I've seen the Blitz in use many, many times. I downloaded the demonstration videos from Framon today and watched the both of them. The blitz is way more of a tool than the Framon models. I do agree with you; however; that the Framons are probably more accurate (that's just my opinion,) which makes them more of an instrument than the Blitz. Since we're dealing with keys and not Human lives, I'm leaning more toward the tool than the instrument.
Also, you have my vote on the HTML email issue; where can I send my contribution :)
I have used the HPC 1200CMB, if you are going to be originating MANY IC keys it is better to use a Blue Punch to cut them than the Blitz... The Blitz is superior for shoulder-stop keys, but whenever you are going to be cutting a tip-stop key you need to especially careful of alignment...
It is all about time spent vs the likelihood of error... For Schlage and A2 IC [there are other slides available for A3 & A4 systems but encountering them is rare] it is less likely to take as much time or create as many errors to use dedicated blue punches to originate keys...
Never used the pak-a-punch, but they seem useful if you need to be totally portable... From what you have described so far it seems like you don't need to be 100% portable... You would be able to handle the odd key that you may need to cut but it seems rather costly to obtain all the parts you would need to be able to do that...
As for the scenario you described where you do extra work for clients on personal projects, possessing a small container filled with precut keys of many species will assist you in the situation you encounter something odd...
Evan, ~~ Formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...
FB? I tried it on one of those things.First of all, the dang thing traces on the right and cuts on the left-totally assbackwards! When I turned the it on, I thought the frikkin' thing was gonna come off of the bench at me!!
That's a matter of how you mount it. (Yeah, I have one. I ain't proud of it, and I wouldn't try using it as a code machine unless I had no other choice, but it's sometimes been useful.)
goma: Seriously, what book are you looking in. The least I can see it for is $2300. I really wouldn't mind keeping $400 just for going to the right store :)
The Blue Shark is really cool from what I've seen of it, touch screen, able to sense a worn key and decode it, that's nice.
This ole' CodeMax has been around for a while. It's a good machine though. We did have to replace the board on it once but that was no big deal. It's good for working mobile out in the bad weather or when a customer is breathing down your neck. No hassle, just type in the DSD and code and go.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.