Impressioning

depth and space books..

--Shiva--

practice

By knowing the lock

You know by how deep the pin marks. It goes quicker if you know the depth and spacing for the lock. The trick is that if you file too deep the pin or wafer will start marking again and will continue to until you cut the key in half.

I'd say this falls under defeating instructions. which most guys won't discuss on this forum.

Unless of course you know the secret handse0rueorhweio!! Whew! I almost gave away the big one. Sorry, guys!!!

Seriously, though, this kind of thing oughta been covered in your locksmith course, or you can ask your boss at work.

not everyone had $2,000 to dump on a locksmith course. if you don't have anything to say to help him, do us all a favor and don't say anything at all.

I find impressioning to be a pain in the ass. and with all the tilting and whatnot to get the light right to even see the marks on some. I don't have any of the secret squirrel books for spacing and depth so I just run the file over every mark about 3 times, enough to make the mark go away. also angle the portions between cuts so I don't just have deep gouges in the key that'll make it stick in the lock. secret squirrel books would expedite your efforts, see if you can get one.

Won't matter. Even with the spacing and depth info impressioning, like picking, is a skill learned over time.

I did it by going through 3 50-blank boxes and 1 file (thrown at my Wall of Frustration) until I was satisfied I could do it, then just haven't done it since. Patience and a ready supply of beer when you get sick of it will get you there.

yea I find that when things I'm working on become projectiles it's time to stop. unless they were meant to be projectiles.. that's a different story entirely.

In general, if you understand what is going on with the process you basically want to go either 1 whole depth at a time, or like 1 and a half depth, as if you were using a half cut tryout set.

The key is if you see marks file, if you don't see marks don't file. If you think you see a mark, wipe it off and try again. Other than that it is all in the wrist :)

Now, what I want to know about is impressioning sidebars. Someone recently told me you do them in reverse, cutting where you *Don't* see marks, because the ones that mark will indicate the sidebar *is* lodged in the notch. Anyone ever heard this? If it gets too specific we can certainly take it off line.

-- A

you need a book by Hank Spicer on doing sidebars.. he could do one, REGULARLY

--Shiva--

I am going to disagree with Shiva, my advise is don't bother. Everyone I know that has been to the class has found this to be a stinking waste of time. Many suspect the few successes have been more luck than anything.

I AGREE... but I watched hank in a class do it, and he could do it all the time.. there IS a trick to it.., and he stated it in the class I had with him one time. IF, the lock was 'antique' AND pretty will irreplaceable, THEN I would consider doing it.

WHY would one need to do it now? Codes ARE available, and the Fords that do sidebars are NOT worth screwing with- drill and destroy, ESPECIALLY that stinkin Focus. 5 lock designs in 5 YEARS tells you something on that one

--Shiva--

Knowing the depths in particular though will make it go quicker.

This will be covered in your course. You can also ask your boss.

I will quote fugi on this one, as he has already given a perfect reply:

"not everyone had $2,000 to dump on a locksmith course. if you don't have anything to say to help him, do us all a favor and don't say anything at all"

I will paraphrase fugi, "if you think you need to spend @#$% $2,000 to learn @#$% locksmithing, then you should @#$% think another @#$% thought, as there are @#$% many @#$% resources available for @#$% less than @#$% $2,000."

A helpful hint - look at "books".

I think it is more a matter of fascination than practicality. I would like to know how to do it just to know how to do it. If Hank, rest his soul, and Rod can do it then I want to "be able" to do it too :P

When all is said and done, I doubt I would care to do it in the field, just like to know that I could if I wanted to :)

I'll quote Stormin Mormon on this one. You have a *(^& lot of nerve! You post a free message on a public usenet group and expect me to tell your frieking (&(*& the information that it took me years of practice and taking a locksmith course to learn? You can take your *(&^*(& question and stuff the &*^)(* question in your ^&*(&( and let it rot there.

BTW, I want you to come over and mow my lawn for free. You (*&* freeloading piece of &*^*&. Now go back and climb into your hole in the ground.

He was being nice - instead of saying "@#$%" as I did, he said "&*^)(*" and "^&*(&(" which are indeed much nicer.