Fri Nov 23, 2012 8:58 pm
They might need to order the blanks in depending on the size of the locksmith, but yea, they can cut new keys from snapped keys. I used to be one. A locksmith, not a snapped key. All you do is clamp it all together in a vice and you use a cutter with a guide against your old key so that it's mirrored on the new key.
BUT! It might not work straight off. New keys, even when dutifully copied with precision often don't marry up perfectly with the barrel segments. You gotta remember that that key and that barrel have been together for a long long time, they've worn together, they've got to know each others ups and downs. Sometimes a barrel just doesn't want to except anything thats new.
Most of the time you can sort it out by gently rounding off any sharp edges with a file, and also check the length of the key from the 'hilt' (the bit that stops the key from being pushed all the way into the lock) and the tip. Some locksmiths might not get that quite lined up right. If the new key is longer, just file the tip off untill it marries up with the old key (as precise as you can get it with a broken key, granted).
But then saying all that, you may not have any problems at all, and the locky is a comsumate proffesional. I've heard the're some around . . . . .
