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I've been trying my hand at impressioning for the first time. Things were marking pretty well then all marking stopped. I'm using a key holder but no vise. Will that help?

It probably will help. But check the shoulder and the spine of the key blank (the edge opposite the bitting cuts) and make sure the blank is not hitting on part of the lock.

Have had to file down the shoulder part way, and/or file a little bit off a part of the key to stop the lock itself from blocking the blank, preventing it from leaving impressioning marks.

Also, make sure your blank is long enough! Several times I have had no marks, and using my pick, determined that I needed a six pin blank instead of a five pin blank.

Gordon

U bet! A pippin file oh yea, and lots of practice!!!

No it is not "necessary" because you can very well impression by holding the lock in hand BUT and this is a huge but, if you plan to master this skill and do it constantly then yes get a vise. Many times especially with the older lock, you need the lock to be stationary to get that extra umff when wiggling/giggling to get marks. Also, different locks, require different methods to get marks and I cant imagine how you can use the bump method free hand. You can get a vise for $15-20 maybe even less but it will so much better the impressioning experience and make things a lot more easier and more enjoyable. Not to mention you can use the vise to pick locks which is a game changer. Get the vise and believe me you will NOT regret it. If you have a little extra get a panavise or a stanley which I hear great things about. The pana is around $30 and it has many different attachments to suit your needs and most of them can be made out of simply wood not to break your bank.

Yes a vise will help loads