Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 1963-present keys)

Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Terrasolo said:
Cool, thanks for doing the research Straker. I hope these keys work out because I would love to get some keys I cam make blank/logo-less.

By the way I got the D-Shackle you used. It matches the size of mine exactly, which works for me, because like I said I like the self locking. My girlfriend won't give hers up, she loves it.
Click to expand...


Well don't forget, the one I referred you to also will "self lock" if you give it an extra quarter turn. Any of them will actually. I haven't had mine unscrew on my once and I carry it with loose change and stuff and take it out and swing it around all the time. It's just friction that keeps it from unthreading anyway.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Keys are on their way guys. I'll let you know when they arrive. I'm really hoping we found the one brand that can double for all the sanded keys and the Blink key and the Perception Filter keys.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Yay! What have you got so far Cyber? have you added anything new?
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Straker said:
Guess people are just waiting to see what we got XD



See? Cyber is watching XD Guess we're just doing the leg work for now XD
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I'm always watching as well. I made what contribution I could straight away. I'll work on getting a precise cut pattern for each version made up for everybody to use. Now I'm just waiting to see what you come up with for the key blank itself. :cool :thumbsup
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Organic Mechanic said:
I'm always watching as well. I made what contribution I could straight away. I'll work on getting a precise cut pattern for each version made up for everybody to use. Now I'm just waiting to see what you come up with for the key blank itself. :cool :thumbsup
Click to expand...


And see? Organic is still with us XD

Actually I would be interested in a precise cut pattern for the teeth. I wouldn't mind getting a few cut to be exact though, the keys I have actually are PRETTY close to one of the keys and fits in my ERA lock I bought so I'm cool with them but I wouldn't mind having some display keys that look like the real props.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Straker said:
And see? Organic is still with us XD

Actually I would be interested in a precise cut pattern for the teeth. I wouldn't mind getting a few cut to be exact though, the keys I have actually are PRETTY close to one of the keys and fits in my ERA lock I bought so I'm cool with them but I wouldn't mind having some display keys that look like the real props.
Click to expand...


Exactly. And once you file one down by hand, the machine cut duplicates will look better.

Basically, if the JMA works out, I'll get the three patterns made up based on the pic you posted above. That way, there's less room for error.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Organic Mechanic said:
Exactly. And once you file one down by hand, the machine cut duplicates will look better.

Basically, if the JMA works out, I'll get the three patterns made up based on the pic you posted above. That way, there's less room for error.
Click to expand...

You should offer key patterns cut into pre-cut keys in the junkyard. Just get some Yale Y-1 blanks to cut them in and sell them in all three tooth patterns as a set that we can use to cut our own ERA or Yale or JMA keys. That would be cool.

greatwazoo42 said:
You two can't help it; you're both interesting and knowledgable. Like the 10th said: "Va va voom!" :thumbsup
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Well we try to...well I try to and I can't speak for Terrasolo but I'm sure he does too XD This is mainly guesswork but I think we all have enough info to theorize on. Hopefully the JMA keys pay off in the end.
 
Terrasolo said:
Yay! What have you got so far Cyber? have you added anything new?
Click to expand...

I have not added any more keys since I posted the photo of my collection.
I am waiting on some new sonics from Russ and another source.
And am contemplating doing a second Doctor recorder.
Also I have been starting to think about how to make a dematerlisation circuit.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

A Demat circuit and recorder are on my list, Mind you they get lost with all the other items quite often :/ His recorder is very detailed though. I wish there were better pics of it.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

greatwazoo42 said:
You two can't help it; you're both interesting and knowledgable. Like the 10th said: "Va va voom!" :thumbsup
Click to expand...


Well we try to be. XD

Anyhow, keys just arrived today. Here's one quick and dirty comparison.
23r5o9k.jpg

I think we found the key we're looking for guys. This is the CI-DL key made by JMA. I'll be getting one of this and the 1A key cut to look at the cross section. If it looks good I'll try sanding one. I'm really hoping that they started using JMA keys for all their Tardis needs. That would make things so much easier.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

It looks very close. Probably correct, just angle and lighting messing with me. But yeah, very good find. More interested in how it sands for sure. What's the back look like?
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Terrasolo said:
It looks very close. Probably correct, just angle and lighting messing with me. But yeah, very good find. More interested in how it sands for sure. What's the back look like?
Click to expand...


Yeah I can't help it. I tried to match it as best I could but my shot is still more in focus and their lighting will be different and still pick out some details I didn't. I think it's the right key though. For the hell of it I took one of the 1A keys and sanded the edge on the key where the teeth get cut and after sanding for long enough to remove the rough surface the edge is still very silver. Enough so that I wasn't sure if I sanded enough but I did. There's visible metal loss now. I think we found it guys.

My new theory:


In series 1 they bought ERA locks for the Tardis props. For the long Game they needed to blank the keys and sanded and ERA key but when they found it was brass they painted it, hence why that key has a dull silver look to it and that odd painted texture where it looks roughed up. For series 2 and 3 they replaced the keys with a JMA such as was used in Blink. Probably because they heard they were steel under the plating and have a single bumper so could pass for an ERA key. All keys that appear sanded are now JMA steel keys that have been sanded.


What do you think? Plausible?
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

It does sound plausible, saying that, I'd still like to see one fully sanded. But one thing I noticed about it, and again could just pic tricks of the camera, is that the head seems thicker, which means it would be good for sanding. But again it just may look thicker to me.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Terrasolo said:
It does sound plausible, saying that, I'd still like to see one fully sanded. But one thing I noticed about it, and again could just pic tricks of the camera, is that the head seems thicker, which means it would be good for sanding. But again it just may look thicker to me.
Click to expand...

I think it may be a trick of the camera. The keys I have don't seem to be any thicker than a standard key and these slid right into the lock i have very easily.

I did sand one but these are indeed hard to sand. I also started off with 150 grit when I realized that 600 was going very slowly XD That left some hard to remove sand marks on it. I'll have to get a few other grits to remove them entirely but these ARE indeed steel underneath the plating. I think we have found our sanded Tardis keys for series 3 and onward.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Actually I only meant the head, not the whole key, but you've covered that.

Glad to hear we found a key that can be sanded though, great work Straker. looking forward to getting a few myself. Perhaps these will need to be be sanded and buffed to help remove those marks.
 
Re: Yale and ERA Tardis Key Research (Info for the 2005-present keys)

Terrasolo said:
Actually I only meant the head, not the whole key, but you've covered that.

Glad to hear we found a key that can be sanded though, great work Straker. looking forward to getting a few myself. Perhaps these will need to be be sanded and buffed to help remove those marks.
Click to expand...

Yeah i should have said that the thickness was even across the key but it's been a long day and I'm about ready to get out of here to go get shipping quotes for my sonic run XD

Well what I'm thinking is maybe starting with a file to remove the bulk of the stamp off it, then going to 600 and then 1000 then a polish. I'm going to get a few more grits while I'm out and give it a try tonight and post my results. I'm also going to TRY to get these cut. I say try because the steel. The folks at TrueValue seem to think steel may be a bit much for their lathe somehow.
 
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