PaPaPeng wrote:
On 26 Nov 2004 18:16:05 -0800, (N. Thornton) wrote:
Cutting your own keys is simple and quick if you have an angle
grinder. I imagine at least some unwanted keys could be trimmed down
to fit existing locks - never tried it though. Definitely something
for the frugal folk.
There is a special metal bevelled key cutter wheel you will have to
get. The cut notch angle is standard for keys. An angle grinder
wheel had a thick rounded rim for safety (won't shatter that easily)
and is not fine enough to cut keys. Do it the primitive way. Use the
vise to clamp the blank, aka the one to be recycled, side by side with
the key to be duplicated. Then use a triangle file to file down the
excesss material.
I've done this. I didn't have a key so I had to pick the lock and then
take it apart to look at the top of the pins and then file down until
they were even. The big problem is getting the blanks. Apparently they
aren't supposed to sell them to you uncut, I don't know what they are
worried about. I've heard you can fill in the grooves with a brazing
torch on used keys that are correct for your lock.
Also, I've seen people who cut one side of the key for one of their cars
and the other for the other. I expect this doesn't work on locks that
have two sets of pins, but otherwise should work for cars with keys that
work when put in either way.
--
I heard Clinton buried a time capsule at his new presidential library
sized like an overseas shipping container filled with stuff he didn't
want anyone to find till long after his death, the real deed to
Whitewater, the envelope for the Tyson Foods chicken payoffs, the real
gun he used to whack Foster, the keys to the Exocet missile he took Ron
Brown out with, copies of another few thousand illegally acquired FBI
files on his enemies, tickets to Tahiti from the White House Travel
Office, a few more soiled dresses, a couple of cases of well chewed
Cuban cigars, and the unabridged version of his autobiography. That last
one was touch and go just getting the bugger in.