recycling old keys
 

Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

--
Chav Freebies
http://www.chavfreebies.co.uk
Free stuff for chavs,Cos you're worth it.

In article ,
mogga wrote:
Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

The metal recycling skip at your local tip? For steel ones, certainly.

--
*I wish the buck stopped here. I could use a few.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

mogga wrote:
Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

Well, there's this round building with an 'ole in the middle somewhere
near a racecourse and whose nearest city centre is full of faded-glory
Regency architecture which is always happy to receive old keys,
specially if they've been used to protect anything interesting ;-)

Stefek Zaba wrote:

mogga wrote:

Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

Well, there's this round building with an 'ole in the middle somewhere
near a racecourse and whose nearest city centre is full of faded-glory
Regency architecture which is always happy to receive old keys,
specially if they've been used to protect anything interesting ;-)
Reminds me of Blue Peter, one year they appealed for old keys (they are
mainly brass, or were then). Worked a treat, problem was the kids were
filching all their parents keys, caused some mayhem! :-)

mogga wrote:

Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

Did it have instructions to attach an address label to each key so they
can write to "thank" you?

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:18:12 +0000, mogga
wrote:

Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

Yes, eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...8890 581&rd=1

G
--
Any views expressed are not necessarily those of my employer

Old keys are highly sort after by joiners,antique restorers and of
course locksmiths. We accumulate old locks and other fittings but the
keys are always missing. Boxes of old keys at auctions often get good
money. Don't throw them away!

cheers

Jacob

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 16:10:02 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

mogga wrote:

Did I dream it or have I really seen a key recycling container
somewhere...?

Did it have instructions to attach an address label to each key so they
can write to "thank" you?




Nah, I have this vague memory of somewhere like a keycutters having a
box in...

I do have some oldish ones and I'm loath to just bin them...

--
Chav Freebies
http://www.chavfreebies.co.uk
Free stuff for chavs,Cos you're worth it.

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.

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.

PaPaPeng wrote in message . ..
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 cut some keys recently with an angle grinder, came out perfect and
took 1 to 2 minutes per key.

NT

On 27 Nov 2004 04:41:04 -0800, (N. Thornton) wrote:

PaPaPeng wrote in message . ..
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 cut some keys recently with an angle grinder, came out perfect and
took 1 to 2 minutes per key.

NT

Cool. Whenever I get keys cut from new blanks, they rarely work!


Joel

"Joel M. Eichen" wrote in message
...

Cool. Whenever I get keys cut from new blanks, they rarely work!


Joel

The answer for that is to go to a different place to get them cut. The
cutting machine is just a basic lathe and there is no reason for that if
they care and keep it calibrated. The worst keys I ever got were from the
local wally. They were off by .040" and would not work at all.

On 27 Nov 2004 04:41:04 -0800, (N. Thornton) wrote:


I cut some keys recently with an angle grinder, came out perfect and
took 1 to 2 minutes per key.


Are you using a hand grinder? What size of angle grinder is yours and
what is the thickness and diameter of your grinding wheel? Weblinks?

I am a tool junkie and fairly familair with tools. But I can't
picture how a regular hand grinder, I am making a presumption here,
could be used to duplicate keys. A Dremel tool with a small grinder
wheel might work. But the wear on a Dremel wheel costs a lot more
than a shop made duplicate key and is not really worth the effort.

PaPaPeng wrote:

On 27 Nov 2004 04:41:04 -0800, (N. Thornton) wrote:


I cut some keys recently with an angle grinder, came out perfect and
took 1 to 2 minutes per key.



Are you using a hand grinder? What size of angle grinder is yours and
what is the thickness and diameter of your grinding wheel? Weblinks?

I am a tool junkie and fairly familair with tools. But I can't
picture how a regular hand grinder, I am making a presumption here,
could be used to duplicate keys. A Dremel tool with a small grinder
wheel might work. But the wear on a Dremel wheel costs a lot more
than a shop made duplicate key and is not really worth the effort.

or even possibly an air grinder. the angle grinder i use has grinding
disks that are about a quarter inch thick. the air grinder disks are a
bit thinner.

Joel M. Eichen wrote in message . ..
On 27 Nov 2004 04:41:04 -0800, (N. Thornton) wrote:

I cut some keys recently with an angle grinder, came out perfect and
took 1 to 2 minutes per key.

NT

Cool. Whenever I get keys cut from new blanks, they rarely work!


Joel

Thats odd. I'd try another locksmith!

NT

In article ,
PaPaPeng 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.

I attack from the other direction. I buy only Qwik-set locks. usually
at yard sales. they enable you to set the lock to use the existing
keys you have. I was a landlord at the time and had to change locks
of the rentals, once and a while.
Everybody have a great new year!
Patriotism is supporting your country all
the time and the government when it deserves it.
-Mark Twain

In uk.d-i-y veteran wrote:

I attack from the other direction. I buy only Qwik-set locks. usually
at yard sales. they enable you to set the lock to use the existing
keys you have. I was a landlord at the time and had to change locks
of the rentals, once and a while.

"once and a while." ???

--
Chris Green