5 ms·

That's not plastic, is it? Not many people have access to a metal powder 3D printer.

sigmaprimus 5y ago
ABS and PLA probably would be too soft but some locksmiths use soft material with a skill call impressioning. Most modern home FDM printers can reach temperatures high enough to print with poly carbonate which would work fine as a key. PolyC is prone to warping but on such a thin print I doubt warping would be an issue.
- Mashimo 5y ago
  PC with fiber should warp less and might be stronger. But I'm not sure if it has the same accuracy or any other downside.
KZerda 5y ago
Depends on your need. For a key you'll only need/want to use one or two times, plastic will be able to hold up just fine. If you need something more durable, there are a number of 3d printing services that'll print whatever you want in metal without any questions asked. Desktop sintering printers are also getting cheaper and cheaper. They're still several thousand dollars, but that price will only come down now that patents are expiring and people are starting to be able to work on the processes to get them more resonable in cost.
doctoboggan 5y ago
Just an estimate but I think this key in steel would be less than $50 on shapeways. EDIT: I just uploaded the model to shapeways to get a quote and this key is: $26 for steel $44 for aluminum $75 for brass The brass would probably have the most dimensional accuracy. I have a small company that sells custom jewelry, and some of my customers want steel rings. They usually cost me around $15. On possible downside is that due to cooling shrinkage steel only has about 5% tolerance. This can be accounted for in the 3D model. What I usually do for jewelry is order the ring in 2 or 3 different sizes and then choose the one that fits best. In terms of this key, I am not sure how much 5% error would affect its functioning.
- kragen 5y ago
  I wonder if they'll call the police on you if you actually order it.
  - CobrastanJorji 5y ago
    For patent infringement? I'm not sure Shapeways is super eager to start carefully examining their customers for potential IP violations. Or perhaps for the reason that a key being copied outside the sacred grounds of a mall kiosk is suspicious?
    - kragen 5y ago
      Not for patent infringement, but because they think you're planning a robbery, because you're 3-D printing a key that is marketed as something a mall kiosk can't copy.
      - michaelt 5y ago
        They might cancel your order, but I think you vastly over-estimate how interested the police are.
      - OJFord 5y ago
        I really doubt it - even if someone noticed and thought 'huh, a key eh, that's different', who's to say you're not ordering it for your own lock, curious about Shapeways' tolerances and if you could design it to work. Not like it's illegal to own a key without a corresponding lock anyway, I doubt the police would (have time to) care even if they were informed. It's illegal to blow something up (that isn't yours or on your land?) - not to possess the 'ingredients' with which to hypothetically make one (rather than do the cleaning or gardening or whatever they were intended for).
      - tinus_hn 5y ago
        Shapeways can’t tell what a key is marketed as, when you provide just a model without any marking that it shouldn’t be copied
feels0ng 5y ago
Just sent my model to a popular 3d printing service for around $80. I've used this key daily for almost 3 years and never had any issues.
nrp 5y ago
I’ve used plastic for 3D printed pin tumbler and disc detainer keys. It works well enough as a proof of concept, though not something you’d want to rely on for daily use.
sandworm101 5y ago
The key doesn't need to be strong, not even strong enough to turn the lock. The key only needs to get the pins to align. After that you can use a metal turning tool to actually rotate everything. A bent wire would do.
CodeWriter23 5y ago
You can probably find a desktop CNC that can cut a key based on output from OpenSCAD. Maybe a little tweaking required, like plotting difference() of a cube that encases the key model.
- Animats 5y ago
  Naomi Wu did that last week.[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cexGEYxoMe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cexGEYxoMe0
  - feels0ng 5y ago
    Wow. It's pretty interesting to see how the key is getting milled. I would've done this way if I had all those equipments.
10000truths 5y ago
You can encase it in a plaster mould and use lost wax casting to get a metal key. A bit more involved in terms of time and money, but not prohibitively so.
sydthrowaway 5y ago
PETG might work.
yarcob 5y ago
Wouldn't a CNC mill (or even a manually controlled milling machine) be a better tool for fabricating keys? Brass is pretty easy to machine.
convolvatron 5y ago
you don't need to make it that complicated. if you are determined enough and have a little practice you can make alot of shapes with just a piece of metal and a file.

