The Locksmith Journal Jul-Aug 2014 - Issue 33 | Page 68

PROUD SPONSORS OF THIS PAGE KEYCUTTING THE ENIGMA THAT IS KEY CUTTING This month I want to take a look at the enigma that is Key Cutting. Currently in the UK in excess of 60 million pounds each year is spent on having keys cut. This simple function has moved on at a rapid rate and during the past five years has taken a whole new meaning in the overall security and locksmith sectors. While the majority of us take the keys in our pocket for granted, it is a situation that has evolved over a number of years. My earliest memories of the man who cut the keys were in the shape of a van which called two or three times a year, in the street in which we lived. His business was to sharpen knives and cut keys. It all seemed so simple; keys were either the small key to which we all referred to as the Yale key (rim cylinder) or the mortice type key. Keys then became more readily available as a by-product of high street shoe repair shops with the cutting of keys part of the service they offered. This was subsequently carried through by the nat