![\"successful](\"http:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/abloy-classic-camlock21.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn a couple of weeks Han and I will be giving a two day impressioning course in Spain. It is going to be the second course we organize for the Spanish APECS locksmith organisation in nine months. Last time we gave a very successful course on bumping Spanish locks (a small test proved around 80% of the pin tumbler locks on the Spanish market could be bumped). This time the topic will be impressioning.<\/p>\n
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One of the things I am focusing on lately is ‘advanced impressioning’. This means trying the technique on other locks then the standard pin tumbler locks, or modifying keyblanks to make life more easy or have a higher success range on high security locks.<\/p>\n
The lock high on my wish list is the Abloy classic (PDF)<\/a>. As far as I know it is the oldest system that uses discs instead of pins, yet it still is (to me) a remarkably secure lock as it has a very high degree of pick resistance. Of course I had to try if I could use impressioning to open it.<\/p>\n My first attempt was to simply give it a try and see what happens. In this case I just took a classic key, smoothened it and filed down where I saw marks. I soon realized this was not going to work. I had absolutely no idea of the exact position of the discs on the blank and the marks kept wandering from left to right. So my second try was using a marker making some dots on the blank, indexing where the discs should be. Still this did not work well as the marks were sometimes appearing between the dots … and I ran out of blanks too …<\/p>\n I recently bought more blanks and could continued the challenge. My new strategy: reducing the contact area of the key. Using a caliper I noticed the spacing on Abloy classic is two millimeters (at least on the locks I was experimenting with). So I marked the blank and removed the material between the positions. For removing the material<\/a> I used a fine metal saw, a dremel tool (with a diamond disc) and a very fine ‘blade file’ (knive file?). After some work I ended up with a ‘reduced contact area blank’ that looks like a comb.<\/p>\n Filing down the remaining teeth of the comb is done with a special file. This file is cut only on the thin side<\/a>. Using this file will only remove material from the contact area of the file, and not from the side of the blade (like on a normal ‘full contact’ file).<\/p>\n I did not have a whole lot of abloy classic locks and was happy to have one padlock I did not know the key-combination of. I did have the key, but put it in a bag without looking at it. Using the reduced contact area key I got the idea I was on the right track … when the key broke off in the lock (grrr). And I could not get the remaining key out of the lock and was out of test locks….<\/p>\n It is a good thing Han managed to remove the key from the lock, and even though I was on the right track I was too deep on some positions.<\/p>\n Talking with Han, we came to the conclusion to start easy using a simple six disc camlock<\/a>. As most abloy classic locks have a cut 1 (no material removed) on the first and last disc, there were only four discs to work on. And each of these discs could have a cut between one to six (as you can see on this ‘stairway’ key that is cut 1-2-3-4-5-6<\/a>). This four disc lock did not provide a challenge and was opened in a couple of minutes<\/a> (without knowing the code).<\/p>\n![\"abloy](\"http:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/abloy-comb-key2.jpg\")
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![\"successful](\"http:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/abloy-9-disc-impressioned.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![simple six disc camlock<\/a>. As most abloy classic locks have a cut 1 (no material removed) on the first and last disc, there were only four discs to work on. And each of these discs could have a cut between one to six (as you can see on this](\"http:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/abloy-camlock.jpg\"){kind=link}
![‘stairway’ key that is cut 1-2-3-4-5-6<\/a>). This four disc lock did not provide a challenge and was](\"http:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/abloy-stairway-key-copy.jpg\"){kind=link}