Old Coke Box Woes

[AlwaysLearningDavid]

Hey everyone,

I'm just starting out as a smith and we had an old Coke Box come in to the shop. The owner tells us that the key broke off in the machine, but we all have our doubts and don't see anything in it.

That said, the thing has us stumped.

The pins/waffers are on the walls of the keyway rather than the top and/or bottom. They look like ball bearings on both sides.

So what we need to do is figure out how to make a key for it.

And we don't know how to pick it, pull it, or find a key for it.

For reference this is what the machine looks like:


And here's what the key looks like from what we've seen on the interwebs:


Any suggestions?

[GWiens2001]

Bell type lock. Pick it like you would any laser track key.

Gordon

[stratmando]

I actually have a few of those, Been collecting key's, and locks for years. Some as those are are interesting, Could believe them to be over 50-56 years?
Found this as well:
http://www.crowriver.com/cs/cs003pg3.htm
Good Luck.

[billdeserthills]

I actually have a few of those, Been collecting key's, and locks for years. Some as those are are interesting, Could believe them to be over 50-56 years?
Found this as well:
http://www.crowriver.com/cs/cs003pg3.htm
Good Luck.

That link is cool, looks like they were picking up the stuff I was throwing out
last time I moved my shop, I think it's great they are selling those old style cam lock parts

The restoration shows I have seen show them destroying cam locks and replacing them, rather then spend
valuable time trying to pick or impression them. Always troubled me that they did that, but if I could buy
a replacement from the link for $25, I might be tempted to do that

[AlwaysLearningDavid]

Bell type lock. Pick it like you would any laser track key.
Gordon

I'm not sure if the labor will be worth the costs. But I suppose I'll ask the customer.

I actually have a few of those, Been collecting key's, and locks for years. Some as those are are interesting, Could believe them to be over 50-56 years?
Found this as well:
http://www.crowriver.com/cs/cs003pg3.htm
Good Luck.

This may be a good alternative, but I hate having to wreck an antique lock. :S

Well, I guess those are our two options. Thanks everyone!

[AlwaysLearningDavid]

Okay, well this is just about impossible to pick. (Thanks for the advice on picking it, by the way, Gordon).

It has waffers on both sides AND they alternate going up and down on both sides. So I need to go down-up-down on the left, then up-down-up on the right.

SO I think it's time to go all CSI on this thing.

I'm struggling to find VMC51 keys for sale, HOWEVER, I'm seeing lots of PICTURES of VMC51 keys.

So I'm thinking I'm going to try and make a key from a photo using a photo editor to get the pictures of the keys centered, measure the dimensions, then draw them out in a blueprint. Then I'll take that blueprint and draw it onto a piece of brass, and then bore the grove into it using our Matrix SX.

Does this sound crazy?

[billdeserthills]

I just find it ironic, cause any self-respecting thief would have
gotten into that Coke machine a long time ago

[GWiens2001]

Okay, well this is just about impossible to pick. (Thanks for the advice on picking it, by the way, Gordon).

It has waffers on both sides AND they alternate going up and down on both sides. So I need to go down-up-down on the left, then up-down-up on the right.

SO I think it's time to go all CSI on this thing.

I'm struggling to find VMC51 keys for sale, HOWEVER, I'm seeing lots of PICTURES of VMC51 keys.

So I'm thinking I'm going to try and make a key from a photo using a photo editor to get the pictures of the keys centered, measure the dimensions, then draw them out in a blueprint. Then I'll take that blueprint and draw it onto a piece of brass, and then bore the grove into it using our Matrix SX.

Does this sound crazy?

If you can get the correct key picture and adjust the size to match the blank, then why not just print out the picture and glue it to the blank? Then you can cut it without the rest of the hassle.

Gordon

[GWiens2001]

I just find it ironic, cause any self-respecting thief would have
gotten into that Coke machine a long time ago

The self respecting thief would not care about damage to the lock or machine.

Gordon

[AlwaysLearningDavid]

If you can get the correct key picture and adjust the size to match the blank, then why not just print out the picture and glue it to the blank? Then you can cut it without the rest of the hassle.

Gordon

That is pure genius.

[AlwaysLearningDavid]

It's been a slow day so I went ahead and cut the blank from a thick deposit box key. Cut back the sides a little then cut a "V" into the tip. It fits the entry perfectly.

Now I just need to get some pics, edit them, paste it, then cut the thing.

Pic #1:

[Ralph_Goodman]

It's been a slow day so I went ahead and cut the blank from a thick deposit box key. Cut back the sides a little then cut a "V" into the tip. It fits the entry perfectly.

Now I just need to get some pics, edit them, paste it, then cut the thing.

Pic #1:

WOW! Nice.

But no success with opening so far, correct?

[stratmando]

Try these 3 Links:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... -416657447

http://soda-machines.com/discussions/in ... 0105.0;all

http://grandamericajukebox.com/vintage- ... ber-chart/

Hopefully you have resisted drilling it out.

Good Luck

[stratmando]

I'll try this weekend to dig mine out. Forget how many I have?

[stratmando]

I'm In the Keys, We got hit pretty bad from Hurricane Irma, Been over busy. Haven't had a chance to look, Near future doesn't look good either, hopefully the links helped?