Product Description
FOUR PIECE WAFER LOCK READER SET.
The art of wafer reading is a challenging, yet very gratifying skill set to develop. It is a skill! Skills that must be developed as no two manufacturers locks are identical. A skill since reading is a judgment or “reading” wafer tumblers by relative positioning within the keyway. So let’s begin by understanding the construction of a wafer lock.
Every wafer lock has an outer shell or housing. In cases other than sidebar locks, the outer housing uses the wafers to ride in channels
or compartments and act as the locking mechanism to keep the plug cylinder from turning. In sidebar locks, the wafers are entirely surrounded by the plug cylinder with only the sidebar enters the outer housing to lock the plug in place.
It needs to stated early on that reading sidebar lock wafers is not possible unless the wafer has an identifying number or mark that can
be read to tell you what cut it may relate to. (The part of the tumbler that receives the sidebar is hidden from viewing through the
keyway) To list some examples would be a GM auto lock that has gone through a combination change using after-market replacement tumblers. There is a chance that these numbers will be visible through the keyway. The infamous Ford Focus is another example of sometimes having small numbers on each of the tumblers as an OEM product standard, as does the Honda. There are other examples
but we are not here to write a book on all of the variations. Instead we will drop the hint that such things may be in the field.
The locking channels or compartments are located on opposite sides of the housing while inline with the top and bottom of the keyway. As the key is inserted into the keyway, the wafer tumblers will ride up the key blank and move from one cut to the next until the key is completely inserted. As the tumblers move, allowing the key to pass, they will leave one channel while moving into the opposing
channel. If the properly cut key is being employed and is fully inserted, the wafer tumblers will become flush with both sides of the
plug without allowing tumblers to enter either of the channels in the lock housing. With the tumblers held flush on all sides of the plug, the plug is now free to rotate.
Each wafer tumbler with a lock has its own spring, which drives the tumbler into a cut on the key or if in the locked position, it will
drive the tumbler into one of the channels in the housing. Each wafer tumbler also has a rectangle cut into its center, which allows the
key blank to penetrate the tumbler as the key is inserted into the lock plug. It is this rectangle that we will concentrate on in the skill of wafer reading.
TWO WAYS TO READ WAFERS:
The first way to read a common wafer lock that you might find in a desk drawer, would be to pick the lock
and rotate the plug only part way. All you would need for this effort is to view the tumblers with your eye using an otoscope. Since the pick of the lock will leave the tumblers resting on the sides of the housing and not inside their channels what you are seeing will be the actual cuts that are needed to make the key. The difficulty with this method is
that any shallow cuts that fall behind a deeper cut can not be seen or decoded. It is real guess work at this point. You can then either cut the visible cuts with your best guess with either space and depth keys, or impressing what you see with a file. After that, you can impression those wafers that you were unable to decode by sight. This method might be fine for simple desk locks but when we begin trying to work with automotive wafer locks, it is a very different story. The difficulty in picking alone will encourage you to employ the next method using your new wafer readers.
In both of these methods of reading locks there is an intuitive decision that is made when deciding what is
a 5 cut and what is a 4 cut and so forth. This is easy when you employ the method above since you can visually gauge the blade of the key in the keyway with relationship to the broaching of the keyway. What you see is what depth the key actually needs to be. In the next method, you will need to develop a sense of what wafer represents a 5 cut and which one is likely to be a 3 cut and so forth. Since no two locks are the same this will be your greatest challenge.
When you peer into your lock’s keyway, you can use your scope and any of the wafer readers to see which way to depress the tumbler. Finding which way the tumbler depresses will tell you which side of the tumbler will be riding on the key’s blade (cut). As an example, if your reader’s blade tip moves the wafer downward, then you will know that the bottom of the tumbler rides on the bottom of the key’s blade and it is this portion of the wafer that must be read.
TIP: In selecting a wafer reader tool start with the shortest and work you way to the longest. The shortest blade is generally more controllable.
Once you have found which way the tumbler is moving and what part of the tumbler will determine the cut for the key, it will be time
for you to decide, intuitively, what key cut will be used for this particular tumbler. This must be done in the beginning by relating the tumbler in question to the rest of the tumblers in the lock only by doing this will you
begin the decision making process of what key cuts are needed. In Illustration D you can see a set of tumblers
laid one on top of each other. There are five tumblers in this example and each tumbler has a specific cut as rela80ted to by the circled numbers. As you can also see the ears of each tumbler are in the same position and would normally have springs pushing against each ear. This makes side A of each tumbler being pushed into the lock housing channel. You will see from Illustration D that all of the A side of all tumblers are in perfect
alignment. All of the outside of Side B of all of the tumblers as also in perfect alignment. What is very evident
is the different material thicknesses on the B side of the tumbler from the outside to the inner rectangle where the key blade will enter.
By using your wafer reader you can depress the first tumbler downward allowing a view of the next tumbler and so on throughout the entire lock nest. From this you will need to decipher the specific cuts.
PROBLEMS YOU WILL ENCOUNTER:
* You will encounter master wafers where two different key-ways will enter a lock and work different sides of a single wafer. This is especially true of Corbin wafer lock tumblers.
* You will encounter split wafers, which are now becoming more and more prevalent in the new high-end automobiles. These have been used by Mercedes four track sidewinder concepts for a long time.
* You will encounter wafers that are jammed in the keyway due to metal fatigue that occurs by the continuous insertion and extraction of a working key. This is not uncommon where the guides for the tumbler track become bent or mashed into the guide tumbler channels. Many times the Wafer Maintenance Tool can be used to remove the bent metal flashing with either the “rhino” or “peg” tips.
The Wafer Maintenance Tool can also be very useful for removing dirt or corrosion from the wafer guides.
The Wafer Maintenance Tool can be used in releasing corroded tumblers or on tumblers that have become stuck due to dirt buildup.
Many times while working on automotive trunk locks there will be a great deal of dirt and corrosion or oxidation. You will find the a good cleaner (even auto brake cleaner) and a good spray lubricant (Tri-flow works well) in conjunction with the Wafer Maintenance Tool will free tumblers in the condition. Be certain however, if you use a de-greaser or cleaner to lubricate the locks cylinder tumbler pack.
There is one last word. Learning the skill of wafer reading becomes more difficult when applied to automobiles. Beyond the estimations of reading the wafers there is the factor of differences in manufacturing. Examples would be in looking at some of the variations. In a Volkswagen the first and the third tumblers go one way while the second through seventh go the other way. This would be compared to alternating tumblers in Mazda, Mercedes, and the old Triumph. These are actually alternating even and odd with even going one way (lets say the top of the keyway) and the odd going the other way (towards the bottom). You might look at a Toyota where there are six tumblers in the doors and a seventh found only in the trunk lock (a valet concept). What about a Ford Fiesta, which has alternating tumblers (even/odd) with six wafers in the doors and trunk. There is a seventh space in the key, which is widened to accommodate a set of tumblers in the seventh position at the tip of the key found only in the ignition.
The variations are as numerous as the imagination allows. You will simply need to keep a log of the many variations. There is no simple magical formula to present here. This is a skill as much as the skill of impressioning or picking. You will need to learn the manufacturers, the key-ways, the keys, the depths, and the problems. It will come if you are patient, practical in your expectations, and studious in your efforts to learn. Besides the skill that you will learn, you will be discovering a fast efficient way of making money and practicing your