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Making a Key for a Pin Tumbler Lock without Impressioning

There have been a few write-ups along these lines, but hope this will help some people.

So you have a mortise lock cylinder without a key.



You don’t know how to impression a key, and don’t really want to learn how. What do you do? Here is something that might help.

Hopefully, you can pick the lock. Or at least shim it from the rear. (fgarci… warning you! )



On the back end of the lock, there is the cam held in place with two screws:



Remove those screws and the cam. Most locks will not have anything else, though this one does. If there are other parts behind the cam, just remove them. NOTE: On this particular lock, you can see the driver pin for the 7th pin stack once the parts are removed.



Use a follower to push out the plug. In this picture, on this lock, you can see that the main pin channels are capped off. The screwdriver is pointing to the seventh pin channel cap. That extra strip below is for trap pins! Careful if you pick this baby!



Now take your blank:



And put it into the plug:



You can see that the pins are pushed up above the shear line of the plug. If the pin is flush with the shear line, then that pin is a “0” or a “1”, depending on the numbering system of the lock company.

Now take out the pins, keeping them in order (unless you are rekeying the lock, in which you can now switch them around. Look into the pin channels, and you can see the edge of the key blade.



Use a fine-point marker to draw a dot in the pin channels on the key blade.



The marks should be pretty much centered in the pin channels.



Remove the key blank and examine the marks.



Cool! You know where each pin is centered on the key! Now draw a line straight down from each mark.





Place your marked key blank in a vice.



Put the last (closest to the key tip) pin into the plug. This will give you some idea of how much to file for the pin to fit flush. File less than that amount. It is much better to file and check several times than to file too much and waste a key blank.



File some metal away...



And check the depth by sliding the plug back onto the key blank.



Repeat until the pin fits flush with the top of the plug.



Now for a tip... I intentionally filed the bitting on the blank to the correct depth without 'fixing' the ramps (slopes on each side of the cut). This is not recommended, but did it so you could see an example of canyoning, which happens when the slopes are too steep and traps the pin:



This is an extreme example, but it helps you to see.



Here have fixed one slope...



And the other.



Much better.



Add the next pin...



And repeat until all bits are cut.



Check your slopes on the key (still need some fixing in this picture).



Reassemble the lock and test:



WooHoo!

Gordon

selim has a wonderful trick for this: tap each pin with a hammer with the blank in the plug. it will make a mark on the key. now your key has perfect spacing with the pin marks.

Use that trick, too. Just worried about noobs deforming pins. Also, some manufacturers use key pins that are very round, so they mark less. Good tip, though!

Gordon

Fantastic write-up. This is a great technique to not only learn the process of impressioning, but also the inner-workings of a lock. The pictures are great too.. Thanks for the hard work.



Happy Picking,
Whizdumb

Oh damn! You caught me "shiming a lock from the rear" didn't you?
Why did everyone need to know that?







First time I tried I tapped it hard enought for everything to jump and I lost some pins!
I managed to make it work, but for some reason I prefer to mark them with a marker

Wow this is great gordon, thanks so much for the writeup. im going to give this a try for sure when i get some free time over the holiday.

Gordon I must say well done. Very good final product. Just wish I could do it for a lock I'm working on at the moment. Can't pick it though.

Hey Mur670, long time no see! How is summer treating you?

What kind of lock are you working with? Any pictures? Bet we can come up with an idea or two to try if we have more information.

Gordon

Can you shim it?

Gordon,now show us how to do this with a Master Lock padlock!

I can't impression worth a crap so this is the technique I have used on several locks that had no keys. I got a bit hung up a couple of times because my slopes were not cut properly and I did it with all of the pins in at the same time (oops). As a result the key got stuck. A bit of good gorilla tape pulled the pins up just enough to allow the key to slide out without having to dump the whole thing. I was using a chainsaw file that was not perfect for the job and a small flat file was essential to file down the slopes. Drawing a line down the side of the key would have been very helpful in orienting the slopes properly. Very nice write up and great pictures...I will do a better job the next time.

The kind of file you use can speed things up, but recently was at a relative's house and they needed a key made. They had needle files and 400 grit sandpaper, so used those to impression a key. File a little where you see the marks, then wrap sandpaper around the file and use that to get a good surface. Then impression again.

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Yeh it's been a while hasn't it? I've been busy with leaving my job, moving interstate and trying to find new work but it's good to get back to picking.

Currently I'm working on an old Lockwood 234/45 with no key for it. I can only set 2 of its pins which makes me think there's some funky spool or serrated pins working their magic in it. I also tried bumping it with my house key when I figured out that my LW4 fit the keyway for it but alas none of this has worked.

As for trying to shim it, there's hardly enough room to insert a shim so that option is out.

Oisin