ABS and PLA probably would be too soft but some locksmiths use soft material with a skill call impressioning. Most modern home FDM printers can reach temperatures high enough to print with poly carbonate which would work fine as a key. PolyC is prone to warping but on such a thin print I doubt warping would be an issue.

Mashimo 5y ago
PC with fiber should warp less and might be stronger. But I'm not sure if it has the same accuracy or any other downside.

KZerda 5y ago

Depends on your need. For a key you'll only need/want to use one or two times, plastic will be able to hold up just fine. If you need something more durable, there are a number of 3d printing services that'll print whatever you want in metal without any questions asked. Desktop sintering printers are also getting cheaper and cheaper. They're still several thousand dollars, but that price will only come down now that patents are expiring and people are starting to be able to work on the processes to get them more resonable in cost.

doctoboggan 5y ago

Just an estimate but I think this key in steel would be less than $50 on shapeways. EDIT: I just uploaded the model to shapeways to get a quote and this key is: $26 for steel $44 for aluminum $75 for brass The brass would probably have the most dimensional accuracy. I have a small company that sells custom jewelry, and some of my customers want steel rings. They usually cost me around $15. On possible downside is that due to cooling shrinkage steel only has about 5% tolerance. This can be accounted for in the 3D model. What I usually do for jewelry is order the ring in 2 or 3 different sizes and then choose the one that fits best. In terms of this key, I am not sure how much 5% error would affect its functioning.

kragen 5y ago
I wonder if they'll call the police on you if you actually order it.
- CobrastanJorji 5y ago
  For patent infringement? I'm not sure Shapeways is super eager to start carefully examining their customers for potential IP violations. Or perhaps for the reason that a key being copied outside the sacred grounds of a mall kiosk is suspicious?
  - kragen 5y ago
    Not for patent infringement, but because they think you're planning a robbery, because you're 3-D printing a key that is marketed as something a mall kiosk can't copy.
    - michaelt 5y ago
      They might cancel your order, but I think you vastly over-estimate how interested the police are.
    - OJFord 5y ago
      I really doubt it - even if someone noticed and thought 'huh, a key eh, that's different', who's to say you're not ordering it for your own lock, curious about Shapeways' tolerances and if you could design it to work. Not like it's illegal to own a key without a corresponding lock anyway, I doubt the police would (have time to) care even if they were informed. It's illegal to blow something up (that isn't yours or on your land?) - not to possess the 'ingredients' with which to hypothetically make one (rather than do the cleaning or gardening or whatever they were intended for).
    - tinus_hn 5y ago
      Shapeways can’t tell what a key is marketed as, when you provide just a model without any marking that it shouldn’t be copied

feels0ng 5y ago

Just sent my model to a popular 3d printing service for around $80. I've used this key daily for almost 3 years and never had any issues.

nrp 5y ago

I’ve used plastic for 3D printed pin tumbler and disc detainer keys. It works well enough as a proof of concept, though not something you’d want to rely on for daily use.

sandworm101 5y ago

The key doesn't need to be strong, not even strong enough to turn the lock. The key only needs to get the pins to align. After that you can use a metal turning tool to actually rotate everything. A bent wire would do.

CodeWriter23 5y ago

You can probably find a desktop CNC that can cut a key based on output from OpenSCAD. Maybe a little tweaking required, like plotting difference() of a cube that encases the key model.

Animats 5y ago
Naomi Wu did that last week.[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cexGEYxoMe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cexGEYxoMe0
- feels0ng 5y ago
  Wow. It's pretty interesting to see how the key is getting milled. I would've done this way if I had all those equipments.

10000truths 5y ago

You can encase it in a plaster mould and use lost wax casting to get a metal key. A bit more involved in terms of time and money, but not prohibitively so.

sydthrowaway 5y ago

PETG might work.

yarcob 5y ago

Wouldn't a CNC mill (or even a manually controlled milling machine) be a better tool for fabricating keys? Brass is pretty easy to machine.

convolvatron 5y ago

you don't need to make it that complicated. if you are determined enough and have a little practice you can make alot of shapes with just a piece of metal and a file.