UK Foil source ?.

[Magic1]

Poundland in UK sell reels of adhesive backed aluminum foil tape, in rolls for £1 each. The rolls are 48mm wide and 20 meters long. They are sold in the tool section. I have no idea whether it would be suitable for impressioning as I have not found any blanks yet, but the tape does look promising.

I am also looking for a UK source for the the comb type impressioning key(s).

I have got as far as making up a handle this afternoon.... and that's it. It is probably a bit on the short side. The screws are 5mm and seem adequate for the job.

[Magic1]

I sit here wondering how I can make the comb type impressioning key tool. it occurred to me that perhaps a comb pick might be adapted to do the job, by off setting the comb so that the gaps on the comb, are astride the pins. Anyone tried it ?.

[uklockpicker]

Looks a handy impressioning tool, as long as the key doesnt slip you look good to go

[s1deshowmick]

The foil your talking about sounds like the right stuff, You should get some and try it out.
Even if it's not that great, it was only a buck a roll and will come in handy one day.

[abroxis]

I was told that John Falle uses foil that is 30 or 40 micron thickness.

Any idea how thick that foil you found is ?

[Magic1]

Sorry, all a vernier will tell me is that it is thinner than 0.01mm. I just wrapped some around a cut key, formed it and it went into a lock OK and the key still opened it, after some wriggling. The key came out without any visible tearing of the foil. .

[Magic1]

Packing for identification purposes ....

[Magic1]

I had a think about the Chinese foil impressioning tool and came to the conclusion that if one wanted a wide range of key way blades, then perhaps a short term solution would be to make them ones self from blank keys. I don't have any blank keys (because all of the local blacksmiths work for nationwide chains and selling blanks is prohibited. So to get a feel for the subject I have taken an old cut key and reshaped the bow as I would a blank. As you can see the length is restricted by the position of the bow hole, but there is plenty of length to fit a handle of almost any design. This key is made of brass, but I would have used a steel blank, if I had one.

Milling the comb slots is a straight forward procedure. An unknown at this time is whether the longitudinal groove is required for the retractable sliding shim, that I think is meant to cover and protect the foil when the comb key is removed or inserted.

An alternative to all of this would be the plastic comb tool set, providing the set includes tools for common door key ways. There is a video of it in use on youtube, but I could find no one who sells it. The video can be seen at .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2mhhWOBmVY

I think the kit was manufactured by Martin & Starchuk Ltd. , who also hold the patent.

Anyone got any idea's ?. I guess for the purist, bare metal impressioning is the acceptable process, but I got fascinated by why the apparently sharp teeth of the comb do not tear the foil.

[abroxis]

Martin patented a skeleton key kit.
http://www.pat2pdf.org/ enter 4400956

martin.jpg

[abroxis]

A lot of google seaching came up with a suggestion that some user claimed worked ........ the foil used on windows for burglar alarms.

[oldlock]

The foil used is available from RS .