Wow! You made that key holder?! That's pretty nifty!
First off, I REALLY like what MrWizard & Farmerfreak had to say. I'm gonna have to tryn' utilize some of that advice.
Although my keys turn out looking good & working smooth... I feel it's more a result of tedious work and persistence
rather than efficient skill. I'm not shorting myself here. But really. I mean if I were watch Farmerfreak whip up a key
from start to finish... I'll bet I would be floored with the realization of just how much time & experience I still need. lol
Regardless of whether you're using a pippen or a round, I think a WB key is a great example of what to strive for.
The straight, gradually sloped angels leading down to nice narrow, rounded valleys. As MrWizard eluded to, be
conscious of what portion of the file you're using. Use more of the tip of the file in order to keep the valley's tight,
and the wider portion of the file for fanning out the angels.
In regards to my hand cut keys that look factory cut. Just to clarify, this is a two part process... and a two key process.
There's no way in hell I could get cuts to look like that WHILE impressioning. Instead, I first impression a working key -
which ends up looking like what you're use to seeing (round cuts kinda like a shark took a bit out of it). I then cut a nice
looking key using the first as a guide for space and depth. I use a pippen and a very small flat file for this. The knife edge
of the pippin for the flat valleys and the small flat file for the slopes. It's very tedious work and can be a real bitch to get a
key lookin' like that AND work smoothly though, lol. You have to be a little on the obsessive side. ha!
Anyway, I know you and I already talked about this Gleb, but I thought it would be good to mention so people don't
get discouraged & think WTF?! These keys are NOT the result of impressiong. They are made AFTER the fact.
Great work so far! I'm very much lookin' forward to seeing more.