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2. Key cuttings in the motor’s capacitor. Unplug the machine, remove the capacitor’s rubber cover
and blow out the chips. Remember to wear safety glasses.
3. Remove the machine’s access plate—check the wiring connections and switch. Repair or replace as nec-
essary.
4. Cutter shaft lock is in the locked position.
Cutter Wheel Didn’t Seem to Last Long
Several things can cause this to happen.
1. The cutter will last the longest if it only duplicates brass keys.
2.
Premium quality Nickel-Silver key blanks are abrasive to the cutter wheel and will dull the cutter more rap-
idly than brass keys. Here’s what you can do to get the maximum life out of your cutter wheel on these premi-
um blanks.
a) Duplicate them a little slower. Racing through the job, especially in large rekeying jobs will put
more wear on the cutter wheel than going a little slower. The machine’s high-speed ―stick-shift‖ fea-
ture, extremely powerful motor and extra large diameter cutter are a real temptation to push the ma-
chine faster and faster.
b) You should charge a little bit more money for cutting premium key blanks and put that difference
aside for the purchase of a new cutter.
3. You really cut more keys than you thought you did. Often we calculate how many months the cutter lasted
instead of how many keys you cut. If you really want to know how long your cutter lasted—keep an accurate
inventory of your key blanks—or put a simple mechanical counter on your key machine and you’ll be surprised
with results.
4.
You cut steel keys. You can cut them, but we don’t recommend it. No question about it—steel keys are
hard on cutters….period!
5.
You cut a beautiful brand new Automotive ―Presentation‖ key that the customer brought in. Yo
u
cut the
key and ―toasted‖ the cutter.
What you cut was a Gold plated hardened steel key. They’re out there—they
were made by mistake sometime ago and they continue to surface from time to time. Best thing to do is:
a). Never cut a key that’s brought in by your customer. Cut only what you know and make sure it al-
ways comes from YOUR inventory.
b). Place a small magnet near your key machine. Test any key that’s suspicious—if it’s magnetic its
not brass or Nickely-Silver..period.
Cutter Wobbles
This situation may be caused by a key cutting on the face of the cuter shaft preventing the cutter wheel from
seating properly. Fix it by removing the cutter wheel and cleaning all the surfaces and reinstalling the cutter
wheel. If the cutter wheel still wobbles its time to replace the cutter shaft assembly with a new one. REMEM-
BER: Cutter wheel is secured with a Left-Hand Nut. You must ―tighten‖ to loosen.
Cutter Leaves Big Burrs on Cut Keys
A sharp cutter requires almost no deburring. A dull cutter requires a lot of deburring. A dull cutter seems to
make the keys ―float‖ and you’re always ―force-feeding‖ the keys into the stylus and cutter wheel. Replace the
cutter or get it resharpened. Call us for resharpening details.
My Resharpened Cutter Doesn’t Work Well
The cutter resharpening service didn’t have it reground – instead you went to a service that used a different
means of sharpening such as etching or striking. Simply put… your cutter wheel should always be resharp-
ened by grinding –and you will need a quality service to do it right. Call us for quality resharpening details.
