Automatic Key Cutting Machine : Silca Futura Auto - How To Cut A B1 Key Blank

The Futura Auto, just like its name, cuts automotive keys, both edge and high-security style keys. And a lot of advertisements are done on the ability to cut like H75, edge keys or circle plus edge keys or Honda high-security keys, Lexus, Toyota, Volkswagen high-security keys, which is excellent. I mean, that's the primary function of why most people buy the machine. However, it has a lot more capability than that; for example, the little B1 key, the Futura Auto can cut them. The B1 key is found on a wide variety of automotive ignitions, or door locks or gas cap locks, that sort of thing. And so we'll put in B1 as the key to pull up on the menu and look at the different code series available that it can cut from, then we'll go ahead and cut one.

We're going to cut a key by Code on this minor B1 key. So the first thing we want to do is go over here to Search and then hit Vehicle keys.

Go over to Key blank, type B1, and hit search.

It's going to pull all these different ones there is. As you click on them, to the side, it's going to show you the Lock Manufacture information, Applications, and different keyways and types there. Once we find the one we want, hit Card.

On the screen, if you notice, there are no cuts in there, and that's because we searched by the key blank, so we haven't given any cut. We would either need to decode, enter that in the actual cuts or the bidding, or lookup by the Code.

Let's lookup by the Code. As you can see here, the series we're working on here is between 201 and 1050. Click Code, and we'll type the Code we need that falls within that code series. In this case, it is 222; after that, we'll hit search.

Then the cuts we need will appear afterward.

On the menu, you can look at the different card options. You can get a pair and see if there are any available cutters you can use, which in this case, there's not. It's just going to be the 12L, the clamp, 01 VA.

You can also look at the card info, see it's Clamp, 01VA, the Clamp side, A, STOP, 0, which we'll cover in just a moment. There are many different things you can look at and make sure you know what you're doing.

At this point, now we're going to be ready to cut the keys.

Before we cut the key, make sure to have the right jaw and cutter in place.

If you don't have the right jaw on, all you need to do is on the far right side; you'll see a tiny Allen screw towards the bottom of the base of the jaw. You can loosen it up and pull it off.

As far as the cutter goes, get your Allen screw to loosen it up. Once you get used to using the machine, you'll always be able to look at it, and you'll see like this is thin and it's long. And you know that's the edge style key jaw, but they're the cutter. For this sample, we are looking for a 12L cutter.

When you change the cutters out, all you have to do is push it in all the way then tighten it down.

Since we have the information and set up the jaw and cutter, take our key blank and put it in. Remember that on the screen, it says Clamp side A and STOP 0, so we have to set it up before we clamp the key.

Once we do that, close the lid and hit start-up on the screen.

You'll notice that the first thing it's going to do before it cuts the key is it's going to calibrate precisely where the key is. You'll also notice it doing several passes. You can set it to do as many as you want; the more steps you do, the less pressure or tension will be on the cutter, the longer it lasts.

When the light turns green, it's done. So that is how you cut a B1 on the Futura Auto. Thanks, and we'll see you next time.