![]() I don’t miss cranking the spacing and depth wheels back and forth to get a vague starting point, then hoping for perfection while cutting four different sides of a key. Technically, by the time you cut an externally milled key, there isn’t much of an edge left for the vises to hold, so Ilco’s solution works well.Ĭutting Tibbe keys using my old Framon #2 is a task that I never will look back on with fondness. The vises seem particularly heavy duty and solid, and for the laser-cut keys, the vise clamps the key along the neck, by the bow, eliminating the necessity for the vise to clamp the edges of the blade. In fact, if you use a plastic or aluminum key, the machine won’t work. The machine calibrates itself to every key by electronically “touching” the cutter to the key blank before actually cutting the key. The cutters and vises can be changed in about 30 seconds, with no adjustments. The screen on the tablet tells you which to use. The Futura Auto comes with four cutters and two vises - one vise for track keys and a four-sided vise for edge-cut keys. The screen on the tablet asks for a vehicle make, model and year, and when the “card” comes up with all the specs and key blanks, you then have the option to make the key in several different ways, such as by code, direct cuts or partial cuts. The tablet seems to have much more capability than simply running the Futura Auto, but because I am computer challenged - like many locksmiths - I leave the other options alone and rejoice in the fact that the tablet runs the key machine. Even recalibration of the machine is performed through the tablet. The app runs the machine, and other than an on/off switch, there are no controls on the machine itself. It’s interesting to note that the brain is inside the key machine, while the controls are on an app on the Lenovo tablet. The tablet connects to the Futura via Bluetooth, so as long as the tablet is near the machine, the two will connect automatically. Other than registering the machine and tablet online so you can get code updates, there’s no loading of software or discs. The Lenovo tablet can be mounted on top of the machine or removed and set on the workbench. Because I had no one to show me how to use the machine, I watched the videos a half-dozen times, then called tech support several times to get the machine up and running. The supplier who sells the key machine also might provide some tech support. ![]() However, after spending several thousand dollars, you will learn how to use the tablet, even though there basically is no instruction manual. Ilco provides valuable videos online, and their tech support is patient and friendly. The Ilco Futura Auto comes with a separate Lenovo tablet, and if you can’t figure out the tablet, you can’t use the key machine. With so many cars and trucks now using track keys, I finally robbed my individual retirement account and made the leap to an “automatic” laser-cut key machine.Īfter considering a half-dozen choices, I chose the Ilco Futura Auto, partly from my own research and partly from the recommendation of a trusted supplier. Still, for me, it wasn’t worth spending upwards of $4,000 to save a little time each month. ![]() While building my commercial accounts, I languished for years while originating and copying milled keys with an old Framon Sidewinder and depth key guides. When Asian vehicles started “going sidewinder,” adding to those from Europe, locksmiths had to make the choice of buying a laser-cut key machine, expensive programmers and stock, or being phased out of the automotive key industry. ![]() Even Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches could be impressed fairly easily. Before German vehicles switched to sidewinder keys, a competent locksmith who had an inexpensive key machine could make a key for almost any car on the road.
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