Making a key for a lock without impressioning

[GWiens2001]

Making a Key for a Pin Tumbler Lock without Impressioning

There have been a few write-ups along these lines, but hope this will help some people.

So you have a mortise lock cylinder without a key.



You don’t know how to impression a key, and don’t really want to learn how. What do you do? Here is something that might help.

Hopefully, you can pick the lock. Or at least shim it from the rear. (fgarci… warning you! )



On the back end of the lock, there is the cam held in place with two screws:



Remove those screws and the cam. Most locks will not have anything else, though this one does. If there are other parts behind the cam, just remove them. NOTE: On this particular lock, you can see the driver pin for the 7th pin stack once the parts are removed.



Use a follower to push out the plug. In this picture, on this lock, you can see that the main pin channels are capped off. The screwdriver is pointing to the seventh pin channel cap. That extra strip below is for trap pins! Careful if you pick this baby!



Now take your blank:



And put it into the plug:



You can see that the pins are pushed up above the shear line of the plug. If the pin is flush with the shear line, then that pin is a “0” or a “1”, depending on the numbering system of the lock company.

Now take out the pins, keeping them in order (unless you are rekeying the lock, in which you can now switch them around. Look into the pin channels, and you can see the edge of the key blade.



Use a fine-point marker to draw a dot in the pin channels on the key blade.



The marks should be pretty much centered in the pin channels.



Remove the key blank and examine the marks.



Cool! You know where each pin is centered on the key! Now draw a line straight down from each mark.





Place your marked key blank in a vice.



Put the last (closest to the key tip) pin into the plug. This will give you some idea of how much to file for the pin to fit flush. File less than that amount. It is much better to file and check several times than to file too much and waste a key blank.



File some metal away...



And check the depth by sliding the plug back onto the key blank.



Repeat until the pin fits flush with the top of the plug.



Now for a tip... I intentionally filed the bitting on the blank to the correct depth without 'fixing' the ramps (slopes on each side of the cut). This is not recommended, but did it so you could see an example of canyoning, which happens when the slopes are too steep and traps the pin:



This is an extreme example, but it helps you to see.



Here have fixed one slope...



And the other.



Much better.



Add the next pin...



And repeat until all bits are cut.



Check your slopes on the key (still need some fixing in this picture).



Reassemble the lock and test:



WooHoo!

Gordon

[fgarci03]

Hopefully, you can pick the lock. Or at least shim it from the rear. (fgarci… warning you! )

What?

WHAT?

Why do you always think I give lock related meanings to what you say? Of course I knew what you meant by "shim from the rear"... Shimming, a lock... Yeah, sure


Very nice tutorial!
Particulary nice mentioning the slope fixing. When I started doing this, I learned "the hard way". Fortunatelly I was doing what you wrote, and not a real impression, or I would have the key stuck.

What kind of file do you use? Care to post pics of it? I use a round file that, although works perfectly, doesn't make my keys so perfect like yours'!

[ckc123]

Just a note.. why not just measure the length of the pins and then you can determine the key code.. ??

then you can create the key as you would your easiest way (depending on what resources you had at the time.. )

[GWiens2001]

Just a note.. why not just measure the length of the pins and then you can determine the key code.. ??

then you can create the key as you would your easiest way (depending on what resources you had at the time.. )

You and I, and many others here can do that. This is more for new people who may not have the knowledge or experience, nor know what to do even if they do have the code. Most users of this site probably do not have access to a key machine at all, let alone depth and spacing keys or a machine capable of cutting to code. So they are stuck with a set of files. Want to help them get the job done, too.

@fgarci - I use a Grobet pippin file, #4 Swiss cut. Will get a picture posted some time. Currently watching a movie with the family. (At home, not a theater.)

Gordon

[Squelchtone]

Nice write up man, we need more of these here!

I do have one observation slash question.

Is there anything to be said for filing the key in order of shallowest cuts to deepest cuts or the other way around so that the connecting slopes remain correct and adjacent shallow cuts are not cut too low prematurely?

Just something I remember from doing this on that Yale safe deposit box guard key I made.

Thanks,
Squelchtone

[GWiens2001]

Is there anything to be said for filing the key in order of shallowest cuts to deepest cuts or the other way around so that the connecting slopes remain correct and adjacent shallow cuts are not cut too low prematurely?

Just something I remember from doing this on that Yale safe deposit box guard key I made.

It can be a good thing to file from shallowest to deepest cuts, and for exactly the reasons you stated.

The main reason did not use that when making a key by this method is the convenience of only needing to have one pin in the lock, and less likely to have the pin 'jump' out of the plug when moving the plug onto and off of the key. Also, being the moron that I am, likely to forget which spot I am working on, and drop the pin in the wrong chamber or file the wrong spot. Did that a couple of times in the past.

Another trick to gauge the ramps and how smoothly the key will insert is to use all the pins already cut on the key and rest a fingers lightly onto the pins when the plug is inserted/removed from the key in the vice. This simulates (a bit) the spring tension, and can tell you if a slope is too steep. Check BOTH directions. It stinks when you can't get the key into the lock, but it is even worse when you can't get the key back out.

