Impressioning Qs

[freakparade3]

For impressioning I find that a mounted lock is far beter than trying to hold it while marking the blank.

[freakparade3]

and I just impressioned my 1st key a 2 pin schlage sc1 keyway woot!



But everyone is right.....a chainsaw file is too coarse I had to take some 240 grit and paper, wrap it around the file, and polish with it after each cut I made....in order to see the marks. I finished just in time as my key was beginning to bend on me.
thx for everyones help

Sorry for the double post I just wanted to congratulate Rodfather on his first impressioned key!!

[blake1803]

Rodfather, are you holding the lock in your hand, or do you have it mounted in a vise or a door? Those with experience, which do you think is harder?

Personally I've found that attempting to impression a lock that I'm holding will only result in a pretty bruised hand -- seriously. I tried doing that once and learned my lesson.

If you're holding the lock, given the force you exert while impressioning, it will be fairly difficult to keep the lock from moving in the same direction that you are moving the key, making for weaker marks. I can't imagine that it would be easier for anyone to do it that way.

A lock that is in a vise or that has been installed on something is the way to do it. (I should add a note that, when I say "installed on something," I do not mean to impression a lock that is in use! )

[Trip Doctor]

Arighty, as I persumed -thanks Blake. Looks like it's lonely hours in the basement for me .

(I should add a note that, when I say "installed on something," I do not mean to impression a lock that is in use! )

[Rodfather23]

As I stated earlier in this thread, I successfully impressioned my schlage lock with 2 pins in it. But now another problem has arose. I am now try to do a 3 pin impression. When I began the 2 pin impression, only one of the pins marked so I knew which to file. But now that I have 3 pins it it, on the 1st try, they are all marking. (I tried doing it a few times and even reprepping the blade a few times and still every pin marks) I know you are suppose to only file one mark at a time, so ......does it really matter which mark I file 1st? All the marks look the same. I would just take a guess, but I only have 2 blanks and would rather not mess this one up on the 1st cut.


Thx

Rodfather

[poppasmurfenfold]

mark on the key with a crayon that way you can see every little mark the pins make on the key because the wax comes off easy

[Shrub]

If you have 3 marks then file all 3, as long as your not taking a full cut off each file stroke you will be fine,

As you get lower in the cuts less pins will mark,

The cheaper the lock the more pins will mark all at once in my experiance,

[blake1803]

Rodfather: as Shrub said, if you see three, file three. Just make sure that what you see are actual marks. I know this has been repeated over and over on this site, but if you are not sure if it's an actual mark, do NOT file. And for the ones that do mark, as least when you're first starting, just file off enough until the mark disappears, no more no less.

It's a slow process, but later on when you are a bit more experienced and dealing with locks where you're familiar with the depth & spacing, you will be able to file a bit more than just to erase the mark.

There's a video link on here somewhere of Oli D. filing like a madman in a competition, and checking his cuts every now and then with a micrometer because he knows how deep a 1, 2, 3 etc cut is on the lock he was using. I'll find the link for you later today if no one else beats me to it. It's safe to say that no one here is anywhere near his level with impressioning but it's fun to watch anyway

[Jimmie]

there are some rules to know for pin locks

- no more than 3 identical cuts for each key

forbidden ex: 313233

- at least 3 different cuts by key

forbidden ex: 343434

no more than 4 cut depth between two cuts

forbidden ex: 053245

no more than two identical cuts side by side

forbidden ex: 233352


another more not all the time true : the first cut (near the shoulder) is often a short cut

[Rodfather23]

I ended up just going for it and it worked out....but that was because I had the real key as reference. I'm pretty sure they were all marking, I took a blue sharpie and put on the key to try and see if any were marking deeper than the others and the color actually let me see that one marked a lil deeper than the rest, so I just started with it. And for some reason that one pin consistantly marked deeper than the rest, but after a while I decided just to start filing a little on the rest as well.

I have one for blank, so I think I will post a picture just to make sure that they are all marks (watch this time only one will mark), but it might still help someone later that reads this and doesn't know exactly what the mark looks like.


And Jimmie, that is some great info....not only for now while I'm impressioning, but for when I get some extra pins to rekey my schalge with.

On that note......My schalge is key 67877 Is it normal for a schlage to be pinned all low? When I was purchasing my, I looked through the boxes trying to find one with more difficult cuts, but they all seemed very close and deep.

[Rodfather23]

I ended up just going for it and it worked out....but that was because I had the real key as reference. I'm pretty sure they were all marking, I took a blue sharpie and put on the key to try and see if any were marking deeper than the others and the color actually let me see that one marked a lil deeper than the rest, so I just started with it. And for some reason that one pin consistantly marked deeper than the rest, but after a while I decided just to start filing a little on the rest as well.

I have one for blank, so I think I will post a picture just to make sure that they are all marks (watch this time only one will mark), but it might still help someone later that reads this and doesn't know exactly what the mark looks like.


And Jimmie, that is some great info....not only for now while I'm impressioning, but for when I get some extra pins to rekey my schalge with.

On that note......My schalge is key 67877 Is it normal for a schlage to be pinned all low? When I was purchasing my, I looked through the boxes trying to find one with more difficult cuts, but they all seemed very close and deep.

[Rodfather23]

^^^ thats great the 1st time I hit post it came back saying no post mode specified or something to that nature........so I re did it

[Rodfather23]

Here are some photos I took after having prepped my blank with 600 grit paper and using the wiggle method on a schlage B series with 3 pins in it. I am not the best at taking up close pictures...but in the 1st one I did auto exposure to make it look a lil better, and the 2nd it is left as is.







I might also add that those are also 2 different photos. (incase it wasn't obvious)

[Trip Doctor]

Those are pretty useful things to keep in mind Jimmie. On the 3rd one though, that would be MACS, which is different for different lock brands isn't it? Do the other rules differ for diffrent brands too?

[Jimmie]

I don't know ...

I know the European lock rules but mechanically/technically it should have to be the same (???) for the US locks

may be someone could give his advice on