It’s just gotten a lot easier to reprint keys from photographs

If you’re in the business of opening locked doors for business or pleasure, it just got a little easier. Using a parametric file for SCAD, you can easily recreate a Kwikset key with a few keystrokes.

Kwikset is particularly vulnerable because it has only five pins and five positions – 1 being not cut at all and 5 being cut very deeply. This means you can look at an image of a Kwikset key and estimate how deep or shallow a key cut is, then plug in those measurements into this CAD file and print a key in a few minutes. Having physical access to the key makes it even easier. The SCAD file also changes based on the entered values, following the geometry of the keying system precisely.

Dave Pedu used this technique to print a few very basic keys on his Flashforge Creator Pro in ABS. He says he snapped off a few keys while working to build the final working product but he was able to open his lock quickly and easily using the final product. He does warn that new keys might not work as well.

“So, the verdict is – Yes! You can 3D print working copies of real keys. I suspect a new, tight lock might not work as well – mine is worn and it certainly helped,” he wrote.

Remember, friends, don’t post your keys on social media but if you have a Kwikset lock it might behoove you to measure the teeth as a sort of offline, digital backup.