Where do you buy cheap blank keys for impressioning?

[sassieston]

Hello,

I live in The Netherlands and am a beginning lockpicker(this hobby really catches on). Having some CISA padlocks without the keys, naturally I also became interested in impressioning. I'm now at the point I want to buy some YA1 blanks and just try and get some experience but I can't find a good and cheap provider. I found some UK/US providers with good prices, however shipping is even more pricier than the keys themselves(even when buying in bulk). And all the Dutch websites either only sell cut keys, have a really small catalog or sell them for ridiculously high prices.

I'm now trying to cut the middlemen and buy a sample directly from the chinese manufacturers on alibaba, did anyone here try this already?
https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=ya1+blank

They seem to have ridiculously low prices, for what probably amounts to a cheap and soft alloy, excellent for impressioning I guess.

[GWiens2001]

Check eBay for "key blank lot".

They Yale key blanks you are looking for are going to be quite difficult to impression if you have not impressioned yet. The paracentric keyway has the pin marks sometimes going on edges of the blank instead of on the center of the blank.

Gordon

[tpark]

As Gordon mentioned, the Yale keyway is quite paracentric, so the marks on the key won't be in the middle of the key sometimes, making seeing the marks difficult. Some of the brass padlocks (specifically the 220/60) can come with reverse keyways, so make sure you've got the right blanks - they might be the K1 keyway rather than Y1. The locks I have have spools in them - some of them were all spools, others had a standard pin in 5, and the others were spools. If you're cutting keys for these locks, the angle of the cuts is wider and has a smaller flat area, but you can make keys that work with a standard cutter. If you buy a box of 50, you can get Y1 blanks for 20 cents a pop at lockpicks.com. Y1 fits into my padlock. From left to right, original CISA key, Y1 blank, K1 blank.





Spacing increments
1: 177
2: 334
3: 492
4: 649
5: 807

Depth increments
1: 301
2: 276
3: 250
4: 224
5: 199
6: 173
7: 148

[Jacob Morgan]

... all the Dutch websites either only sell cut keys...

If only cut keys can be bought, can you buy them with all the cuts minimum depth (0-0-0-0-0, etc.)?

[sassieston]

Thanks for the tips, seems I'm not starting easy, ohwell I'm planning to just buy lots of keys for me to destroy. lockpicks.com is nice but the 35$ flat rate shipping cost kills it, unless I buy some expensive stuff the shipping costs are a large percentage of total cost. And I'm not yet willing to buy that 500$ key set yet . I'm now checking how expensive alibaba will be, and if it's not much cheaper I'll probably just bulk buy some from lockpicks later when my lockpicking budget is full again.

How do you go about finding those spacing and depth increments? I tried google and blank key catalogs but couldn't find anything, is measuring the only way?

I probably can buy single depth keys, but since they're cutting them they're a lot more expensive.

[billdeserthills]

Plenty of key blanks for sale on E-Bay

[Silverado]

I got my space and depth key sets on eBay from the user deankaycollectors. Long history of sales with almost 100% positive feedback and when I purchased they had a wide variety of key sets cut to space and depth.

I'm not affiliated with the seller. I am not the seller. I just figured I'd share my experience!

[jeffmoss26]

one source of depth and space info: http://www.locksafesystems.com/depth_and_space.htm
I will also vouch for deankaycollectors - have bought quite a few blanks and depth keys from them.

[tpark]

Thanks for the tips, seems I'm not starting easy, ohwell I'm planning to just buy lots of keys for me to destroy. lockpicks.com is nice but the 35$ flat rate shipping cost kills it, unless I buy some expensive stuff the shipping costs are a large percentage of total cost. And I'm not yet willing to buy that 500$ key set yet . I'm now checking how expensive alibaba will be, and if it's not much cheaper I'll probably just bulk buy some from lockpicks later when my lockpicking budget is full again.

How do you go about finding those spacing and depth increments? I tried google and blank key catalogs but couldn't find anything, is measuring the only way?

I probably can buy single depth keys, but since they're cutting them they're a lot more expensive.

To find space and depth information, I googled hpc DSD listing to find the data, but the deepest depth may not have been on the chart. If you're only buying the blanks, the shipping cost may be disproportionate. As others have suggested, you may be able to find the blanks on eBay.

[sassieston]

Thanks everyone, always had a mistrust of ebay but decided to look on it since everyone uses it, ordered 50 CISA 220/50 and 50 220/30 for a nice price