Note: I have pieced this story together as best as possible. There is very little literature that documents the history of the HPC 1200 and most of the information in this post is sourced from trusted colleagues using their recollections of events. Thank you to Tom Demont (The Antique Key Machine Museum of America), Billy B. Edwards, Bruce White, and Jon Payne for their input on this story. To correct any errors, or to add more insight, please contact us.
The history of the 1200 begins in 1975 when Klaus “Nick” Gartner, a gifted inventor, left his job at Sargent & Greenleaf to start his own company, LaGard, in Torrance, California. Not long after arriving in Torrance, Nick met Tim Uyeda, another gifted inventor, to take a look at Uyeda’s prototype for a key code machine that used interchangeable code cards crafted for specific key bitting specifications. The premise for the machine’s use was simple: load the applicable code card for the key you wish to originate, or code cut, load your key blank, and then dial each cut’s spacing/depth using two hand-crank assemblies. The entire process took less than a minute.
It’s important to stress how innovative this design was at the time because other code cutting key machines operated completely different. Jensen’s Micro Dial Key Crafter, for example, relied on dialing the spacing and depth to a physical measurement using micrometers. Uyeda’s machine had those measurements marked on each unique card, so instead of cutting until you achieved a specific measurement, a locksmith just had to dial to a mark on of these cards. As you can imagine, locksmiths flocked to Uyeda’s design once they saw it in action.
Uyeda applied for a patent in 1976 and licensed it to Gartner/LaGard for production. That machine became known as the “Code-A-Key, model 1200”. It should also be noted that around this time, shortly before the Code-A-Key hit the market, the W.H. Steele Company in California was allowed to to produce a private label run of Uyeda’s machine, with some slight differences between it and the Code-A-Key. Steele’s machine used a different motor and used a rheostat as a variable speed switch rather than a simple on/off switch. After the initial Steele run, LaGard received exclusivity to Uyeda’s invention.
In 1978, Thomas Swiderek, then general manager of HPC., Inc. got in touch with LaGard to discuss the possibility of HPC gaining licensing rights for the Code-A-Key. LaGard agreed. Swiderek left HPC not long after to focus on his own, newly formed company: Continental Micro. As part of the deal negotiated between HPC and LaGard, Continental Micro received exclusivity to produce the code cards required for the Code-A-Key. They also were able to produce the cutting wheels for it. Throughout the 1980s, the machine sold like hot cakes – it quickly became a “must have” for any locksmith company.
In 1992, with just 3 years remaining under the original patent, LaGard sold the Code-A-Key’s patent to HPC. Shortly thereafter, HPC made slight alterations to the overall design, most notably to the machine’s crank assembly’s gearing, which allowed for faster cutting. This change is the impetus for the “Blitz” model name, which has become as synonymous with the machine as the 1200 model number.
Since the introduction of the Blitz, HPC has continued to support and grow it’s possibilities. For example, with the right auxiliary components, the 1200 can now also cut tubular and Tibbe keys. There is no wonder why, as we approach the 50th anniversary of these machines, that the 1200 is arguably the most popular key machine ever created.