How Does Key Cutting Machine Work?
When many people think of locksmiths, they immediately suppose of key-cutting and substitute keys for the ones they’ve been unlucky sufficient to lose or damage. Key-cutting machines may also only be one small phase of the many things you’ll learn in our courses, but they’re a vital part. So, let’s start learning about them.
What Is Key-Cutting
Key cutting is a very popular technique used across the country to make keys. It can be accomplished by using both making a replica of a current key or making a new one altogether.
Key reducing offerings might also be required for numerous motives that include:
Back-Up Keys
We’re all human and sometimes we can be careless. And in that carelessness, we can occasionally lose the keys to our homes, doors, buses, and strongboxes.
Imagine coming back home from work only to realize that your keys aren’t with you. And for the life of you, you can’t flashback where or how you lost them. What follows are moments of pure panic and helplessness.
To help that from passing, it’s always smart to have backup spare keys made. They can come in handy during similar situations, handed that you keep them safe and defended, and not in common spots similar as under the mat or a flowerpot, where burglars can fluently find them.
Preventing Damage
As is with everything palpable, keys tend to wear out over time. They’re made of brass or a nickel and brass admixture and can get damaged due to dragged operation.
Damaged keys may get stuck in the cinch due to breakage and beget strikes, thus, it’s good practice to keep a check on your key health, have a spare one for extremities, and alternate between keys to make them last significantly longer.
Giving Access To Others
You might need to get a key cut and duplicated if you wish to grant access to other people. Say, for a case, you live with three other adults and responsible family members.
Quite obviously, you would each have different routines and schedules and you won’t be around to open and lock the house door for them every time they come and leave.
For that reason, it’s best to produce spare keys to distribute among people participating access. Just make sure they keep their keys safe and understand how losing them could jeopardize the security of the entire house.
Are There Different Types Of Key-Cutting Machines
Like every technology, there are several different types of key-cutting machines. Thankfully, on the whole, they tend to use the same mechanisms. Although there may be one or two parts that differ from one machine to the coming, key-cutting machines are typically veritably similar.
Manual key cutting machines, as the name suggests, are operated manually and are the least accurate type. They work by the driver securing the template key and the key to be cut on top of each other, after which the machine manually traces the profile on the duplicate key to get an identical shape.
In contrast, automatic and semi-automatic key cutting machines don’t bear manual labor, as similar, and do the utmost of the work themselves. The two keys are placed inside the machine where a stylus traces the shape of the template key and contemporaneously cuts the duplicate.
After the duplicate key is created, the finishing touches are done by brushing to remove any essence spurs from the lately cut edges. As is egregious, automatic key cutting machines are faster and more precious than their semi-automatic counterparts.
Laser key cutting machines work in the same way as the automatic ones, except that rather than using blades to cut the keys, they use, you guessed it right spotlights. They offer important perfection and are used for numerous high-security key systems.
Keys come in various shapes and sizes; some are tube-shaped, some are cylindrical having a bow and long blade, and some bear a pocket to be cut into ( mortice). There are different types of machines to help duplicate these specifically shaped keys tubular, spherical, and mortice key cutting machines, independently.
In recent times, binary key cutting machines have come more popular in the UK, with numerous professional mobile locksmiths carrying them.
Since cylinder and mortice keys are both the most common types of keys used in the country, these dual machines enable locksmiths to cut both types of keys using the same machine.
How Do Key-Cutting Machines Work
The truth is that as locksmith technology has advanced, key-cutting machines have become faster and less difficult to use. This is splendid information for trainee locksmiths!
Key-cutting machines work on the ‘copy’ principle. As you hint at the enamel of one key with the key-cutting machine, a separate section of the computer simultaneously grinds the duplicate tooth into the clean key that is being cut.
First of all, try and elect a blank key that is analogous in appearance to the original key. Fit the original key into the first vice-make sure that the teeth are visible and facing overhead. You should also fit the blank key into the alternate vice. This is where the cutting blade is located. Ensure that both keys are tightly secured and won’t move during the cutting process.
Before switching the machine on, be sure to close the defensive cover.
Once it has been switched on, your machine will automatically detect the speed and angle at which the cutting wheel should be spinning. Simply trace the teeth and grooves of the original key and, once you’re finished, switch off the machine. Use a wire brush to remove any debris and polish off any rough edges.
Make sure that there are no sharp edges to the key. The last thing you want to do now is fit a sharp key into the lock and damage the lock irreparably. Especially now that you have two keys!
Compare the two keys side-by-side. Are they an identical match? If they are, also your key is good to go. Still, if you have any doubts about the figure of the new key, then re-insert the original key, grab another blank, and try to produce a more accurate key using the same system.
