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I just got my business license and I have some tools for lock work. But im facing a difficult dilemma. What key blanks should I stock? The ilco catalog has thousands and I know theres no way I need them all. So Im hoping some vetted lockies can point me in the right direction. I know I need KW1, SC1, M1, Y1, A1114A-A1114R, and some yale blanks. I know some Weiser, Dexter and Arrow blamks would be good to have as well. But the Automotive blanks are really stumping me here. Which ones are still used? Which should I heavily stock? Im just looking for a little direction. Any help will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My experience has been in the hardware store world. Most of the keys we cut are the standard KW1, SC1, etc. As far as cars go, there are still a fair amount of GM non-transponder in this area. B86, B89, B102 etc

Jeff

Handful of SC4 and KW10, some with square bow stamped "Do not duplicate".

Auto is very difficult and will depend of your market and exposure. If you deal with a specfic car lot that sells a wide range of vehicles then wide stocks make sense. Otherwise it's probably dead money. I would ask your local supplier to suggest an initial stocking selection of their most popular 20 auto blanks, no more than 5 of each and buy more as and when you need them.

The best thing you can do is ask your supplier what are to most common blanks in your area and start with that.
Then : make sure you have the blanks for all the locks you sell , including padlocks and bicycle locks.
After that: look around at what locks are being sold in your area , by other locksmiths and hardware stores. Make sure you have the keyblanks for these.

For automotive , again look at the dealerships in your area , and don't forget motorcycles. Get blanks for the brands in your area. That will most likely be GM and Chrystler.
Next up , it's improtant to know if you are going to do transponder keys , or are going to stay away from them.
If you choose to do transponder keys , the key blanks you stock will depend on the transponders your machine is capable of cloning , or programming.
If you don't do transponder keys , you'll be limited to older vehicles and making surf keys (metal-only copy of a key with remote control).

I would suggest you do the following:
Stock non-transponder keyblanks for all the keyblanks that come with transponder.
Before the transponder era , most car manufacturers changed key profile very often (except GM) , so you end up with a whole load of keyblanks that all fit a limited number of older cars. Toyota is a good example of this , with several dozen key blanks used. You will probably never need any of these.
After transponders got used , the key blanks pretty much stayed the same. A few new profiles turned up and a few old ones died out. But the majority of key profiles for transponder keys is the same as it was in 1995. The transponder keys they started with are also the more common types from before the transponder era.
So if you do it this way , you'll be good for most cars produced in the last 25 years or so.

Great thread. I have a related question: Someone needs a key made to their lock but I have no idea what key blank to use. Is there a system, program, website you guys use? Preferably for free

The ILCO catalog is a pretty decent place to check.

Gordon

What Gordon said!

Here is what I do:
-Check the key head for any markings of maker, key code, or aftermarket keyblank code.
-Ask the customer all details of the lock that he/she can remember. What´s it for, maker...
-If no code, check in catalogues. I perfer manual catalogues, and sometimes have spent 20 min. going through JMA & Silca.
-If I know/suspect a certain lock brand, I like to look the keyways on Silca key program. I can narrow down the result with adding number of pins/wafers.
- And last but not least: Cut the key! Use the closest blank you can find. More than half of those work, and if it doesn´t, you may be able to do better 2nd. time. (If the customer has patience)

take a walk thru any shopping center parking lot in your area, and take a look at what cars you see the most in your area. that should give you some idea of the most popular makes and models. in my neck of the woods Toyota copies are asked for a lot. as far as non-transponder keys go, a lot of people are just looking for a key to keep in their wallet or in a hideaway to open the car door in case they get locked out, so the corresponding non -transponder blanks get asked for. look and see what kind of cars your local police department uses - it really helps in the public relations department when they come in looking for a spare.
Good Luck with the business!

Start with a key blank catalog like this one. If you know the brand , you can narrow down the search. But never forget to look at the affiliated brands.

If you don't know the brand , with experience you'll be able to tell the country the lock is from. Than also narrows down the search.

If you have absolutely no clue where to begin , and have to go through the entire catalog: I find it helpfull to draw the keyway on a piece of paper. It help you get a clearer view of what the blank will look like.
Just this week I made a key on a lock I had never seen before , with a strange assymetric keyway. When drawing the keyway , I noticed it only had the warding on one side. When I finished my drawing , I never even had to open the book , I knew I needed a RC5.

You will usually find at least one blank that will fit the lock. Even if it isn't the correct blank , if it fits the keyway , you can get it to work.

Mister sour which website can I obtain a pdf for the ilco catalog?

You can get the ilco catalog here

Direct from the Ilco website:
http://www.kaba-ilco.com/key-systems/li ... ences.html

The latest book is from 2009, they publish periodic updates with new blanks under the New Keys section of the above link.