Also, do not be surprised if the key turns a bit firmly at first. Just like when impressioning a key, if the cut is just a tiny bit too shallow, the key will turn, but the pin gets jammed between the key and the lock cylinder (shell). Take a look at the key, and try to find where a pin has made a very clear divot (impressioning mark) in the center of the cut. Wherever it does this, file it down a little.

Gordon

[ckc123]

You and I, and many others here can do that. This is more for new people who may not have the knowledge or experience, nor know what to do even if they do have the code.
Gordon

Knowledge is exactly what the key code leads you too. Once you have the code you can reproduce the key multiple times in multiple ways and helps you to understand what the 'should' be.

Eg you use calipers to ensure the proper spacing and center of the cuts as you go along.

Plus you dont have to mess with putting the key in and out of the core and the potential to send the pins all across the desk ( and if you have the key code you can put them back properly if you do)

Havin the code is the key (pun intended) to understanding more about keys, the depths and spaces, macs etc. Its all very transferable knowledge to other locks and keys.

[Achyfellow]

Very neat! This will come handy some day.

[Raymond]

I would like to add some to the logical process and why he started at the tip of the blank. With the blank in the vise, starting to cut at the end is best because the blank retains full, un-cut width and remains more stable. If you cut the shoulder first, the blank would wobble more and possibly bend while filing if you made a deep cut nearer the bow.

If you see that you have a very long pin, a deep cut, it is OK to put in the next pin and begin filing it at the same time. This helps prevent the 'canyoning'. A triangular file with one corner ground and polished smooth is great for making the ramps without accidentally changing the depth.

[cledry]

We do this often when we are not near a code machine for example. I do it differently. I don't remove the pins and mark the blank; that wastes valuable time. I put the key into the plug and then put the head of the key in a vice with the plug butted up against the jaws. Then to get the spacing simply remove the plug and hold it alongside the key again with the face of the plug butted against the jaws. Voila, perfect spacing. Another reason I learned to do it this way was to avoid losing pins or mixing them up.

The shop I worked at previously had an interesting machine that would accept the plug and blank in it. The pins would be pushed up like in the images posted. Another blank was installed in a second jaw and the machine would read the pin depths and directly transfer to the cutter head.

[Squelchtone]

An older gentleman I know used to work for Eagle Lock in Terryville, CT, back in the 1960's. I believe he told me he used to put keys into plugs, load pins up and if any of the pins were sticking out, he would file them down until flush with the plug.

I'm so glad LAB sells those large universal pin kits in .003 and .005 increments, I would hate to file my own pins each time I repinned a lock!

Great additions everybody, thanks for adding to the thread!
Squelchtone

[GWiens2001]

@Cledry - That sounds like a cool machine! Would love to see one of those some day.

@Squelchtone - hate to admit it, but did that quite a few times until I got a pinning kit. Had an easier time finding a brass rod at a nearby hardware shop, then cutting it down to size.

Gordon

[Raymond]

Hey Cledry,

We cut those keys to the plug with exactly the same technique. For the rest of you ... It works especially well on locks where the key goes into a recess or dust cover so it cannot be held up for spacing correction. Just push the key all the way in, put the face of the lock flush to the side of the vise jaws, tighten, remove lock from off the key blank, and visually verify your spacing.

That first key machine you were talking about was the 'Fit Master'. We still have one at our shop but never use it. Modern code machines have spoiled us. It was invented and produced by Edward Saucedo in El Paso, TX. If I get some free time it would be worth dusting off and taking a few pictures.

[cledry]

@Cledry - That sounds like a cool machine! Would love to see one of those some day.

Gordon

Just dug out a photo. I wish I could find the patent on this. It was called the Fit-Master.

The plug was inserted with a blank in the lower jaw from the right side and butted up to basically a carriage bolt. The wire thing was set to hold the key into the plug.

You put a blank from the left side in the upper jaw. The follower that red the pins is the device to the right of this jaw with the adjusting nut on top. To start cutting you bring the follower down onto a blank part of the plug and using the belt pulley you would manually rotate the cutter until it just grazed the surface of the blank using the adjusting nut which could be adjusted with just the fingers.

Now you were ready to cut your key. The follower was positioned over the first pin, on either side of the follower were spring loaded guides that kept the follower over the pin. Now you pulled the black handle down which brings the cutter into contact with the blank. Straight down until it bottoms the adjuster nut against the casting that the cutter rotates on, then we would move the carriage with the blank left and right slightly widening the cut. Repeat for the other cuts and you have a prefect key.

Sounds more complicated than it is.

Here's the image.

[cledry]

This isn't quite the same machine but I think it is the basic idea.

https://www.google.com/patents/US2757578?pg=PA1&dq=saucedo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TsWWUsRM0uWQB-v2gMgL&ved=0CFYQ6wEwBA