Hi there Magi-Ken …
Clint and I began key collecting a couple of years ago. No experience in or knowledge about the lock industry - just enjoyed their shapes, weight and tactile feel. We are definitely and by no means experts … and so pass on the following with that in mind.
I guess the main thing we have discovered is that you need to decide what types of keys you want to collect - as there are so many types out there. It can get quite manic and expensive trying to collect all of them.
To clean or not to clean is the other big question. To tell you the truth I don’t think it really matters - and will be down to personal preference. We prefer to leave a key in the state it arrives in - except that we will wipe it down with CRC (WD40) to remove any light rusting.
We have had the odd key arrive that is very rusty - and in those cases we will opt to clean it. In cleaning we have found the best solution to soak in is malt vinegar - surprisingly doing a much better job than all of the cleaning products we can purchase at the local hardware (for much less cost). However - you may fare better than us in that department - with hopefully a wider selection at your hardware that we can procure here. However - be watchful that you don’t leave the key in the vinegar for too long - we have had a couple ‘disappear’ almost completely :-) because we forgot about them.
As for sites and other contacts. We haven’t had much luck there - most are for locksmiths only (sadly, probably and rightly for security purposes) and we are jusy hobby collectors. Check out http://www.deabath.com - nice story about their Blue Peter keys if nothing else. I can’t imagine sorting through that amount of keys!
Ebay is our main shopping area and you can still pick up a surprise or two for a reasonable price. However - there are some collectors out there that will pay huge money for good keys - don’t be too disappointed if you come up against them, keep looking and keep track of the prices paid previously for those types. I guess you will probably have some car boot sales, fairs and the like that may have some odd examples too.
Well - I think I’ve ‘stirred my stumps’ enough for one post, eh Richard??
Cheers Sarah
