not possible, and 10 being easy as cutting cake), how easy do you thing it will be to recreate a key from a picture (of a key)? Has anyone ever attempted this, or is this idea to off the wall? Thanks.

[Varjeal]

Depends on the type of key and quality of picture, but with a little know how and a good key machine, I would say between a 9-10.

If you're going into the trade of locksmithing "sight reading" as it's called is a verrrrry handy skill to have. Especially when the customer has locked their keys in their car, and you can see the door key hanging from the ignition. The customer is pretty impressed when I've sight-read the key, cut one on the key machine and used it to open the door. No fuss, no muss, and no chance of disconnecting linkage or damaging the vehicle.

[Chucklz]

I would also vote for "easy". Even if you are unfamilar with the specific 'landmarks' on a key, you can still get relative information. For example, it would be relatively easy to determine if you have any full cuts, or 0 cuts. Or if any two cuts were of the same depth.