# spare key for mail box.



## jimn

Try a locksmith


----------



## SeniorSitizen

Another possibility is ACE Hardware.


----------



## de-nagorg

Find the manufacturers website.

inquire there for any blanks, if you have the code # they can cut you another and send it to you.


ED


----------



## young707

oh, yes, called and send photo to many locksmiths in south bay area, none can make copy of this mail box key


----------



## de-nagorg

Is the mailbox an official U S P S box, issued by the post office?

If so they are the only ones that can get you another key, per the federal laws.

Otherwise it's legal to get spares elsewhere. 

As I stated earlier, try the manufacturer website, all should have a way to get new keys without drilling the old lock and replacing it.



ED


----------



## ZZZZZ

Is that key for an official USPS mailbox? They should have given you 2 or 3 extra keys when you moved in. If not, call or ask the postmaster for your city/town where to get a spare made up.


----------



## GrayHair

Granted, I've been away from the industry for a number of years, but I'd say that is not a Postal Service key.

Are you interested enough to physically take the key to any locksmiths? Telephone calls and e-mails could be considered trolling; presenting a key to be duplicated is a challenge and an opportunity to profit.

Keep in mind that anyone can, and often does, use the term locksmith. An honest-to-goodness locksmith hates not having a blank the customer needs; a key-shop operator usually won't care, unless he can cut a lot of them.

Dr. GrayHair
Brain Surgeon (to illustrate a point*!*)


----------



## young707

this is not USPS mail box. Mail boxes are for different condo units. Need to share mail box with different people in same unit.

Yes, toke the key to several south bay locksmiths. None have this blanks. Actually, almost all the local locksmiths here in SF south bay areas do not have shops any more.


----------



## GrayHair

young707 said:


> ... Actually, almost all the local locksmiths here in SF south bay areas do not have shops any more.


That is a shame and much more common today than I like; it takes a pretty good size operation today to have a shop. Working with other locksmiths in a shop is where I really got my first training.

Get the name of the mailbox vendor from the condo association. If the vendor can't furnish duplicates or put you in contact with someone can, then the association needs to find another vendor. Don't let an employee or the board give you the run-around; the owners/tenants *are* the association, and if those in charge aren't responsive to the needs of the association, they don't need to be in charge.


----------



## young707

no condo association,
but wish we do have,

too old 30+ years condo, unable to find mailbox vendor


----------



## de-nagorg

Have you done an internet search for KOBEE MAILBOX KEY? 

Around here the U S P S demands that all those banks of mailboxes ( rural, apartment complex, condos, etc.) be an approved USPS vendor, so they (usps) can have a master key to open them up en-masse to deliver to them. One master opens the back of thousands of units, so they can post your mail without opening up each individual one at a time.

Catch your delivery person and ask them about how to get duplicates, they might know.



ED


----------



## GrayHair

Please be careful with the term/phrase "master key". U.S. Postal Service Standard 4C001 covers Wall-mounted Centralized Mail Recepticals. No where in the document does the phrase "master key" appear. The "Arrow Lock" referred to in the document is the lock the mail carrier opens to deposit mail in a group of boxes (The term "Arrow Lock" probably comes from an arrow stamped on the back of the lock, visible to the mail carrier). Line drawing on Page 31 of
http://about.usps.com/publications/engineering-standards-specifications/spusps-std-4c001.pdf

The "Arrow Lock" is Keyed Alike in large groups so that letter carriers only need one key, but is being replaced in some areas with a different lock because mail carriers have been attacked and their keys stolen.


----------



## gregzoll

Those locks should have a clip to hold them in place. You can get a replacement lock and key from http://www.mailboxes.com/mobile/dep...ional-products/replacement-locks/default.aspx


----------



## gregzoll

You can also get the locks on amazon.com. Just do a search for "usps mailbox lock".


----------



## young707

thanks gregzoll.
I notice my mail box key is two sided. I mean both size of the key has fins (or whatever you call them).
The blanks you listed has only one sided fins. I am guessing, that is probably the reason most locksmiths here said they have no blanks.


