Going to attempt my first lock impression

[twenglish 1]

I have an old Herculock and no key so this will be perfect for attempting to impression my first lock, i also do not know what kind of keyblank it uses, maybe someone would be able to help me out? i tried searching online and looked through an online keyway book, but could not seem to match up just one, always seem to be a few similar ones i cant decide between, here is a picture of the keyway

[jeffmoss26]

That is one of the restricted keyways, so you will have a tough time finding blanks.

[LockButcher]

I made one for a Hurd once by filing down some material on a masterlock blank. That was my first time impressioning too. I made a video about how I did it on YouTube if you want to check it out. It's on my channel LockButcherShop and it's called how to make a blank for an antique/vintage lock. It takes some work but it could save you some time and money on the actual blank if you can still even find them.

[LockButcher]

I guess I should also mention sometimes you will get lucky like I did and only have to file down the top and bottom of the blade but I've ran into situations where I had to widen the channels running down the side or I've even had to create some with a needle file if they weren't there and needed to be. I've also had to file down ledges on the side of the blade too if they needed to be at an angle or more narrow. It sounds like a lot of work but it will all pay off if you get that lock open:) have fun!

[twenglish 1]

I can already easily pick it open, but I think it would be cool to learn how to impression a lock

[LockButcher]

That's good! I consider that step one to impressioning. Make sure the lock works. Haha! You don't want to spend all that time and effort trying to impression the lock only to find out one of the pins is jammed up in the core and they lock isn't ever going to open. But there aren't that many more steps. Mostly just bind the core with the key blank and rock it then file where you see the marks from the key pins. The skill comes in with knowing where and how much to file when you see the marks. And believe me I am not trying to say I'm really good at it or anything it is very tough yet fun and rewarding to learn. I've ruined tons blanks in my experiences trying to impression a lock. Lol So what I meant by when you get that lock open was when you're in that zone of bind, rock, file. Bind, rock, file. Bind, rock, file then you'll go to bind it again but it doesn't bind. The key just turns and that shackle will go *pop* and when that happens you'll feel like you just hit a home run in the world series.