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While at Lockcon 2012 this year, the impressioning master himself, Jos Weyers gave a workshop. He was using a tool, custom made for him by Jord Knaap. It is very nice and features a handle on the side to aid in separating the turning force from the rocking force to make the key movement more controllable. I thought this was a good idea. I got a fairly inexpensive impressioning tool from Pro-Lock and machined a side handle. I just finished it today and have not had a chance to try it out. Jords tool is all aluminum and makes it very light. the pro lock is plastic and steel and the handle I added is also steel, so the downside to mine is that it is pretty heavy.



If I like the action I may fabricate one out of aluminum using this one as a template.

If it has any strange pros or cons I'll let everyone know.

~Jesse

Nice work! Is the piece you made two parts or one?

Its 2 pieces. the ball is from a very large roller bearing that we had to destroy at work. I thought it would make a good counter balance. The shaft I machined and threaded on both ends. I can take it apart for storage.

Could you do a pic of the profile of the tool and the key mounting mechanism. I have wanted to build on of these but have been unsuccessful in building a really high quality one. I like the side handle idea and the workmanship is top notch.

Sorry this took so long but work was a madhouse today.
2 more pictures of the holder.


This is the holder available from lockpicks.com for $37. When I first got it i thought it wouldn't work very well. the jaw doesn't clamp on the key
the set screws bind on it and dig into the bow. as it turns out, this clamps the key really well. I am working on finding some aluminum to replace
the lever arm on my mod to make it lighter.

Gnarus, thanks for that. I like working with metal. I have a couple of Teflon balls that i may use for the next generation. they are a little bigger, i think 1"
but they are much lighter. they are also white. Aluminum is still my next step. Ill post picks when its done.

Thanks that answers my question on the arrangement of the set screws. I've just gotten started with some metal fabrication and this could be a good project. If I get one done I'll post it here.