Key ID Help

[Sheriff66]

Hello,

I have a key machine and cutter that I play around with and make copies for friends/family. I am having a hard time identifying this key. The key goes to a Dexter lock, I thought that it lined up perfectly with a Schlage SC1 but the keys wont work. Can you point me in the right direction? Most of the keys I currently have are Ilco or Cole.

Thanks!

[Squelchtone]

heh, I wonder if that key is from the shop of KokomoLock, who is one of our members here.

Squelchtone

[kayak1]

Can you post a picture of the other side too?

Have you compared the key to a DE1 (Dexter) now owned by schlage?

[Squelchtone]

Have you compared the key to a DE1 (Dexter) now owned by schlage?

If you google image search for what a DE1 actually looks like, it is not at all like OPs key. neither is the DE6. What picture of DE1 were you looking at?

He is right that its closer in looks to a Schlage SC1, but why it isnt working for him when he copies it onto a SC1 blank.. that's probably another issue.

OP: when you say "the keys wont work" do you mean they won't even insert into your friends lock, or they insert but the lock wont turn like it isn't the correctly cut key being inserted?

How well calibrated is your machine? Find a Schlage lock with a key, make a copy of it and see if that copy works in that Schlage lock, if that doesnt work, then you may need more practice, or some calibration. If you take 2 SC1 blanks and clamp them into the machine's jaws, does your cutter and tracer touch the tip and the shoulder at the same time for both locations? is the depth spacing same? (not sure your level of experience with cutting keys, so just providing some basic troubleshooting tips)

I've also heard over the years that some locksmiths cut keys a little off on purpose and they'll work just fine in one of their locks but if you try to make a copy at a hardware center or somewhere else, it will look ok to untrained eye, but the copy wont open the lock. I don't remember the exact trick they did to do this though.

Squelchtone

[Sheriff66]

Thanks for the reply.

The key fits but won't turn. My machine is calibrated and I have cut around 50 keys on it with 0 failures until this one. Someone brought over a few KW1 keys yesterday for me to cut and they work fine as well. I have Schlage locks on my house and have made several copies with no problems. The machine is a few years old but I bought a brand new cutting wheel for it when I bought it and followed the manufacturers instructions to calibrate it. I really don't think it's me.

I wonder if you are onto something about the "proprietary" cutting technique! Here are pictures of both sides of the key.

[MatrixBlackRock]

Hello,

I have a key machine and cutter that I play around with and make copies for friends/family. I am having a hard time identifying this key. The key goes to a Dexter lock, I thought that it lined up perfectly with a Schlage SC1 but the keys wont work. Can you point me in the right direction? Most of the keys I currently have are Ilco or Cole.

Thanks!

Align the tip of the your cut key with the tip of the operating key and see if the cuts line up in the same places and depth, it could be the shank of the SC1 is longer than the operating key and being cut shoulder gauged will not go in far enough into the cylinder to work properly.

Wayne

[billdeserthills]

Recut the key, but this time use the "double-sided" jaw on your machine and grip both keys in the middle

[Sheriff66]

No go on tip cutting or double sided jaw cutting. I cut another Schlage for my house just to make sure and it worked fine.

Thanks for all the help.

[cledry]

The Dexter by Schlage uses a recessed groove in the face, it shouldn't make a difference but make sure the shoulder is going flush.

Other thought is that someone filed the bottom of the key. This makes the key sit lower in the jaw and thus a dupe won't work.

If you have the lock why not just look and see what is going on?

[billdeserthills]

Did you make Sure the key You cut wasn't just a bit longer?

[smokingman]

The key may have been cut with a shim under it so that duplicates would not work unless also cut with a shim under it.

[1mrchristopher]

As you have a duplicator, what you must source next is a set of depth keys. This would allow you to code cut a new key with your duplicator, rather than trying to copy this one which is causing you grief.

[smokingman]

The key may have been cut with a shim under it so that duplicates would not work unless also cut with a shim under it.

What I meant to say but more clearly is , we used to copy the original key with a shim under the key and a shim under the blank, then have the owner put the original in a safe place
and use the copy.
If someone got their working key and tried to duplicate it, it would not work,
because they would not know to put a shim under the blank before duplicating it.

[cledry]

The key may have been cut with a shim under it so that duplicates would not work unless also cut with a shim under it.

What I meant to say but more clearly is , we used to copy the original key with a shim under the key and a shim under the blank, then have the owner put the original in a safe place
and use the copy.
If someone got their working key and tried to duplicate it, it would not work,
because they would not know to put a shim under the blank before duplicating it.

If you shim both is it not the same as no shim? If I raise a key by .015 and the blank by .015 the machine will cut both to the same depth as if I had no shim under each.

[billdeserthills]

The key may have been cut with a shim under it so that duplicates would not work unless also cut with a shim under it.

What I meant to say but more clearly is , we used to copy the original key with a shim under the key and a shim under the blank, then have the owner put the original in a safe place
and use the copy.
If someone got their working key and tried to duplicate it, it would not work,
because they would not know to put a shim under the blank before duplicating it.

If you shim both is it not the same as no shim? If I raise a key by .015 and the blank by .015 the machine will cut both to the same depth as if I had no shim under each.

Somebody always paying attention and ruining the story