Reply With QuoteProper locksmith
Bah! Eight keys (£50), eight failures. Three different Yale-type Euro profile lock barrels. Now I have to go back. Bah. Two of the keys wouldn't even go in the lock they're that bad. Three of the keys are so loose they surely could never work? I have had good results from Timpsons in the past but yesterday, flippin' heck. Bad judgement on both their part and my part I think. I suppose it depends who you get.
Just prior to Timpsons I tried B&Qs "automated" key cutting. Not exactly the greatest experience either. After all the faffing, putting the key in, lining it up, turning it over, "We cannot cut this key at present". Three times. At least they were honest.
Where do you guys and girls get your keys cut reliably? What am I looking for?
Proper locksmith
Depends where you are in the Country, so as suggested a proper locksmith is my best advice.
If you happen to live near Chelmsford, Essex I can recommend Dave Cork at Safe & Sound Security. Never had a single issue with any key from him, plus he looks after all the keys for the City Council and all our assets so he is on top of his game having cut hundreds of keys for me.
One thing I will say, if you do use Timpsons or another run of the mill key cutter, much of the time they never bother to de-burr a newly cut key; this is usually the difference between the key fitting or being tighter fitting than a wet suit. It can be worth attacking said key with the Misses nail file and some wire wool to smooth any newly cut key off, then it should glide in a treat.
Funny you mention that, my experience of Timpsons has been exactly the same. It is pretty lousy service actually, it takes less than ten seconds to run a key over a spindle mounted wire brush to deburr it properly and it is actually part of the key cutting process. I do not use our local Timpsons any more, apart from the deburring issue, the miserable crabby git who cuts the keys always tries to give the impression that you have interrupted him from something important if you ask for a key to be cut.Originally Posted by yumma
*uck him and Timpsons, I use somewhere else now.
Last edited by KavKav; 1st June 2018 at 09:47.
I go to local shoe repair shop (not Timpsons) who is friendly and used proper metal blanks not these cheap alloys that seem to be coming into use. Never had a problem.
Great, thanks, bit of theme emerging. My local shoe repairer has definitely inhaled too much of the chemicals and solvents in the glue.
In Sheffield, Harrold in Shalesmoor is excellent. Also have all sorts of locks, safes, etc
Always found our local independent to be very helpful - they need the repeat custom and word or mouth recommendation so are often (from experience) better than the national chain/s.
MarcJ is a locksmith. Try him?
If the 3 barrels are at the same house I would consider buying 3 new barrels and having them keyed alike - cost a bit more but reduce the number of keys you need. Mine are Garrison Multi-Lock and you can have spares cut from the code on the key card which is also potentially handy.
That’s where I get my keys done
I had Zammo from Grange Hill cut a bunch of keys for me in soho circa 1996.
They were rubbish , took a bunch back . He wasn't happy when after hearing his excuses about how the blanks were being updated I told him to spare me the bull and give me a refund.
Ever since I only get keys cut with official blanks from the manufacturer (real pain with some of them but worth it).
I’ve used these for years , taken locks for classic cars and they have cut keys to match the tumblers ... brill outfit
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