Originally Posted by ykobayashi

That makes a ton of sense. I made about four prototypes. I learned a lot about my CNC machine (I got it twenty years ago and still haven’t mastered its quirks) in the process of making parts.

I actually made 15 or so final key heads. There were some tolerancing issues with the thickness of the key that dogged me. Too deep a pocket and the key rattled, too shallow and the halves don’t close. Then there were CAM issues like how my machine slows down to a snails pace when interpolating an ellipse from circular arcs. I got greedy and tried to make a bunch using a step and repeated design but found out my table isn’t flat enough over a panelized array. Konrad’s design used a lot of straight lines which was smart.

But his two halves were different and machined on both sides. A lot of work.

My production time was 14 minutes long per half but I really wanted to replicate the profile of the OE key.

After I produced a pile of reject parts I realized where Konrad probably was when he threw in the towel. Even at $30 a pop (I recall he asked that much) it was a difficult part to make.

Then throw in making from metal and needing anodizing. Good to hear you got a few while it lasted.

I was toying with doing metal...aluminum or brass but I figured I’d keep it simple. Like anything “real” it is always harder than it looks.

I’m gonna go get my car Sunday. I’m looking forward to making all the cylinders work with the steel key.