Can A Professional Locksmith Make A Key From A Lock?

Introduction

Can a key be made out of just the lock? Only two times a person ponders this – when he/she wants to break into someone else’s residence or office or lost the keys to his/her own house. We hope that you are only in the second situation and are sadly locked out of your house. Not to worry, a professional locksmith can always get you out of this situation without breaking anything. Here in this article, you will find out how he/she does that.

When does a professional locksmith need to make a key from a lock

There are a lot of reasons why you may need to make a key from a lock. You may need to build a duplicate key for your house or your car. You may have lost your key and cannot get into your car or your house, or the key you have has worn out or is broken; worse yet, it is broken inside the lock itself and cannot be taken out. It could have also been stolen from you somehow. There have even been cases where people have accidentally thrown keys out with the garbage or dropped them down a gutter. Even if you find your key, making a duplicate key accurately from this compromised key may not be possible. You will definitely need to call a professional locksmith in all these situations for making a new key from the lock you have.

How does a five-star locksmith do this

There are a few approaches that can be taken by a professional locksmith to decode a lock and form a key. We have listed the most important and common ones below:

• Decoding the lock to make a key for it:

A “keycode” is a set of characters used to make a key for a specific lock. Many lock manufacturers stamp this code onto the key itself. At first glance, this string of letters and numbers can seem random, but a professional locksmith can read them to find out information about how to cut a new key for the lock. In case the code is not on the key itself, the specific model of the lock can be used to locate the corresponding keycode, but you need to reach out to the retailer or the manufacturer of the lock. However, only a licensed locksmith can do this job since manufacturers do not give out sensitive information like this to just anyone.

Some locks like those of a filing or medicine cabinet are much easier to crack. These locks usually have their keycodes stamped into the lock body, so all the locksmith has to do is locate the keycode and make the key based on said code.

In the case of high-security locks, however, users are given keycode cards and the locksmith can simply take it from them.

Once the code is retrieved, the locksmith enters this information into a “code cutter” – a machine that cuts new keys using the specifications that match a particular code. There are multiple code cutters that can be used, but each of them works in a way that allows keys to be cut to the general standards of key specifications that are used within the locksmith industry. Either way, it is important for the locksmith to insert the key blank into the cutter properly, as well as use the correct code cutter blade.

Some other times, when the keycode cannot be recovered, a skilled five-star locksmith uses the “visual decoding” method where they carefully inspect the key to assess how a new key should be cut, then use these visual clues to create a brand new key.

• Using the impression of the lock:

This process is often simpler than completely disassembling the lock cylinder or having to wait for the code for the lock. A lot of professional locksmiths use this just because of its efficiency and benefits. However, it is pretty difficult to perform for an untrained person.

In this method, the locksmith inserts an appropriate key blank into the lock and turns it inside. The pins of this blank key thus bind within the lock cylinder in order to mark out the sections that need to be filed down on the key blank. Since there are multiple pins within a lock, multiple cuts are made on the key blank, achieved by a few repetitions of the process. The most commonly used methods to derive the necessary markings on a key blank are pulling, tapping, and wiggling. Once all the necessary marks have been made, the locksmith files the key blank down to fashion a working key.

The key blank in this method needs to be chosen carefully to create a successful key. It needs to be resilient, but not too strong to be filed down. The material of the blank key also matters. Usually, brass is used for being very flexible – the marks that are made on the key blank when the keys are binding can be easily spotted on this and can be filed easily.

The tension while filing the key also plays a big role. Impressioning a key requires a fine balance, and so the pressure needs to be just right. Too little will not be as effective, and too much will potentially damage the key blank.

• Scoping:

This method is commonly used for the lock of a car. If accidentally the remote keys are locked inside the car, a locksmith may be able to use the “scoping” technique to make a new key to open the vehicle. This involves the use of a tiny, specialized scope that the locksmith inserts into the lock. They examine the locking cylinders and cut a new key to match the unique properties of that specific lock in a way that is completely non-destructive.

• Casting:

If you have seen a key being cast from an old worn-out key in a movie and believed the process exists, you are not wrong. A highly skilled five-star locksmith can reproduce the process.

Professionals use wax or high-quality moulding clay to cast a key once the source key is obtained. The clay is placed in a specially-made two-sized key duplication mould, and then an impression of the key is taken on the mould by putting the original key on top of it and applying firm and even pressure on it. The mould is then closed firmly to make the impression of the opposite face of the key. After this, air funnels are created and the mould is baked to create a solid base. A mix of metals is used as the casting material and it is heated to be liquified. The casting mould is firmly closed, and the casting material is gently poured into the mould. Excess material is then removed from the duplicate key and it is filed to perfection.

• Disassembling the lock completely and finding a combination for the key:

Disassembling of the lock is generally the last resort a five-star locksmith succumbs to – when the keycode cannot be retrieved, or an impression of the lock cannot be made. Usually, the entire lock cylinder is disassembled to gain access to the pins housed within the cylinder which will allow direct measurements of the internal components and those pins. From this information, the locksmith then makes an attempt to reverse engineer the keycode and make a working key.

This is a very sensitive procedure and none of the internal mechanisms within the lock cylinder can be damaged or thrown out of alignment in the process if there is to be a key without breaking down the door. This makes this procedure the hardest to carry out.

Conclusion

There can be a lot of unfortunate cases when you might need to make a duplicate key of your lock without a key. Nevertheless, if you don’t hire a trained professional to do the job, it might end in a more unfortunate situation where the lock might have to be broken and replaced, which will cost you a fortune. That is why it is always recommended to contact certified and trustworthy five-star locksmiths, whose expertise you can rely on without any doubt.