----------



## gregzoll

young707 said:


> thanks gregzoll.
> I notice my mail box key is two sided. I mean both size of the key has fins (or whatever you call them).
> The blanks you listed has only one sided fins. I am guessing, that is probably the reason most locksmiths here said they have no blanks.


It takes an old timer to cut those keys. You need to just get a new lock for the boxes, if enveryone's keys and locks are starting to show signs of wearing down.

The locks are nothing more than what you see on desks and toolboxes. The master lock is the one that the Post Office has to replace, because it has to work with the Master key that they use.


----------



## GrayHair

_Analogy time:_ I need a new clutch for my vehicle. Will just any clutch work? After participating in a game of 40 questions, I finally reveal my vehicle is a 1932 Hupmobile (I know this only because the name is on the car).

Like getting a new clutch, getting a new mailbox lock may be easy. Getting one that fits/works where you need may be extremely difficult; particularly if the mailbox manufacturer was small and short-lived. One page in a current catalog of OEM locks shows 17 different locks; and that's one lock manufacturer. 

Which lock? Is it even shown? Will a so-called "universal" lock work? The lock on the box now could be from a boutique-manufacturer supplying locks for "orphaned" equipment. A small company with limited or no advertising, supplying a small, fractured market. And, fractured market *+* low demand *=* boutique price*$* to be profitable.


----------



## young707

No, this is NOT USPS mail box.
Google, Yahoo, etc search found none


----------



## gregzoll

young707 said:


> No, this is NOT USPS mail box.
> Google, Yahoo, etc search found none


The lock is a standard lock that is like the one that I linked. Just buy the new lock and keys and stop searching for something that does not exist. You can get the lock at any Big Box store or a Locksmith, who can also cut the keys for all residents, if it is a communal box.


----------



## GrayHair

Oh, the "*standard lock*".








 Pray tell, which standard? If you'd like to see the original, look *here* on pages 8 and 9.


----------



## de-nagorg

Yep, like saying that the lock from your V W will fit my F 250.

Not likely.


ED


----------



## young707

I found this by google "pin Tumbler and mailbox lock" - this key has fins on both side similar to the key I have. But then, I hesitate to change my lock.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-6c...-Set-for-Drawer-Mailbox-3pcs/32239087578.html


----------



## gregzoll

Just buy the new lock set and get the keys made. You are just spinning your wheels, by procrastinating this longer than the 10 minutes that it would take to replace the lock.


----------



## de-nagorg

I have suggested this before.

Catch whomever puts your mail in there.

See if they know who manufactured the bank of boxes. 

There might be a label inside the back hidden from public viewing, but accessible to the official owners, mail posters, or mailman.

Then you might be able to contact the manufacturer to get some blanks to take to a real locksmith to copy your originals from. 

There must be someone in charge of maintenance for your Condo, who might help you.

ED


----------



## gregzoll

Ed the manufacturer if still around, would tell them to buy the replacement lock as I linked to earlier.

This is to the point of going nowhere if they do not want to just buy the replacement as anyone else would do.

No wat the Condo association will buy the replacement it sounds like.


----------



## young707

contacted the lock/key seller at Aliexpress, they can only sell 2 keys per lock. they cannot make spare key copy. Back to square one.

Ask the USPS delivery postman, he has no idea where to get spare key made.


----------



## de-nagorg

I thought of a possible solution to the need for extra keys.


Leave one of those keys on a hook in the condo, that way if anyone that is a co-habitant wants to check the mail, they have a key.

They must make sure that they return the key to it's hook after use, so whomever is next wanting to check, can do so.

Of course this all depends on how trustworthy each habitant is. 

And good luck in your quest.


ED


----------



## young707

thank you, happy new year


----------



## de-nagorg

I found a website called keyblanksales.com , advertises that they are the worlds largest blank key sales company.

They have a list of mailbox keys, as well as hundreds of other keys for nearly anything.

You might spend some time searching through their inventory, and succeed in finding a blank to get copied at a real lock smith.


ED


----------

