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Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or bad

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MrPharmer2012

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Post Wed May 02, 2018 7:41 pm

Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or bad

What are your thoughts on this machine, is this made by HPC and rebranded ILCO looks same as blitz in photos I am thinking about purchasing one and wanted to know if anyone personally uses this machine or has experience with one http://www.ilco.us/products/key-machine ... al-ii.html
http://www.ilco.us/products/key-machines/traditional-edge-cut/805340-804600/universal-ii.html
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GWiens2001

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Post Sat May 05, 2018 4:28 pm

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

Have a Blitz and love it.

Gordon
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jeffmoss26

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Post Sun May 06, 2018 5:37 pm

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

as I understand it, HPC's patent ran out and Ilco manufactured a very similar machine that uses the same cards/cutters/etc.
We have 4 HPC machines at work and I use them daily.
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mdc5150

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Post Mon May 07, 2018 5:44 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

Ever since ESP bought out HPC dealing with getting machines serviced by them has been a nightmare. People have sent in machines for service and they never see them again and ESP/HPC has no record of even receiving them.

Besides that I got a good laugh out of a special order I placed for some key cabinets. After two months I cancelled the order because the customer naturally decided to try something else. Two and a half years later the special order showed up.

I would imagine Ilco would be easier to deal with for service.
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Sun May 20, 2018 11:28 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

GWiens2001 wrote:Have a Blitz and love it.

Gordon

Gordon,
When buying secondhand it doesnt come with the software to print the cards and most for sale dont have a full deck of cards how do i print these I have seen post of people printing micrometer cards and other cards but cant find where to do that, i found a decent deal on one again and want to make sure i can het cards i need without spending a fortune
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mdc5150

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Post Sun May 20, 2018 1:41 pm

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

If you have an account for Codes Online (lockcodes.com) you can print out cards there.
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adi_picker

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Post Sun May 20, 2018 6:41 pm

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

Gday MrPharmer,

I can second that I have a Blitz and get lots of great use out of it. Again, its not the same brand, but essentially the same machine. When I got the machine I got a whole box of printed cards, which I ditched and started afresh printing from InstaCode. I have an InstaCode Live subscription, which I can and do sometimes vary month to month depending on whether I require just code for house cylinders, or for autos, with the autos and opening information another 6 dollars or so per month. I think the base subscription for house cylinders costs me about $10 AUD PM. Obviously, I also only require a subscription when I need a new card, when I first started afresh this was all the time, but now that I am a year in this may only be every other month, so I only pay accordingly. If I ever need a new card or code ASAP, I simply logon to the website, renew the subscription, then fire up the program and reactivate, which works nearly instantly.

I can also attest to the good repairability and ability to adjust these machines. When I first got mine secondhand, there was a good amount of rust and wear on the lower depth bar attached to the key carriage. As it was the non-eccentric bar, I simply removed it, machined a couple of thou off it and gave it a fresh gun-blueing. Reinstalled, and tightened up the grub screws securing it, and we were good to go. This first repair looked so nice, that I took the decision to dissasemble the entire machine and give it a full refurb / overhaul, which included blasting and re-powdercoating the unit, as well as cleaning, repairing and re-blueing most of the other shafts as well. You can see a log of this here. My apologies for linking to the 'other' picking forum, but this machine was repaired when I still though this forum was invite only! After repair, I found it relatively easy to reset and adjust using some known good depth and space keys, and it currently cuts to within a couple of thou max to where it should be. I cant complain at all. If you go the refurb and want help resetting / adjusting it, PM me and I will do my best to remember how I went about it. This also applies to the gun-blueing if interested, I have been very happy using a cheap cold-blue solution I got from the gun shop, it gets me a finish very close to the original.

Highly recommended,

adi_picker
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Sun May 20, 2018 9:14 pm

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

Thanks for the advise guys i just bought the ilco universal 2 it is new open box item missing the cards, how much is the lockcodes site listed above , would anyone be able to print to pdf like the five cards i would need? the micrometer cards schlage sargent kwikset and trioving
Dont need any others at this time that is all i deal with a work and i want the trioving if available for a 3d printed key i am planning to make for my padlock
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Sun May 20, 2018 9:31 pm

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

mdc5150 wrote:If you have an account for Codes Online (lockcodes.com) you can print out cards there.

i went on looked at demo i dont see the option to print the cards for the ilco can you show me what you are talking about?
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Werewolf

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Post Mon May 21, 2018 3:58 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

From what I've found:

- The demo doesn't have the option to print the cards.
- It costs 59$ per year.
- Their site is a mess.
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mdc5150

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Post Mon May 21, 2018 6:05 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

MrPharmer2012 wrote:
mdc5150 wrote:If you have an account for Codes Online (lockcodes.com) you can print out cards there.

i went on looked at demo i dont see the option to print the cards for the ilco can you show me what you are talking about?

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SmartSelect_20180521-050335_Chrome.jpg

SmartSelect_20180521-050250_Chrome.jpg
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Mon May 21, 2018 9:20 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

Werewolf wrote:From what I've found:

- The demo doesn't have the option to print the cards.
- It costs 59$ per year.
- Their site is a mess.


Thanks for the info guys, so based on this i should prob just use instacode live then print what i need and cancel subscription probably for the most economical solution to getting the cards I need. Any suggestions for what paper etc anyone has had good luck printing on HPC charges an awful lot for their print stock on website.
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Mon May 21, 2018 9:35 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

I think I got a pretty good deal, when i called the guy he stated his father bought this left it in box as a spare and only removed the cards, all in perfect new condition
I have lost several auctions over the last month or so all these blitz etc go for higher for machines that are used and abused
lost a framon 2 auction also (preferred machine but couldnt pass this deal up) last month someone got a steal on a framon 2 with all accessories for just 350$ hope it was one of the forum members I was traveling and couldnt bid still kicking myself for missing that auction hoping this turns out to be a good machine, i can put my foley belsaw kit with dual micrometer kit up for sale once I get this and ditch the depth and space keys, kind of exited about that.
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Mon May 21, 2018 9:45 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

the instacode cards look nicer than the above lockcodes.com ones posted above, gonna have to play around with software and find the cards I need, does anyone know how to find the micrometer cards on instacode? heres my first print
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MrPharmer2012

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Post Fri Jun 01, 2018 1:09 am

Re: Ilco Universal II Key machine Reviews or advise Good or

[youtube]http://youtu.be/l4iX13rvLh0[/youtube]
I need some advise guys the code cards from instacode kind of slop around in holder making difficult process to calibrate can anyone help me with this process, it started off hell post office delivered it with the tape torn on the top and the package on its side luckily it was packed well inside but from being thrown around the cogwheel for the depth needle jumped teeth I guess and slipped so the needle was Pinned all the way to the left and the needle was bent so I had to straighten that out and spent a couple hours tinkering with this thing trying to get it close I’ve got it fairly close but I can’t get it to cut accurate I’m not sure what’s going on whenever I used the framon two in the past there was no real set up with it nice and easy accurate this thing unless we can get these cards figured out I don’t know how I’m going to cut an accurate key on here so any pointers would be much appreciated see the attached YouTube video the card just doesn’t seem like it fits appropriately printed from Instacode I wonder if my computer is scaling it or something when I print.
Last edited by MrPharmer2012 on Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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