Jim R.

I'll take one as well

Jim R.

jhawk1000

Based upon the final price and the availability of the alarm version, I am a sucker for new things

Mel

Nicole

Lock World in SF offers to duplicate keys in original factory look:

$100 cut
$45 for the blank

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!

SharkSkin

Nicole, that is for the geninue Porsche steel blank, the $100 includes the lighted keyhead... also the real deal.

heinrich

Thoughts on price Dave?

kary4th

Depending on price, I could use two.

SharkSkin

H, after looking into this a bit more, Ti would be waayyy too expensive. We're looking into making flat keys of Ti, maybe with "928" CNC'ed into them. Those could be laser cut to shape, then finish machined. I'm going to see if the local key guys will cut a Ti 928 blank. Let's hope they can! Back to the investment-cast, plated Bronze idea for the head with the crests. Trying to find a way to bring it in under $125....

heinrich

Dave ti is not necessary. Cool but unnecessary. Good old stainless, or even the normal crap, would suffice. I think with 928 cnc'd, it would be cool and I would want one or more. Also if we could figure out how to cut a silhouette key, that would be cool.

SharkSkin

If a flat key is being laser-cut, it would essentially cost nothing extra to put the silhouette on there. I expect that nondescript like the second pic in this thread would be the way to go(e.g. no taillights or wing) or else there would be 3 or 4 blanks to cover the variations.

[Edit]Make that 6 or 8, counting alarm/non-alarm[/Edit]

Randy V

I'm guessin' you have a pretty good idea of the interest for this product now, Dave. Best of luck with the first working prototype.

Post back here when you have an update.

SharkSkin

Thanks for keeping it at the top for so long, Randy.

SharkSkin

Just got off the horn with the guy who cut my keys. He is not willing to trash his $700 key-cutting blade on a titanium blank. So, if we do Ti it will be only the keyhead.

Bill Ball

Titanium is light but I don't think it is harder to cut than steel.

kary4th

I'm no metallurgist, but I believe that there are different grades of titanium. My wedding ring is titanium with a platinum inlay. The manufacturer was quick to point out that they do NOT use "aircraft grade" titanium. What they were getting at is that is would be possible to cut the ring off in a medical emergency. Apparently, that's why almost nobody makes rings out of the stuff. It's light, strong, and hard to cut, but different alloys are available.

SharkSkin

It cuts easily enough, it just trashes conventional tools. Key-cutting wheels are designed to cut brass, and occasionally steel. The problem is the low thermal conductivity of Ti makes it more likely that the chips will weld to the tool, galling and cratering the tool. Rule of thumb is to use carbide and flood-cooling, neither of which are available for key machines AFAIK. Even if they were available, the local locksmiths don't have them.

Bottom line: Yes, we can make the part out of solid Ti. No, I don't think that you will be able to find anyone to cut it to work in your lock. The latter is the deal-killer for Ti key shanks.

I googled up some info that you might find interesting:
http://www.supraalloys.com/Machining_titanium.htm
http://www.titanium.com/titanium/tech_manual/tech2.cfm

Lots more info is available if you care to dig a bit.

[Edit]I already talked with Elliot at LockWorld about cutting Ti keys. He says forget it. Let's not flood the guy with calls. [/Edit]