Skeleton Keys - Please assist

[NigelKTolley]

Then again I once watched Tom Jones pick a 9 lever Kromer Novum in 5 minutes with a Hobbs pick I made. Doug

It's not unusual. ;-)

Sorry.

Yes, I agree that a really complex warded lock will avoid any set of standard skeleton keys. And there are some beautiful examples out there - and on here too. However, the vast majority of 'high end' warded locks suffered the same problems.

Firstly they were almost all single sided, and so unsuitable for a door. Secondly they were insanely hard to make, requiring hours or days of skilled work. This meant that only one key existed for many locks. This also made them very expensive.
Thirdly the entire lock had to be changed if a key was lost, as modification was a nightmare if security was to be maintained.
And fourthly, if the design became common, the security was massively reduced because of the tiny key space.

Add in the fact the keys tended to be massive to maintain strength while taking ever more complex warding and more metal removal, and there was really no way they would ever be both secure and common, nor cheap without being mass produced copies that destroyed their own security, victims of their own success.