Last Updated on June 19, 2024
How to Get a Laser Cut Key
If you’ve bought a newer vehicle in the last decade, you may have noticed your car key was remarkably different than your key from older vehicles. This newer key style is known as a ‘laser cut key’. Other names for it are ‘sidewinder’ and ‘high-security’ key.
Laser-cut keys are much harder to cut than a standard car key, and they almost always need to be programmed into the vehicle by a locksmith for the car to run.
Take Your Laser Key to a Locksmith Shop for Duplication
Laser key cutting is a standard locksmith service. ACME Locksmith in Phoenix performs laser key cutting in Phoenix, Gilbert, Scottsdale, and our Mesa locations.
To cut high-security laser keys, locksmiths use a small milling machine to slowly remove the key’s metal. Milling uses a small bit, which looks very much like the tip of a standard drill bit. The bit not only goes up and down but it can also be moved along the surface to remove material at a precise, preset depth. The upper and lower sides of the blade, or the inside of the blade depending on the car, can be milled out very precisely so that the key can turn the locks and ignition.
Order a New Laser-Cut Key Using Your Car’s VIN
Getting your key duplicated at a locksmith shop is more affordable but it also can be more inconvenient. If you don’t need the duplicate ASAP, you can order a newly cut sidewinder key from ACME Locksmith, or a few other websites, using the car’s VIN.
The only drawback to ordering online is if the key needs to be programmed. You will either need to take the key to a locksmith for programming or purchase an inexpensive programmer that can program the key/FOB for your year, make, and model of vehicle.
Why Laser Keys are Difficult to Duplicate
Why are they harder to duplicate? Well, it becomes evident when you consider how the cuts to the key are going to be created. The old-style bladed key has notches that go along the edge of the blade to a certain depth. These notches are cut with a relatively inexpensive machine using a standard carbide cutting blade/wheel.
But with laser key, you’ll notice that the cuts don’t go through the entire body of the key, so a cutting wheel cannot be used. The metal is, instead, milled out along the edge or down the center, but NOT all the way through the key. The machines that are capable of making these cuts work very differently.
Different types of machines can mill high-security key blades. The less expensive are the ‘tracers’. A tracer machine copies an original key. The original key is secured into the machine on a movable table. It is placed such that a tracing pin can slide along the groves of the key (as in the photo above) at a calibrated and desired depth. On the other side of the machine, a new laser key is inserted under a milling blade on the same table and at the same desired depth.
When the machine is turned on, the milling blade spins, and the locksmith moves the table, which moves both the old and new keys in unison. The locksmith guides the tracing pin along the groves of the already-cut key while the milling blade cuts the new laser key. The new key on the other side is milled exactly as the original. Tracer machines can cost upwards of $2000.
You can watch this process on our YouTube channel.
The more expensive machine that does this milling is an ‘originator’.
An originator doesn’t need a key to copy from or a locksmith to manually move a table.
Instead, information about the key (key code, blank type, etc) is programmed into a computer, and the computer accurately cuts the desired key. This is also referred to as a CNC (Computer-Navigated Control) miller. These types of machines can cost upwards of $10,000.
You can see a laser key originator working on our YouTube here.
The added expense for a company to purchase one of these machines and the programming equipment needed to program the key to the car is prohibitive. That cost is passed to the consumer. For average pricing, check out our article How Much Do Car Keys Cost?
But, the added security means this style key is here to stay, for at least as long as keys still open and start automobiles.
Disclosure: As an eBay / Amazon Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases.
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See our Amazon Store for Videos and Links to All of Our Favorite Security Products.
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High-Security Safes: When you want a safe that is designed to protect the valuables you put inside, you want a high-security safe found on ACME Locksmith’s Safes for Sale website.
Sliding Glass Door Lock: The best Arcadia door lock that stops your sliding glass door from being lifted out of its tracks and prevents little ones from opening the door and leaving the home. Check out the video on YouTube and Buy it on our website.