On September 11th, 2005, Sportsfreunde der Sperrtechnik (the German lock picking club) sponsored an impressioning contest. Impressioning is the technique of taking a key blank and filing it down to make a working key. This is done by inserting the blank inside the lock, twisting it back and forth, and then filing where marks appears along the upper edge. This year champion was Oliver Diederichsen from the Hamburg Sportsgroup. He successfully made a working key for an ABUS C83 in 6 minutes and 53 seconds. You can watch a video of Mr Diederischsen during the contest here.

To make a copy of key you need a key blank. A key blank is just a piece of metal which is designed to fit into a particular kind of key-way.

Getting key blanks for most locks is easy, you just order one (or a thousand) from any number of manufacturers who make blanks for that particular model of lock. While this system is convenient for locksmiths and contractors, having easy access to key blanks presents a security risk. If someone ‘borrows’ a working key they can easy create a duplicate of it, if a key blank is available.

To prevent this from happening, many high security locks feature ‘patent protected’ keys. Because of the patent, these companies can prevent other firms from manufacturing key blanks and they, in turn, can closely control who can get key blanks for these locks.

However, what if a machine existed which would duplicate the shape of most patent protected keys? Well it does, the Easy Entrie key duplicator is designed to copy the side grooves of almost any key onto standard metal plates so they will fit into various locks. This, in effect, creates a key blank for almost any pin tumbler lock in the world.

The good news is that the Easy Entry can’t cut a ‘overhanging’ groove, which appears on a handful of key designs. These keys are therefore safe from Easy Entrie duplication. Also the Easy Entrie machines currently cost almost $10,000. This effectively places them out of the hands of any hobbyists, but security experts need to be aware that the protection provided by ‘patented’ key-ways is slowly being eroded by advances in key duplicating machines such as the Easy Entrie.