Yale 5000 Keys

[blate]

NB: This thread probably belongs in the high-security section but I don't yet have access to it

I recently obtained a lot of 8 or so Yale cylinders on Ebay.

Much to my surprise and subsequent delight, they turned out to be of the 5000-series security cylinder type. In addition to 6 pin-tumblers, they also have a sidebar controlled by 5 disc tumblers which are actuated by cuts on the bottom edge of the key. See page 20 in (http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/user/jhawk/cyl_keys.pdf) for a diagram. This locking mechanism design is apparently equivalent to one made by Banham (UK).

I have yet to pick one with the sidebar in place (though I have picked the sidebar in isolation).

My question is: where can I get key blanks (or really anything that fits the keyway) for this lock. The official key is an "AN11", but is factory-restricted because the sidebar bitting is restricted/controlled.

This much I know: A standard KW1 key fits perfectly but is too short -- the Yale cylinder is 6-pin but the KW-1 is 5-pin. Putting a really long key pin in the last position sort of works, but that's kinda lame. A KW-10 key is the right length but the second ward from the bottom is about .010 too tall to fit. A bit of fiddly filing will take it down enough to fit. The sidebar bitting is easy to hand-file because it only has three steps -- .000, .020, and .040. So any key that will comfortably fit the keyway can readily be adapted to fit whatever sidebar bitting I choose to install.

Any tips?

Also, I would probably be willing to trade a couple of the cylinders for equivalently-interesting exemplars if anyone is interested.

For more information on the Yale 5000 lock, see the link above or, if you have a copy, see page 302, et seq., of "High-Security Mechanical Locks: An Encyclopedic Reference" by Graham W. Pulford. It's about $60 on Amazon and a super-cool read. I actually used it to figure out what lock this was

Thanks all!

[blate]

PS: I'm planning to add a couple of entries on Lockwiki, including the Yale 5000 cylinder discussed above. I'll include a picture of my hand-made, semi-ghetto key, fabricated from a KW-1 blank.

[Evan]

My question is: where can I get key blanks (or really anything that fits the keyway) for this lock. The official key is an "AN11", but is factory-restricted because the sidebar bitting is restricted/controlled.

@blate:

"AN11" is not the keyway but the type/style of the key blank...

So it would be a Yale "A" bow style made of "N" Nickel Silver and "11" means 6-pin length full-size cylinder... Yet that specification is incomplete as there is no keyway identified...

Do you know which of the Yale keyways your cylinders are ?

A picture of the face of the cylinder and both sides of the keys would be helpful for the people here who know about such things to assist you in identifying the keyway as the non-sidebar cut blanks are unrestricted...

~~ Evan