Putting a key back together?

OK, so I had somebody staying here over the weekend, and somehow, in using the key to my room, they broke it in two. The key is broken pretty much right where the “pattern” begins, so the other side is more or less just the “handle”. The two pieces still pretty evenly line up, though their connection point is a little twisted. Would anybody have any recommendations on how to fix this? Could I superglue it together? Would a locksmith be needed, and if so, would he be able to put the old key back together for less than the price of creating a new one? Any other suggestions would also be welcome.

Just take the old key pieces to a locksmith, and have him cut a new one. It shouldn’t cost much if any more than simply cutting a dupe from an intact key

A locksmith can do it, I had one do it for me once. He had to manually tweak it a few times before it would work smoothly in the lock but he eventually got it.

Assuming this is the only key to your room (otherwise you could just get a duplicate made for buck or so) you may need to get a locksmith as most of the key hardware store type cutting machines I have seen use the key handle to clamp the key in place while being cut, and would not work with just the blade section of the key. Glues will be useless for this fix. You might possibly weld the bits back together, but this is likely to involve specialized equipment and be more costly than simply getting a new key made by a locksmith.

If you are handy you might be able to save money by getting a new inexpensive lockset with keys for 25.00 or so from the local hardware store and installing it yourself vs the 50- $ 85 for a locksmith to make a new key.

“Osip” on this board is a locksmith. If you can track own his username you might try emailing him if his email address is listed.

50- 85 for a locksmith to make a new key.

For a KEY ?! When you’ve got the old (admittedly two-piece) key for reference? I would think a couple bucks.

I’m talking about a professional locksmith coming out to you in his van and re-keying your lock. The minimum time/labor charge is usually $ 40.00 or so and that’s usually without any hardware charges. As I said earlier in my post, a duped key at a hardware store might be a dollar or so, but those folks are not professional lockmiths. They know how to operate the key machine and that’s it. Maybe some key cutting machines can operate with just the blade, but most of the store based ones I have observed must use the handle of the key to clamp it in place for duplication.

I follow. I was thinking of taking the old key to the shop. I would assume a good locksmith could make a duplicate from the broken key, asAttrayant mentioned.

I must plead ignorance I’ve never seen a professional “locksmith’s shop”. Every locksmith I’m familar with is available only on a dispatch basis in their vans. All the people in “Keys Made Here” shops typically just have a key machine like the hardware stores and the keymaking is an adjunct to shoe repair, jewelry repair or something similar.

Well I have a copy of the full key, but I figured it would work to somehow put the two together (e.g. superglue or something like that). Apparently that’s not going to work, so how much does a locksmith charge to make a copy of a key?

If you have a copy of the full key, just go to any hardware store, and they’ll make you dupe for around $1.00 ~ $1.50. Assuming the copy is faithful a dupe should work just fine.

OK, never mind. Just called the locksmith and found out it’s really cheap to make a duplicate (like I said, I still have a copy of the full one). Thanks for all the replies though.

Hi sorry I am late I took a nap today and just woke up.

Glad you found someone to make you a copy.

For fun and future reference I shall answer anyway.

With a clean break on a Key it is easy for a locksmith to duplicate. I do it all the time. Depending where you live a new key dupilcated from another key or a clean break original runs around .85 to 1.50. At a locksmith shop (depending on the type of key)

There is no real good way to put a key back together. Most keys are brass, nickle plated brass or some other form of nickle silver.
Glues do not work well because the point where the key breaks has to survive turning pressure and there is just not much surface for enough glue to make a difference. welding, or other forms of using heat to put the metal together is a real bugger because, once it is done the key has to retain the grooves to completely seat in the lock and work.

Why are Keys made out of such weak materials?
Well, brass key (blanks) are cheap to produce, easy to duplicate and being made out of the same material as the pins/wafers in a lock wear at a same rate of speed. (steel keys wear out brass pins and wafers very quickly) And a worn key is easier to repace than pulling a lock and replacing wafers all the time.

Glad you figured it out quickly and is a cheap replacement for you.

Osip