Second attempt. Cut off the key shoulder with a dremel and cleaned up with a file. Took 400 grit sandpaper to the ledge to prep the surface.
I mounted the padlock differently this time. I heard a rattle that may be the result of a missing or damaged spring and wanted to avoid any problems by keeping the padlock upright. The noise may have been there before but I didn't think about the implications previously.
Began impressioning again while seeing good indications and no indications. After every attempt I eagerly looked for little "black" specks that told me where to file off a bit more. As I progressed it became increasingly difficult to find the needed marks. Towards the end I seemed to be "impressioning" 3 or 4 times for every time I used the file. About two-thirds of the way through I began to really question if the marks I thought I was seeing. The groove for the fifth pin was also approaching the warding making me to wonder if I had gone too deep already. I didn't have to worry about that too much because the key had had enough.
Naturally, I bent the key extractor trying to remove the broken piece. The key lasted a lot longer this time around. I was holding the vise grips near the key and instead of a lot of back and forth like last time I turned it one way and wiggled it up and down to impression.
I placed the broken blank on top of yesterday's attempt to compare spacing and depth.
And so ends my two key blank impressioning attempts of this Eagle padlock. I would call this a failure but clearly the key blanks were defective.
Anyway, I hear the third time's the charm.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.