Preferred keyblanks for impressioning?

by **Peter Martin** » 2 Sep 2005 14:12

Can anyone suggest a quality keyblank for impressioning? Does a particular brand reveal better marks than another?

Does ILCO impressioned better than Cole or Curtis? Should I only use the factory or OEM keys and not a substitute at all?

Am I worrying about ants when I should be concerned about the elephants??? Is that enough questions for a single post?

by **AUTOLOX** » 2 Sep 2005 16:20

soft metal marks best try and find brass blanks do not use aluminium or you will spend more time fishing the bust bits out of the key way

by **Varjeal** » 2 Sep 2005 17:52

Auto has good tips:

I find brass colored, (as opposed to nickle silver) seems to work better for me, but that's a personal preference. Stay away from stainless steel (rare), and aluminum keyblanks. Don't worry about elephants unless you live in Africa or the zoo, its the red fire ants you need to be scared of.

by **fixer** » 3 Sep 2005 8:44

Sometimes you don't have a choice. I have had to impression with all sorts of blanks, but as has been said, the soft material blanks are easiest.

Always 'prepare' the blank first, no matter what material.

Don't be in too much of a hurry and use too much force.

Don't cut too deep, you can always take a second stroke with the file, but it is a pain to have to start all over again when you go too deep.

Try different files to see which one you like best. Some people like a pippin file so they can get the angles and flats done, others just use a rat tail file.

by **HeadHunterCEO** » 3 Sep 2005 11:23

only file when you have a good mark

don't eat yellow snow

by **digital_blue** » 3 Sep 2005 11:31

HeadHunterCEO wrote:don't eat yellow snow

So THAT'S what's been going wrong with my impressioning! Thanks HH!

db

by **Saedis** » 3 Sep 2005 13:59

Defianately go with the brass blanks whenever possible.

by **digital_blue** » 3 Sep 2005 18:12

What about the brass blanks that are plated with... um.. something silver.

Are there any disadvantages to those over regular brass blanks?

db

by **vector40** » 3 Sep 2005 19:10

Just color, I think.

I've been messing around with impressioning lately, and man, this stuff is hard.

by **Saedis** » 3 Sep 2005 20:45

digital_blue wrote:What about the brass blanks that are plated with... um.. something silver. Are there any disadvantages to those over regular brass blanks?

db

They are nickel plated. They are fine as well, but if given the choice go with the all brassers. Second choice nickel plated.

Preferred keyblanks for impressioning?

Preferred keyblanks for impressioning?

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