Key Stock – A Precision Product
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- Tim O’Keeffe, CEO
- 11/02/2016
The steel used to manufacture key stock is a precision product that is difficult to procure. Many steel mills do not like to run it because the finished product requires perpendicular angles, sharp corners, and a smooth surface finish. These are difficult attributes to produce with accuracy and consistency, especially when compared to round drawn material, which has no corners or surfaces that require parallel dimensions. Because drawn square and rectangle key stock is a finished or near finished product, the tolerances that must be maintained throughout the draw are finer than what is customarily used for other steel products.
To make matters worse, many defined standards for key stock are not consistent. For example, the prevailing U.S. Standard, ANSI B17.1, specifies three types of key stock: Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 – though no standards are defined for Class 3, so Class 2 standards are generally used for Class 3 applications. Adding to the confusion, along with ANSI, ASTM, and ISO standards there are more than 25 Standards Developing Organizations worldwide. In Europe, many prints are specified using DIN tolerances, and the current ISO standard does not align to ANSI B17.1. Heck, even material grades add to the complexity as they are specified by the engineer and are application specific. In North America, a lot of ANSI key stock is made from C1018 – a low carbon general purpose steel with good case-hardening qualities – because it is less expensive, while in Europe it is made from C1045, a medium carbon steel that can be through-hardened to produce higher strength properties.
Huyett solves these and other challenges through a comprehensive global procurement strategy, coupled with a commitment to carrying inventory. We have over 1 million pounds of high-grade key steel in stock. We carry a broad range of sizes in both ANSI B17.1 Class 1 and Class 2 standards. We carry both undersize and oversize (popularized as MAK-A-KEY™) material. We stock multiple grades of carbon steel from C1018 to C1045 to C1095; alloy grades such as AISI 8630 and 4140; non-ferritic grades including AISI 303/304; marine grade AISI 316; and in metric, we have both A2 and A4/A5. We also offer unique materials like brass, aluminum, Monel™, and even nylon!
Our procurement process is worldwide and thorough. We also have specialized inspection procedures that are shared and trained throughout our supply chain in order to optimize quality and consistency. We invest additional costs in shipping raw material in crates to reduce damage that can occur to steel bars when they are bundled, as bundled steel can turn, twist, and warp when not stacked in a rigid container. We also use cranes rather than fork trucks when handling raw material. Steel bars transported straddling forks can warp and bend as gravity pulls the ends of the bars toward the ground, while the middle remains elevated.
Care in handling also minimizes magnetic properties that may be amplified by friction resulting from product interaction. Magnetic parts can complicate the installation of keys into key ways, as magnetized parts hang up and clog such systems, especially when using vibratory bowls in an automated assembly.
Ultimately, we recognize that the average person or engineer may be unaware of how much goes into the production and handling of key stock. To many, key stock looks like simple chunks of processed steel, but key stock is a precision product and we are the world’s leader in procurement, inventory, manufacturing, and distribution of this simple but very relevant product.
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