locksmiths and Medeco Services

[Eyes_Only]

At the moment I'm working on re-pinning to key alike two Medeco m3 cylinder so I could use them on my front door. The KIK one is done, all set and retrofitted into a Arrow knob set I got as a freebie from a locksmith seller on eBay. The cylinder (well at least the pinning combination) for the deadbolt is close to done. Another locksmith said he is willing to send me the three bottom pins I need to finish off this cylinder.

The keyway is a Freedom and I was all excited about finally putting a decent lock on my home but just thought of something. Can a locksmith who is a dealer of Medeco locks able to order (or at least cut if he has the machine for it) keys from just about any Medeco key control program or can he only cut/order keys for certain programs like one lockie can do a Patriot and a NYC but can't do a Freedom or Gotham unless he has a contract from Medeco to do so?

[RusH]

I think if a criminal is giong to break into your house, obeying copyright is the least of his concerns... ~_~;

[freakparade3]

I think if a criminal is giong to break into your house, obeying copyright is the least of his concerns... ~_~;

Put the bong down and step away.

[Eyes_Only]

Well the Medeco locks arn't the only thing on my front door. I've used 2 1/2 inch screws to brace the strikes to the structure of the building and placed metal door reinforcements for both KIK and deadbolt. Next up is the hinge side of the door and do something to protect the windows.

The lock I'm just doing to add a little more personal confidence to my homes safety and because I really enjoy working with Medeco locks. Too bad I can't cut the keys for it. This project isn't really to give the crooks discouragement by what high security locks I have installed. The visible parts of the door reinforcements should be enough to make them pick a easier target a few doors down.

[Jryanruch]

It depends which keyway he has bought into.. There is a standard M3 keyway that you can get and also individualized ones that are sold to only 1 locksmith within a certain area.. The company I work for doesn't bother with the common Medeco keyway and only uses a truly restricted one.

Depending on what you have...

[Jryanruch]

Correction: they are all restriced keyways common or not. But having one keyway per locksmith is better than using the common keyway.

[Eyes_Only]

Well I have a Freedom and from what I read in the m3 manual it doesn't seem like its the dealer based keyway so I assume it's a common one.

And something else just occured to me. I bought these m3 locks on eBay from (supposedly) a locksmith. That shouldn't pose a problem as regards to ownership or proper authorization when I want duplicate keys made right? I mean I have the card to go with the keys.

[Squelchtone]

Well I have a Freedom and from what I read in the m3 manual it doesn't seem like its the dealer based keyway so I assume it's a common one.

And something else just occured to me. I bought these m3 locks on eBay from (supposedly) a locksmith. That shouldn't pose a problem as regards to ownership or proper authorization when I want duplicate keys made right? I mean I have the card to go with the keys.

your trouble will come when the local locksmith doesn't have the blanks with the correct warding. The card helps, but having a locksmith within 100 miles who has the blanks helps too.

If there is a real M3 generic keyway, then you're all set, even if they bought into their own keyway, they can probably special order a blank for you.

Squelchtone

[RusH]

I don't know how many dealers are given these super-restricted keyways... - the three authorized Medeco dealers in my area all have the same M3 keyway.
I've bought M3 blanks from America which work perfectly in my English M3.
After all, a new keyway = new patent = mega bucks.
I can't see how that would work...

I'm not saying you're lieing, haha, i'm just interested in these diffrent keyways

The only thing i can think you're reffering to is diffrent forward/backwards facing pins, and therefore diffrent notch spacings..
Maybe certain dealers get diffrent notch spacings?

...but one biaxial-cutting machine will be able do any of those, so unfortunatly that's no solution to Eyes_Only's problem

Put the bong down and step away.

...what?! o_O;

The first biaxial key i made (not M3) was made from plywood. It took me under 20 minutes to make, but unfortunatly it didn't work more than 3 times and eventually snapped in the lock >_<
I think my cuts where to shallow, which made it very very stiff - but it still worked a few times.
I also tried acrylic and similar-shaped Medeco keys - all of them worked after a bit of filing.

So yeah, my statement still stands.
Proper crooks aren't going to abide by copyright laws! >_<

[Raccoon]

I haven't read a lot about Medeco's restricted keyway systems, but it sounds similar to Schlage Primus levels. Each locksmith/dealer has their own sidebar bitting, so it's not so much a unique keyway as it is a unique sidebar bitting. For most of the lower to mid-high levels, locksmiths can obtain blanks with their unique bitting... however, at no level is a locksmith permitted to give/sell or otherwise release an uncut blank to anyone ever. I would hope that Medeco's contract is similar.

In any event, my key code machine can cut Medeco biaxial keys, many can. I can only assume the bittings are the same from what specs I have seen.

[raimundo]

if the locksmith is a medeco dealer, he should be able to get the blank from medeco on the strength of the card number. even if its not his particular line of blanks, Medeco must understand that locksmiths get jobs that are from over the fence. Locksmithing is always like that.

[Eyes_Only]

I hope you are right rai. I put a lot of time and effort into this little project so it would suck if I had to go through hell and back to get my keys copied. If not I suppose I could always buy the previous Biaxial system and go through the re-pinning process with that. I just want to take pride in myself that I was able to do everything else to set up a Medeco lock for my home with exception to cutting the key. That part would just be impractical in cost and time.