Making Plastic Keys

You cant use plastic for impressioning and I think your overall coment is going overbourd.

Hi Fredie

I recommend you do your own test. The supplies probably cost no more then $30. After some tests, then you could make generalizations about the technique. Using plastics for impressioning is not a new idea. There's an article in the Reed Security Reporter by a prison locksmith who found a plastic toothbrush that had been formed into a working key by impressioning. You can find references to plastics being used in forensic journals and books.

I'm not saying plastic is better or will last longer than brass. What I'm saying is there is a cheaper, easier, and more reliable substitute for the Clam Kit - a tool sold by many reputable locksmith distributors. I'm also saying that plastic keys may be used for impressioning. It's simply a fact. I have several keys that I have made.

Why would anyone want to use plastic - who knows? Why do people spend money on electric lock picks? Because it's another tool that may work for them. Just because a technique or tool comes along that you have never heard of, does not make the technique false or the tool faulty.

I'm glad you told us.

I have a few bits from modelling aircraft and this will allow me another option.

Peter

here I agree... I can buy 'tool' to do this faster/easier/more efficient, will save me x amount of time per time needed, but, if you only need that ability a few times a year, its a waste of money.

regarding the vat reader, I do far more 6 cut vat, than 10 cut, and my local GM dealer has in fact only needed 3-4 10 cut vat blanks in the last several years.

there ARE situations that one must stop and think-OK, I buy this, and can DO this,the tool will cost me say $2,000, but, how many times have I turned DOWN a job due to lack of that tool? That answer then makes the tool-useful, or not --Shiva--

You are passing judgment on materials you have never purchased or used and techniques you have never tested. I've impressioned many locks using brass keys over the years and I've recently tested some plastic materials and I've found them to be useful. If you wish to be closed minded about the use of plastics, so be it.

To tell you the ruth, I can't figure out one *legitimate* reason to use a clam kit in the first place. If you are _autorized_ to duplicate a key, I can think of a lot of easier and cheaper ways to do it.

One highly specialized use: If someone has an *extremely* obscure blank that you don't recognize, but has only the one copy of the key and can't be without it for more than a few minutes, this lets you make a temporary/emergency duplicate for them or (perhaps more usefully) for yourself to take back to the shop and research.

Yeah, a photocopy is usually sufficient. But having something you could actually take a micrometer to, or hold in your hand to compare against others, might not be a bad thing.

Cost effective... Maybe, if you can add an "obscurity surcharge" to the service. Worth the investment in the tool? Very unlikely unless you're specializing in dealing with these weird cases.

I find the comments about alternative materials more interesting from a crafts point of view than a locksmithing point of view, but de gustibus.

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If you're trying to promote the use of plastics that isn't a good comparison to use. "Electric lock picks" are junk. They don't work as well as the plain old manual snap guns.

Most legit uses would be situations where you had no blank and none was readily available. If you make a mold and then a temporary copy of the original key the customer can retain their key while you attempt to locate a suitable blank.

I would call it a research charge and base it upon the actual time spent locating a suitable blank or the time spent making a suitable mold to cast a permanent replacement. With a credit card and authorization to bill on file. The temporary key molding and casting would be a separate charge.