Doens't seem like a good idea to me ...

[Werewolf]

I just saw this picture pass by on facebook.
Really hope they changed or rekeyed the locks. Because even i can make a key for their house now and i'm half a planet away.

[bitbuster]

Gordon or Oldfast may have already done just that.

[WestCoastPicks]

As long as they don't live there anymore lol. Not such a good idea though. It's about the same as posting pictures of you keys.

[GregWhitney]

There is a lot of giving folks a hard time about posting a picture of a key but can you guys really make a working key that easily or are y'all just busting balls? As a newbie it is really intriguing......

[madsamurai]

A friend of mine posted a picture of her keys to her new apartment just a few weeks ago... they even had the bitting printed on one side so no guessing necessary, but she still thought I was being silly... I almost filed a key to take to her, but she would have said it was only easy for me because I'm into this stuff and criminals are too stupid to figure it out. Not sure where everyone got the idea that only stupid people are criminals, or that they can't google and read like the rest of us.

Greg, yeah it actually is pretty easy to make a key from a picture, especially with common keys... worst case if you can't tell exactly you could make a few keys with bittings that look right and one of them would likely work.

[tarboxb]

Greg, I am a newbie, particularly with keymaking but usually there are only 5-7 possible depths for a given key. You can relatively easily figure out which depth the cuts are from a picture and then cut the bitting to match. You don't need to be able to measure within .001 or anything like that to make a matching key.

[Robotnik]

Making a key from a picture (or in this case an impression) is relatively easy with basic algebra skills and manufacturer space & depth info.

Speaking specifically to the castings posted here, the SC1 key could be easily made. KW1 is a bit indistinct; would be some guesswork there.

[femurat]

I agree it's not a good idea. This thread may be of interest for the newbies viewtopic.php?f=12&t=12067

Cheers

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

Reminds me of the video TOOOL (or was it someone else?) did, where they pointed out this key showing thing on TV programs. The effect of "THIS key works to the nuclear missiles" works the same for viewers despite showing a wrong key.

[malfunctionjunction]

So, sure, it's easy for many locksmiths/lock enthusiasts to make a key from an image like that... but to what end? Like, which of us is actually going to bother doing it and then... going over to their house and going inside? And on top of that, which of us would do that, but wouldn't just pick the lock in the first place?

The fact is that most common criminals, like the people who break into average homes, are going to find an open window, break a window, pry the door, kick the door in, or even drill the lock out before they're going to pick the lock or make a key from a picture they found on the internet. So, it's far from a best practice, and it's not something I'd do, but it's also not a big risk. Most people don't even know what the bitting number on factory keys means, let alone that they could go to a locksmith and get that cut. Even if they did, again, it's really less time/money/effort/risk to just kick the door in.

[WestCoastPicks]

There is a lot of giving folks a hard time about posting a picture of a key but can you guys really make a working key that easily or are y'all just busting balls? As a newbie it is really intriguing......

Yes. Very easy. Depending in the key type, there are only up to 10 possible cuts, easy to remember and determine at a glance. Easy to reproduce and yes, even a picture is all you need.

I suggest you check out how the TSA keys all got decoded. From one picture. I'm sure there aren't many criminals that would be able to do this. But if they wanted to learn how, it would be pretty easy.

[GregWhitney]

Thanks everyone. I did not mean to hijack this thread and the linked thread above was very informative.

[Pick-Fu]

Yeah, taking pictures of your keys or doing stuff like this is not very smart. Criminals who dont want to kick in a door or break a window because of the noise could get into Lock Sport just to get into houses easy and quietly. When I first got into this, my mother in law didnt think I could get into her new mobile home because she had a lock on the door knob and a dead bolt, then she had a security gate with the same thing.

She had the locksmith do this to her front and back door because he told her that it was "High Security"..
She challenged me to try and get into her house... I zipped open all 4 locks on her back porch and then walked around and zipped open al 4 on her front door. I think it took loner for me to walk around the house then it did to open all 8 of her locks... Oh, they were all Kwikset locks with very easy bidding (but I have not met a kwikset or Schlage that wont open in just a few seconds.

She was not happy to say the least, so I custom pinned all her locks with better bidding (bitting?) and some good security pins.
Whe the Wife and I get a new place I will not be installing off the shelf brand locks on my doors...

[bitbuster]

always knew it as BITTING. i believe there is a member (not me) either on KP or LP101 who does not like Bidding used for bitting. anyway, nice of you to put security pins in the locks.

[mastersmith]

This is simple, just use the key before you change the locks, or use a bogus key in the first place. The point is to have a souvenir of the event not a factual archive of the locks. Have fun and get some sculpting tools. Make that impression like no other on earth!