Key Cutting Vancouver

Most of what crosses the bench is a straight key copy: a house key, an office key, a mailbox or locker key, a padlock key. House and office keys are $5-$15 each. Specialty and commercial blanks run $8-$30, and an uncut blank on its own is $4.75. Bring the original and we cut from it, or bring the lock or the stamped key code and we cut to code instead.

Every key is tested before it leaves the counter, and a copy that does not turn gets recut on the spot. That is the difference between a locksmith bench and a self-service kiosk: the kiosk cannot test the key in your cylinder, and it cannot tell you that the reason your copy sticks is a worn cylinder rather than a bad cut. If the cylinder is the problem, we can rekey it for $25-$45 while you wait.

Keys we copy every day

• House and condo keys: Schlage SC1, Kwikset KW1, Weiser WR3, Yale.
• Office, cabinet, locker, mailbox and padlock keys.
• Bike locks, scissor gates, storage cages and tool chests.
• Older imperial and heritage profiles a big-box machine has no blank for.

Car keys are cut and programmed at the shop or at your vehicle. A transponder car key spare is $180-$240 cut and programmed; a smart proximity key spare is $300-$420. We work on Honda, Toyota, Ford, GMC, Chrysler, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, among others.

A spare is far cheaper than a replacement, because a key cut from a working original is a bench job. If every key is gone, the car has to be decoded and the immobiliser reprogrammed, which starts at $180: see all keys lost.

Bring the vehicle, not just the key. A transponder or proximity key has to be paired to the car before it will start it, so the car and the key have to be in the same place. There is no tow to a dealer in that: the van does the programming at the curb.

Restricted keys are the ones stamped DO NOT DUPLICATE that actually mean it. Medeco M3, Mul-T-Lock MT5+ and Interactive+, Schlage Primus and Abloy Protec2 use patented keyway profiles, so a copy is legally possible only through an authorized dealer holding the key card on file. We are that dealer in Vancouver.

Bring the key card and one existing key, or send a property manager with written authorization, and a restricted key is cut to registered code for $30-$80. Stocked profiles are same day; an unusual profile is ordered in. Every cut is logged against the cardholder, which is the entire point of a restricted system: you can answer how many keys exist and who signed for them.

More on the platforms we hold: Mul-T-Lock Interactive+ and MT5, or the wider range on high-security locks.

The vans carry the same code cutter and the same programmer as the bench, so a key can be cut at your door, at your desk or at your car. We arrive at most Vancouver addresses in 20-30 minutes. Mobile cutting is the normal choice for strata turnovers, site offices, and anyone who cannot leave a building unlocked while they drive to Dunbar.

Kitsilano has its own page for local turnaround: key cutting in Kitsilano. For a whole building on one key, see commercial locksmith.

These are the shop rates, the same ones published on our price list. You hear the figure before we cut.

• House and office key copy: $5-$15 each.
• Specialty and commercial blanks: $8-$30.
• Uncut key blank: $4.75.
• Transponder car key spare, cut and programmed: $180-$240.
• Smart proximity key spare: $300-$420.
• Restricted high-security key, cut to registered code: $30-$80.

A standard house key copy takes 5-10 minutes at the counter. A transponder key takes 30-45 minutes including programming, and a proximity key takes 45-60 minutes.

The shop is at 4105 Macdonald St, Vancouver, BC V6L 2P1, on Macdonald at West 25th in Dunbar. Street parking is free on Macdonald and on the side streets, and the key bench is a few steps inside the door, so a house key copy is usually a five minute stop.

Walk in with whichever you have: the original key, the lock itself, or the stamped key code. All three work. We also cut from a photograph of a key code plate for fleet and property managers who cannot get the hardware to us.

One number reaches the counter and the vans: 604-734-7233. Shop hours and the map are on contact.

A big-box key machine is fine for a spare Kwikset house key and not much else. It cuts a copy from a copy rather than to code, so the error compounds down the chain; it stocks a narrow blank range; and nobody at that counter can test the key in your cylinder or tell you the cylinder is the real problem.

Where it stops entirely: transponder and proximity car keys, restricted keyways, older imperial profiles, and any key that has to be cut to code because the original is gone. We wrote the comparison up in full in Home Depot or a locksmith shop.

Two of the Google reviews customers have left about key work at 4105 Macdonald St.

"Safe and secure my dad came to Safe and Secure to get a second key cut and fob for my 2017 Mazda 3. The lock technician Cam did a great job! He was knowledgeable, friendly and quick. Thank you, Cam!"

Alexis Birner, Google

"Had a scissor gate that lost its key! Went to Safe& Secure on MacDonald and had it done in less than one hour!!! Cam, the technician quoted me a fair price and was quick and polite!! Can’t ask for more!"

J B, Google

More at reviews.