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Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:25 am**

Here is my first attempt at printing a working key on my 3d printer.

Abloy printed key.jpg

This is the end profile as printed.

Abloy key end.jpg

Here it is in the lock.

Abloy printed key in lock.jpg

The lock is an Abloy Profile and fairly thick disks so a lot easier to cut then my other Abloy disklock would be.

About 30 minutes to design on Google sketchup3d. 20 minutes to print at 1.0 density and 0.1mm layers. 20 minutes to cut with a stanley knife to suit the lock.

Here is a video showing the key working.
http://youtu.be/lbEu3kr9ASA

Only plastic I know and hard to say how long it will work but a normal house key will be next. Should be able to print blank as well as a copy of a working key. I hope...

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:39 am**

Very cool!!

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:14 pm**

you can print a house key in a 3D printer, I would love to get STL's or cad of blank keys so I could try Impressioning with them.(for me it would be cheaper then buying blanks)

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:25 pm**

Nice job, Gregted.

I look forward to seeing more of your work in this area.

Many thanks for sharing.

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:42 pm**

Nice one. I don't think i've seen a 3d printed key in effect earlier. I always reckoned it would be too brittle/malleable but then again theres no need to be heavyhanded with most keys/locks.

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:47 pm**

That is very cool. Locksmiths and walmart key machines - your time is over!

Posted: **Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:00 pm**

Anarchy_won wrote:you can print a house key in a 3D printer, I would love to get STL's or cad of blank keys so I could try Impressioning with them.(for me it would be cheaper then buying blanks)

Some Stls are available on Thingiverse.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9918
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9463

And here is a working safe, lock and key to suit.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:90727

And here is a working printed 5 lever tumbler padlock and key
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:27205

I haven't printed any of these yet so can't say whether they are genuine or not but the padlock does have a video showing it working, so looks good.

All the ones I've looked at so far have been slightly different dimensions than all the keys I have here so I might have to design mine from scratch. The ones on Thingiverse may not be designed to print out as a working key.

80553 wrote:Nice one. I don't think i've seen a 3d printed key in effect earlier. I always reckoned it would be too brittle/malleable but then again theres no need to be heavyhanded with most keys/locks.

That was my original thought as well until I started picking and I realized how little torque is required on the tension wrench to actually turn the lock. The thin plastic just has to push up the pins at the right height and the rest is easy.

As I said, I haven't tried to print one yet so we'll see.

I think this type of reproduction would work better for making unusual and or security keys, such as Schlage or my Abloy where the cuts/dimples are difficult to copy on a normal key cutting maching.

Posted: **Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:00 pm**

Very interesting! I too look forward to seeing more of your work here.

Posted: **Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:50 pm**

That is a very nicely done key!

Would be very, very careful using one of these for impressioning. They should take marks easily, but should snap off almost as easily.

Perhaps you could print a blank with a slot one one side for a tension wrench to be placed into the keyway along with the blank. That way you do not need to tension the key bow and risk snapping it off in the lock. Depending on the density of the plastic, you may be able to get impressioning marks simply by turning the tension wrench a few times.

Gordon

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:36 am**

They are more of a novelty than anything at the moment Gordon.

I thought I might get 10 turns at opening the lock before it broke but it was probably less than that.
The plastic is very weak at the small parts left between cuts.

The next step is using the printed blank to cast an aluminum key. I might also get a working printed key and try to cast that as well.

Have checked out casting small parts in al on youtube so we'll see where this goes.

The printed key might work better for a double sided car key with a groove and dimples instead of cut teeth.

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:52 am**

This is a lovely way to make blanks to cast from. Restricted blanks of course. This is an area I have been looking at for about 6 months now on and off.
Greg, if you're going to be melting stuff then it might be a good idea to make yourself a little forge or furnace. Here is mine:

viewtopic.php?f=120&t=8133

The really tricky part is if you try to cast REALLY small bits, like 0.1mm, 0.2mm thick. I have struggled with this and I have since come up with other ways to get what I want but I would still like to master it. I think vacuum casting might be the only practical way to do this at home.

The thing with 3D printing a key is its versatility. So from a file you can print and make a key pretty much anywhere you can get a 3D printer working. Which leads me into a very cool area. The reproduction of a key from nothing more than an image. Like a photo or a webcam grab. I know the Easy Entrie boasts it can make a profile from just such a circumstance and MWT has said he can copy Medeco keys from a picture. So potential scenario - subject is sitting in a bar with their keys on the table. A photo is covertly taken, uploaded to someone waiting nearby with the 3D printer and the key is copied. It could be done in minutes.

By the way, are 0.1mm steps the smallest you can currently practically print at home at the moment?

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:47 pm**

Good 'ol MIT...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenbe ... rity-keys/

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2014 7:15 pm**

huxleypig wrote:This is a lovely way to make blanks to cast from. Restricted blanks of course. This is an area I have been looking at for about 6 months now on and off.
Greg, if you're going to be melting stuff then it might be a good idea to make yourself a little forge or furnace. Here is mine:

viewtopic.php?f=120&t=8133&p=71733&hilit=forge#p71733

The really tricky part is if you try to cast REALLY small bits, like 0.1mm, 0.2mm thick. I have struggled with this and I have since come up with other ways to get what I want but I would still like to master it. I think vacuum casting might be the only practical way to do this at home.

The thing with 3D printing a key is its versatility. So from a file you can print and make a key pretty much anywhere you can get a 3D printer working. Which leads me into a very cool area. The reproduction of a key from nothing more than an image. Like a photo or a webcam grab. I know the Easy Entrie boasts it can make a profile from just such a circumstance and MWT has said he can copy Medeco keys from a picture. So potential scenario - subject is sitting in a bar with their keys on the table. A photo is covertly taken, uploaded to someone waiting nearby with the 3D printer and the key is copied. It could be done in minutes.

By the way, are 0.1mm steps the smallest you can currently practically print at home at the moment?

I haven't tried to print at smaller then 0.1mm yet but there's no reason why it couldn't be done. The print at 10 layers per mm is very fine anyway.

I tried to get to your thread and couldn't work out how to do that. Where do I copy that thread description to?

I had a look at some casting vids and the detail seems pretty fine if the part is dusted with the green sand through a sieve before adding the final green sand to fill the mold.

With a key blank profile, I might just push it in the sand from the top of the sand. This should allow the aluminium to flow to the bottom/end of the key and fill it well. I may even do this with many blanks side by side as in a sinker mold. This wouldn't work with a cut key of course and this would have to be molded from 2 sides but that's no biggy from what I've seen.

One bloke on youtube even used a cuttlefish as a mold for a leggo pendant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr1kZ5RN42s

This is all speculation on my part as I haven't tried casting in al yet so I'll see how it goes.

I am very interested in seeing your forge so please let me know how to view that.

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:15 pm**

Just found your forge Hux. Looks good. I have a homemade forge made from an old plow disk that was given to me years ago. Might have to get the missus on the crank handle though.

Forge pic.jpg

Posted: **Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:49 pm**

It would be interesting to see how a 3D printed Supra lockbox key would fare...

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