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

[Straker]

Have you considered nickel-plating them yourself? It's not difficult.

Yeah I think you can an at home plating kit for a decent price online. I know I've seen them in the past. Its more like electroplating but it should work.

It is electroplating. You can do it with nickel chloride solution, a battery, a couple of wires, and a stainless-steel spoon. Here's one I did for my Police Box -- this key was a very reddish brassy colour to start with.

I actually wore down the plating afterward on this one to make it look older, but you can have the plating as thick as you like.

Huh...oddly enough I hadn't actually thought of that. I didn't realize you could do it at home, lol. I will lookinto it and let you guys know. If I can successfully do it myself I think we'll have our answer on plating.

I wouldn't mind a couple. They have that nice blank sanded look without losing the key detail.

I could definitely use one or two. I'm too big on being superaccurate most of the time. I just need a couple keys for my display, one to make in to a perception filter key.

Cool. I can do that. I'll certainly have enough. When I get them I'll let you guys know.

 

[Terrasolo]

Well my hemp cord came in and it's too thin for my Sally Sparrow key so I've ordered more in a thicker stock, but Straker you were right, the hemp chord does look perfect for the Davison key, so I've replaced mine with that. Naturally I did not take a picture :/ Hopefully tonight. Just need to find a key that I feel looks "Davison" now.

 

[Straker]

Well my hemp cord came in and it's too thin for my Sally Sparrow key so I've ordered more in a thicker stock, but Straker you were right, the hemp chord does look perfect for the Davison key, so I've replaced mine with that. Naturally I did not take a picture :/ Hopefully tonight. Just need to find a key that I feel looks "Davison" now.

Well that sucks and is kinda cool that it was right for the Davison key. I'm still looking into keys that at the very least look decent and have the single bumper even if we don't find a brand that looks interesting enough.


I've also been looking into plating kits and supplies and it seems that most of the kits available are running $200-ish dollars for the chemicals and stuff...which is a bit so I'm going to scale it down and see if I can just buy the single components separately and just rig my own power supply myself.

 

[Terrasolo]

Also, just picked these up. The listing says they are brass but since the one is clearly darker and more brass than the others these could be like the light colored brass Yales that Straker found for the 11 Key. Should be great for a Davison key though assuming they fit my lock, which the do appear to be the right cut from what I can tell from the photo but we'll see how they fit and what the color is like after I have them.

But if they work, I love the fact that the two on the left have different aging because I'd like to display them as a Davison and Tom Baker key since we know he went back to a Yale after Liz left and it makes sense to me that they would be similar to each other.

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

Also, just picked these up. The listing says they are brass but since the one is clearly darker and more brass than the others these could be like the light colored brass Yales that Straker found for the 11 Key. Should be great for a Davison key though assuming they fit my lock, which the do appear to be the right cut from what I can tell from the photo but we'll see how they fit and what the color is like after I have them.

But if they work, I love the fact that the two on the left have different aging because I'd like to display them as a Davison and Tom Baker key since we know he went back to a Yale after Liz left and it makes sense to me that they would be similar to each other.

Did ya find those on Etsy? Listing pic looks very similar to what I got. Mine should be in tomorrow.

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

I also very much hope we didn't get ripped off if it was the same seller, I purchased 2 different listings from that seller. The first pic was from one listing. Here's the other.

Looks like the same keys just in a different order. Kinda sketchy..

 

[Terrasolo]

Well that does concern me now. Mainly because if they have a cache of these keys and just used the one picture to represent them then we know we are getting our keys, however then we can't be sure of what we'll actually get. I was really hoping that they would look like the picture. But if they only have these four keys than we are a bit screwed :/

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

Well that does concern me now. Mainly because if they have a cache of these keys and just used the one picture to represent them then we know we are getting our keys, however then we can't be sure of what we'll actually get. I was really hoping that they would look like the picture. But if they only have these four keys than we are a bit screwed :/

Was the shop called REVIVALJEWELS?

