Left my keys in the back door and it slammed, catching the keyring in the frame and now the key is bent almost 45 degrees. It was in the lock at the time so the bend is on the straight bit between the "teeth" part and the round part.
How's best to straighten it without snapping it? Heat then bend then plunge into cold water? Just heat? Or will I be able to bend it cold? I'm wary of trying it in case I snap it. It still works, but it's a bugger to keep in my pocket :)
I'd be inclined to go to a place that offered a key cutting service and see if they can cut a new one from the bent one. However you straighten it there will be weakness and it could snap at any time.
Heat and put it in a vice to straighten
Jim G
I have straightened keys and none of them broke. My instinct is that straightening a key once is relatively safe. Based on my vague memory that in making a copy of a key, the hardware store person clamps the old one into a little vice, I have the impression that they could easily copy a broken key. So straightening the bent one is not a big risk.
McGyver
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