View Full Version : Car / Auto key blade cutting from digital photo - how is it done?
sdnatlst
20th September, 2018, 07:55 PM
Hi guys i have started a new interest in car key programming and blade cutting the past couple of months.
all i have at the minute is a londsor k518 and a condor xc-mini master automatic cutter,
i know im starting cheap but im just learning at the moment, lots of reading and investigation
however one thing i can't work out is how people offer to cut , for example a HU101 blade , from just a digital photo? i can cut to code obviously but not many customer have the code or lose it.
i understand that the bitting can be manually inputted to the machine, but how on earth do you read the bitting from a photo? i dont understand it
i have seen some apps that can read photos of keys, but reluctant to sign up to any before knowing for sure what im buying,
my main one i need is HU101 for some land rover flip keys i stock, customers want blades cutting prior to ship
Thanks in advance!
rob h
20th September, 2018, 08:15 PM
You need something like instacode to determine the amount of cuts, and height possible.
Where the first and last cut starts.
Then you will look for the deepest cut, and un deepest.
And compare these with the ones besides these.
Start of easy, with a hu66 hu83, later on va2 etc
The app could work, it might help you to learn this skill.
gokart
20th September, 2018, 08:17 PM
If you know how the key looks like, it shouldn't be difficult to figure it out.
p1et
20th September, 2018, 08:32 PM
If you know how the key looks like, it shouldn't be difficult to figure it out.
No more to add :-)
EDIT: Well, I will add...
You need to know particular key profile data like No. of cuts and depths. At start use instacode for this. Cut random code HU101 blade, let's say bittings 3 5 3 2 1 3 3 5 3 2 then look at the cut blade and try to read it's bitting by eye and compare if you're reading correct. Knowing that this profile got 10 cuts and depth frm 1-5 it shouldn't be so hard. And same thing with every single one profile, day by day remembering.
PocketHero
20th September, 2018, 10:01 PM
If you don't want to get Instacode, then just make a key with cutting 1122334455. With comparing the photo to this key you must be able to decode it. Works on every profile
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81zx
20th September, 2018, 10:05 PM
You can make a grid in the graphic program and put on the photo.557896
sdnatlst
20th September, 2018, 10:06 PM
If you don't want to get Instacode, then just make a key with cutting 1122334455. With comparing the photo to this key you must be able to decode it. Works on every profile
Tapatalkkal küldve az én S55 eszközömről
thanks all for the help
i am happy to buy instacode, but i didnt know how it could help me, it seemed that it was more for cut to code help. i didnt know if it would have a catalogue of images for each car make/model to show the code for different blades etc
i believe instacode is also built in, somehow to condor xc-mini master?
PocketHero
20th September, 2018, 11:25 PM
IT won't contain such kind O pictures what you are looking for, IT is better:
Contains all the sizes of bittings, so you can measure the pic, and know the cutting depth.
Another question is what is easy to use for ya. After a while you have to learn to read the bittings without any kind of help, or you Will quit the profession.
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sleepyrz
22nd September, 2018, 12:24 AM
I believe the app is called snap decode
tagirdn
3rd October, 2020, 11:42 PM
Cutting out a photo is fraught with a much closer acquaintance with crime. And you might not like it . This is equivalent to making a copy of the key from an impression..
fred77
4th October, 2020, 11:34 AM
And might add how GOOD the new key from Picture depends on....
1) quality of picture ie light & angle
2) how worn the key
3) your skill
4) how good your machine cuts new key (ie VA6 on my A5 is a bugger on 1st insertion)
Personally wouldn't want to do it from a picture. And I turn up to the vehicle and TEST the key.
Which is the major difference between me and say Timpson. Customers have told me stories of how many times they've gone back...
And if your thinking of making money this way - very hard.
Go to ebay and look at everybody undercutting everybody else for a Ł5
PixelsFixed
4th October, 2020, 12:31 PM
Absolutely. I hate doing mail order stuff. Even copying. I tried to decode one hu101 from a photo using xhorse app and couldn't be arsed. It's more trouble than it's worth.
rob h
4th October, 2020, 07:45 PM
The app only works, if you are connected with your Dolphin.
So i never used it.
Simply turning the picture straight up on your phone, so it runs parallel to the screen edge.
Even swipe it larger, then move the key along side the edge.
Using the screen edge as a ruler along all cuts.
Some glare or fuzzy, press automatic fix picture.
From some angle one side might appear larger.
Turn the key, and imagen a line all the way true the center, and turn the center line parallel to the screen.
tagirdn
4th October, 2020, 09:14 PM
Yesterday I decoded profile 162 from the photo. A colleague sent a photo, then went to him to cut it. I made a mistake in two secrets for one unit. This is about making a customer to order. And again, it is not a fact that the client is not a criminal. In Ukraine, for example, you can have a lot of trouble .
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