
As an example, the Ilco key blank catalog currently shows over 6000 different key blanks with new keys appearing almost every month. At one time a small group of depth/space key sets were all a locksmith needed.

Accurate original keys can be made using depth/space keys. That code machine uses a combination of precut spacing keys and a micrometer for setting the depth of cut.ĭepth and space keys were probably the first origination system for many locksmiths. One of my prized possessions is a Briggs & Stratton code machine dating from the early 1930s. Soon after key codes first appeared on locks a century ago, enterprising people in the security industry began measuring original keys and the next step was to make machines which could reproduce keys by the known measurements.
