OT Car Key question

[LouB]

Just got a spare key for my car. The thing comes with a black plastic cap on the end. Is there an easy way to get the thing off?

Melt it?? Burn it? Chisel it (not so easy)?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, If the car is bewer model the plastic handle may contain a chip. Make sure that is not the case. Cjip embedded spare key costs ~100.00(you get a blank key with chip and have it cut for your car)

[Ed Pawlowski]

If it is a plain key, not transponders or embedded chips, just get another copy made at the locksmith for about $2.

[Earl]

LouB wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Why?

[LouB]

No chip in the key. $1.99 at Ace Hardware. Had a key made the other day and it opens the door and started the car no problem.

Why remove? So it fits in the small leather business card case I carry in my left front pocket in case I lock my main set of keys in the car.

Back to the question. Anyone removed the plastic. Looks like I may need a vice to grip the key so I can work on it. Am hoping someone has found an easy way. Cook in toaster oven perhaps?

[LouB]

No chip in the key. $1.99 at Ace Hardware. Had a key made the other day and it opens the door and started the car no problem.

Why remove? So it fits in the small leather business card case I carry in my left front pocket in case I lock my main set of keys in the car.

Back to the question. Anyone removed the plastic. Looks like I may need a vice to grip the key so I can work on it. Am hoping someone has found an easy way. Cook in toaster oven perhaps?

[LouB]

No chip in the key. $1.99 at Ace Hardware. Had a key made the other day and it opens the door and started the car no problem.

Why remove? So it fits in the small leather business card case I carry in my left front pocket in case I lock my main set of keys in the car.

Back to the question. Anyone removed the plastic. Looks like I may need a vice to grip the key so I can work on it. Am hoping someone has found an easy way. Cook in toaster oven perhaps?

[Andy]

Andy comments: I'd drop it in a small pot of boiling water, fish it out with some pliers (or some method), and see if it is soft enough to scrape off with a knife........ If there is no hole in the metal to fasten it with, you might have to drill a hole....

If the pot of water (212F) doesn't work, heat up the oven to 400F and put the key in for a few minutes, setting it on a piece of aluminum foil so it won't make a mess if it melts.... If possible have the key held so the plastic part is on the bottom so if it runs it won't drip over the metal part and bugger up the key part....

Just some suggestions..... Good luck.

Andy in Eureka, Texas

[Ed Pawlowski]

"LouB" wrote

Speaking of vices, you may need vice grips to turn the key once you remove the plastic. I have no idea what is under it, if anything. There are much easier solutions as noted before, get a key made.

[Jon Danniken]

I'd start off with a razor knive and shave down one of the skinny sides until there was metal, then peel the rest of the plastic off. You could probably achieve the same thing with a well-sharpened chisel.

Jon

[dadiOH]

Most plastics break...tried whacking it with a hammer?

All plastics - AFAIK - burn. Use a propane torch.

[LouB]

Thanks

[LouB]

I ALREADY have the key

[LouB]

Damn stuff is hard. Will try heat.

[DanG]

It is getting to be an old memory, but I took one of those off several years ago. I used a good sharp wood chisel. The plastic is VERY tough and tightly bonded to the metal. Make sure you don't get your fingers ahead of a sharp chisel in motion. It seems to me I stood the key on the ring end on a scrap wood block and used a hammer and good wood chisel to slice down one side. The other side was much easier, but it did not just fall off.

[LouB]

Thanks

[Frank]

Plastic may also be soluble in acetone or nail polish remover.

[Jim Elbrecht]

I'd go back to Walmart and have another key made with one of their 'wallet blanks'.

I think it was Walmart- maybe Ace hardware? check around.

Jim

[HeyBub]

Not all burn. Bakelite, for example, is thermoSETTING. The hotter it gets, the more consistent it becomes. It's possible to turn a Bakelite ashtray into one big, honkin', molecule! Oh, it will eventually char and disintegrate, but burn? Nope.

Polystyrene peanuts won't support combustion either - they WILL flame a little bit, but are self extinguishing.

There's more than two dozen plastics, each with differing burn and burn-retardant characteristics.

[LouB]

Key came from Ace hardware.