I Want To Make a Bump Key...(If There's Nothing on TV Later)

[virul]

Hey Guys!

I have this lock that's totally pissed me off for the last couple of days, a Yale Y300C/63. Tomorrow is my last chance to try to pick it and I want to have a little something extra in my arsenal for my final attemt. I have a Yale euro that has a key that fits the padlock, so I was thinking i might give a bump key a go.
I've only tried making a bump key once before, to try on a few union rim cylinders i had, it was shit and didn't work at all. Also I've never actually bumped a lock successfully, so any help or advice is very much appreciated.

Fistly if someone's feeling particularly bored it would be helpful if u could edit this scan of the key i'm going to use to indicate what dept i should be going for with the cuts, with a red line or something. Or if anyone's in a really giving mood maybe draw an outline of what i sould be aming for with the overall shape..... I think with my previous attemt I left the sides too steep but I was worried about the peaks being too low.

Keys.jpg

Obviously if you've ever bumped a Yale Y300C/63 please share your experiance.

Keys 001.jpg

[Solomon]

Bumping locks with spools as deep as the ones in those things would be an absolute nightmare... I've bumped locks with standard spools and even those are a pain in the arse. I've seen one of those yales bumped before mind you, but I wouldn't fancy your chances.

However, if you really really wanna make a bump key then you need to file down roughly to just above that lover warding. Hold the key sideways against the cylinder to get an idea though, you want the cuts to sit underneath the pins but still making light contact (ie. the valleys should be making very light contact, but not so much that the key actually raises the pins when fully inserted). When it comes to bumping spools I've found that you need to bump then turn, and getting the timing is very tricky. You might have better luck with the spring technique but that's not something I've played with much myself.

Honestly mate you should be able to pick it, just make sure to use top of keyway tension on it to give yourself maximum room cos a lot of them have staggered bittings... and remember what I said earlier about the counter rotation. If it's in a false set and you're not getting any, turn it back a few degrees and test the pins again. That's the only problem I've ever had with any of the rekeyable yales and it doesn't happen often. Good luck

Edit: I've added an example of what it should roughly look like but pay attention to the cylinder to make sure you don't make the cuts too deep. I still vote picking as the #1 option though.

[virul]

cheers solly, i might not even make the bump key i'm hopeing i can still pick it, but if i can, then i'll have that lock to keep and i might make the bump key later just since i have that spare key to try it out on.


...... Very nice job with the picture, thanks.

[xeo]

If you had a triangular file, you can just file down directly to the center of each cut already on the key giving you the proper spacing