 

[Terrasolo]

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

Well, While we anxiously await seeing what TimeyWhimey gets in the mail, here's something I noticed when i took these caps and wanted to though out there and see what everyone else thinks.

Is Davison's key uncut? Or is it a trick of the key in motion?

 

[Straker]

I also very much hope we didn't get ripped off if it was the same seller, I purchased 2 different listings from that seller. The first pic was from one listing. Here's the other.

Looks like the same keys just in a different order. Kinda sketchy..

Owch! I'm afraid those are the same keys. There's one that has a gray blemish across the head and it's on the other set, same shape just not as visible due to how the lighting is reflecting off the surface.

 

[Terrasolo]

Was the shop called REVIVALJEWELS?

Yep. I just sent them a message asking to have pics of the actual keys they are sending me due to your pictures. We'll see what they say.

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

I actually just looked at their prior sales history & yeah it's the same seller. I'm going to email them & ask what's up.

 

[Terrasolo]

Owch! I'm afraid those are the same keys. There's one that has a gray blemish across the head and it's on the other set, same shape just not as visible due to how the lighting is reflecting off the surface.

Yeah, it's possible that they have more than what is pictured though and they just use the same picture to represent. A lot of ebayers do that. However, that means we have no clue what to expect in that case. They were cheap though so no big loss if they aren't right.

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

Yeah, it's possible that they have more than what is pictured though and they just use the same picture to represent. A lot of ebayers do that. However, that means we have no clue what to expect in that case. They were cheap though so no big loss if they aren't right.

But that's the thing though it wasn't the same picture, it was the same keys re-arranged. That to me seems more sketchy than using the EXACT same picture. Cheap purchase or not it's the principle of the thing.

 

[Terrasolo]

Fair point. They have a lot of followers on there though which gives me hope that this will be ok, but really it won't because there is no way they can have that many similar keys. Although they could have taken all the pictures at the same time. And they did photoshop work on them to add the pink so that could be why they are using the same few pics.

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

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

Well, While we anxiously await seeing what TimeyWhimey gets in the mail, here's something I noticed when i took these caps and wanted to though out there and see what everyone else thinks.

Is Davison's key uncut? Or is it a trick of the key in motion?

Looks uncut or very minimal to me.

 

[sycor]

Well that sucks and is kinda cool that it was right for the Davison key. I'm still looking into keys that at the very least look decent and have the single bumper even if we don't find a brand that looks interesting enough.


I've also been looking into plating kits and supplies and it seems that most of the kits available are running $200-ish dollars for the chemicals and stuff...which is a bit so I'm going to scale it down and see if I can just buy the single components separately and just rig my own power supply myself.

How to Electroplate at Home | eHow.com

Plug N' Plate® Nickel Kit - Plug N' Plate® Kits - Brush Plating Products - Electroplating & Anodizing - Caswell Inc

Plug N' Plate® Silver Plating Kit - Plug N' Plate® Kits - Brush Plating Products - Electroplating & Anodizing - Caswell Inc

You can also get the Caswell kits on Amazon it looks like. Most of their kits are less than $50. I have no idea how well they work, but its a cheap option.

 

[Terrasolo]

This gives me some home. It's the same seller with more vintage Yales but they are different from our. All are uncut but these are not the same style. Perhaps this seller does have a cashe of these keys.

Vintage 4 Very Old Yale Brand Brass Keys GR5 9 by revivaljewels

 

[TimeyWhimyStuff]

This gives me some home. It's the same seller with more vintage Yales but they are different from our. All are uncut but these are not the same style. Perhaps this seller does have a cashe of these keys.

Vintage 4 Very Old Yale Brand Brass Keys GR5 9 by revivaljewels

Yeah I did notice that one, we'll see. I'll post pics of what I get tomorrow when they arrive.

 

[Terrasolo]

In the mean time we both contacted them as well so we'll see if they reply today.