Hello bacade, to be honest if it was me Id hold fire buying one without a key as it’d be too big a gamble.
Precious few of these locks are perfectly intact and working with all the sliders and springs, so buying one already working with a key makes far more sense and it’s also of course more desirable to have the original factory key than a later made duplicate.
They are certainly interesting locks and a lot seem to like them, but I’ve come to accept that 99% of them are well past their prime and have long since started the irreversible task of chewing themselves to bits, upon which they are of course reborn as a Victorian paperweight.
I recently cut the keys to the locks I’ve posted on the other thread and despite their appearance every single one has parts and wear issues.
Making keys to the unknown is of course, an unknown quantity which rarely proves viable, unless the lock is in good working condition or perhaps if it’s a rare example.
I’d definitely recommend waiting for a really good condition lock to come up that already has an original working key, that way your money goes where it’s worth it and you know exactly what you have 🙁nod):
