Slideshow

How a burglar can make a copy of your door key, from a Facebook picture

8 Photos Martin Appel

PC for Alla reveals that copying door keys are possible - with an ordinary 3D printer

  • What you shouldn't do with your keys – upload a picture of them to Facebook. With a 3d printer a thief might be able to make a functioning copy, just from the image.

  • We begin with placing our key on a table and taking a photo – with a common smart phone. It’s the same kind of photo a lot of people might put up on Facebook. We transfer the photo to the computer and open it in the Paint software. There we crop the picture to exclude everything but the key. We used a common lock from Habo, but it could have been a similar lock from another manufacturer. The brand isn’t important in this case.

  • We convert the photo to an eps file with the Inkscape software. Next step is to open the file in a 3D software. We use the 360 Fusion software. It’s not free, but you can download a free test version and there are lots of other free alternatives.

  • hen the hard part begins – to convert the photo to a three-dimensional picture which can be printed from a 3D printer. The first step is to mask the background and isolate the key. We create an outer contour of the key. Since the “teeth” and notches are the main things that makes the key fit in the lock it takes time to get it right.

  • We have a perfect two-dimensional picture of the key and to give it depth we add its height. To set the right value is one of the challenges, since the height isn’t visible in the photo. In our case we use another key from the same manufacturer. Except for the teeth, the keys are identical.

  • It’s time to make the grooves in the key. Where they are placed is visible in the picture, but to measure the particular depth and angle of each groove we use our other key. When we are satisfied, we save the picture as an sdl file. Sdl is the standard format for 3D prints. We take a look at the preview and start the print. Now the printing of the key begins, all in all it will take about an hour.

  • It takes several prints and we have to whet it a bit as well. When everything is done we put it in the lock, and like a miracle - it actually opens.

  • The finished result.

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