Impressioning quesiton?

[Wizer]

I was thinking if I should file the blank sharp first to get better marks?
Smoking them could be wort a try. I hope I won´t get my locks all dirty..

[Tyler J. Thomas]

I was thinking if I should file the blank sharp first to get better marks?

Oh absolutely. The blade method makes that blank so thin and sharp that marks are much easier to see and make.

Smoking them could be wort a try. I hope I won´t get my locks all dirty..

You won't. It's just a small film of soot.

[Lauren]

Another thing to look at is the brand of key blank you use. Some are too hard and brittle, and some are too soft.

[Eyes_Only]

And get yourself a good impressioning grip if you can, like the ones made by Pro-Lok or Framon. I have both of them and they're both great tools. Vise grips will work but to me it feels a bit awkward but that depends on each individual preference.

[freak13]

Ya the key blank you use is important. Go with brass or nickel-plated brass. They are strong enough to not break on you but still mark well. Stay away from aluminium. You could end up with the key bow in your hand while you're digging around for you extractors.

[Lauren]

Today, I picked a brand new 4 pin Master No. 5 lock that I didn't have the key for. While in the picked position, I read the first two pin sizes. Pin one was a 2 pin and pin 2 was a 5 pin size. I then cut the first two pins with a round file. I keep plenty of M1 lock parts for pin references. I used the wiggle method (using only my fingers) to get the last two pins. I love impressioning. It's very useful.

[Jaakko]

Wizer, filing the blank sharp works mainly on wafer locks, but in pin tumblers it won't do good usually, as the pins can mark on the slope of the blank. In wafer locks the sharp edge is there to break/mark first, as the wafers are very thin usually and they will not tolerate twisting&rocking motion very well.

If you need a nice impressioning handle made from aluminum, I can make one Costs a couple of EUR and the only info I need is the slot size for the key (width and depth). Locking the blank happens with a couple of M6 screws.

[Wizer]

I did it!!!
I impressioned my first lock!
Ok, it is a cheap furniture lock on one of my machines, had 5 wafers, but still!
I started with a sharpened blank, I think its steel (silcas LS13), but after a little filing I could not see marks anymore. Poor file and all. The lock is in a cobbler machine, so I brushed a little yankee polish wax on the blank.
That worked really well, and now I have a key and I can lock the machine so that no one can change sander belts or clean my machine if I don´t want to.
Thanks every one!
-Wizer