ARCHIVE 2003-2013 Introduce yourself HERE if you are new. :)

[spooky]

I've been picking for a long time and been a lurker here for a while too.

Great info here. I'm learning a lot.

-Spooky

[Haddo]

Hello everyone.
Signed up a few day ago and have been reading daily since.

I have this Schlage deadbolt I need help picking. Can anyone help?
LOL! just kidding. I get a kick out of those post. Or the lock box some kid wants help opening.

Seriously I have been fascinated by picking since I was a kid, but always thought it was some magical impossible thing to learn.
A few months ago we had an old lock box I didn't have the key to.
I got on YouTube and found a vid that used the old paperclip tool trick.
It worked and I was hooked. Next tried and old filing cabinet I had and that took less than a minute. I know these locks are not really hard to pick, but it got the juices flowing.
Started reading and found this site, and soon placed an order for a starter kit (PXS-14) from lockpickshop.com. It should be here next week. I'm excited to start using it. I purchased a Kwikset deadbolt and some wood to make a practice station. I also have a handful of padlocks around the house to practice on. I even have an old American padlock and from what I have read this may be a good one to try as my skills improve.

It really gives you some insight into how vulnerable a lot of locks are to picking once you start immersing yourself in the subject.
I am fascinated by how many different types of locks and tools there are out there.

Great site!

[RLJones]

Hello from Iowa. I am looking forward to learning from this site.

[too-picky]

Just started picking last week. I've rekeyed the front door to my rental house, picked 5 out of 6 door locks, and rekeyed an old dead-bolt style lock, also for my rental.

I've made a few tools, nothing special, except my torque tool seems to have a unique bend after it keep bugging me enough to fix it. :)

I just started a Handyman Service and thought the addition of locksmithing might be nice. The local locksmith raised his prices and closes at 4:30pm, so I took matters in my own hand and am trying to do my own work now. All that I need to figure out now is how to rekey and then grind/file a key to match. Right now I have some extra door locks and I never throw away old keys, so I just find a key that fits the lock and change the pins to match the shear-line.

I'm thinking it might be useful to find a key grinder, but money is exceedingly tight right now.

I also need to figure out how to take apart the older door-knob locks I have. Dead-bolts are trivial, but my locks don't have the side hole to take them apart with. One has a split ring on it. I'll work it out before too long--I hope.

[soundwave5150]

Hi there, thinking of re-training as a lock-smith in the UK, this looked like a good place to pick up some useful info. :-)

[RedGiant]

Hello. Red from Atlanta, GA here. A programmer looking for a new hobby. Never before have I thought of lock picking as a hobby, until I saw a comment on a Facebook friend's wall. I have ordered a pick set recommended from the beginner section on lp101.com. Last night, I got tired of waiting on the set and went to Home Depot to buy Master Lock #3 to pick with anything i could muster up. I left with a master lock #3, Kwikset deadbolt with 2 keyed sides, a 4pc hook set, and a file to file the hook set down. Disassembling that deadbolt and looking at its insides was exciting.

Can't wait for UPS to deliver that set to me!

[Josh252]

Hello to all! I have been reading for a few weeks now thank you for the wealth of info its been very helpfull to my introduction to picking.
Josh

[jusdndy1]

Hi there. Another newbie here. Received my first set (14piece set with metal handles from the online outlet shop at southard) yesterday and am very excited to get started. Feel a little disappointed that I wasn't successfull the first night like everyone else seems to be but I'll keep trying! I love the challenge. Thanks.

[firstbiggestmost]

Howdy!

Thanks for the great site. :)

First.

[bethelock]

Hi! I've used the site to find some information on various locks. This is a very useful site! Speaking of which, anyone know the MACS for a CISA TSP?
Thanks!

[Dest133]

RHello everyone. I am new here to the site. I have been lock picking for probably 12 years now, the last seven have only been with paper clips since my last set got stolen while living in a homeless shelter. I joined this site a few days ago and never realized that there was still so much information that I could learn. I attempted to pick my first deadbolt a day ago and I am still amazed at people's lack of knowledge of security and how they put so much faith In something to protect them and yet it yet the thing they have faith in is absolutely useless. Since I had never picked any deadbolts and all I had ever picked were padlocks I figured a deadbolt would be a little harder but I was wrong. I picked it so fast I actually thought the wrench had turned inside the lock because I was doing it during the night but no I had picked almost in the time it took me to put the pick in. I love picking and I hope to meet and learn from all of the knowledgeable people here and I am hoping to pick up the skills I have gotten rusty at. Thanks for reading.

[echelon5]

Hello all.

I am typing here from a computer in a cubical cell around 9feet wide and across. On each wall around me is a door, completely black, with a thick pad lock on it. In addition to my provisions for the day (which is dropped in through a hole in the roof) I was given a small back of lock picks, the quality of which is dubious, but the efficacy of which was been proven. I have managed to unlock the southern most door, my elation rapidly cooled by the sight of another similar room, the doors bearing locks of a significantly higher difficulty. It is my aim to be granted access to forums of a more advanced nature, in order to ascertain my freedom.

Thank you, please help.

[Josh66]

Hello, everyone.

I think I just found myself a new hobby, lol! I was bored at work today, so I figured I would try to open this lock I found (Master Lock, not sure of the model - the one with the hexagonal shackle). I made a crude pick out of some scrap metal - and it worked! I opened it maybe 10 times, then couldn't open it any more for some reason... After that, I made some better picks out of a hack saw blade (just googled 'lock picks' to see what the real ones were supposed to look like) - I think they came out pretty good. I made the tension wrench out of an 1/8" allen key. They'll at least hold me over till I get a proper set.

After getting home, I dug up all the locks I could find to test my new picks on... I found a couple Master Locks (No. 380 Rustoleum) and an old (late 70's) American all-brass Government lock. I haven't been able to open those yet.

I also found a couple old dead-bolts. They were much easier to open... My front door dead-bolt (Kwikset) was also surprisingly easy to open... (I don't think the apartment will let me change it though...)

Anyway - Great site! I'll never look at locks the same.

[angel7]

Hey, new here.
Got my first set set of picks at ~15 (a majestic set of which I still have most).
I haven't done much picking except when necessary, and lately have taken a real liking to making picks. I've just finished my first set, an xmas gift (3 weeks late) for a friend and would like to post pics (hosted on my own site). What would be the proper forum for such?
Thanks to everybody (especially raimundo who inspired me),
Wolf

[jarvisjimson]

Hey everyone,
Writing from Vancouver, BC.

I picked my first lock last Monday and I am hooked! I had a Master #3 laying around and decided to make a pick and tension out of a paper clip and the metal flap on a pen. After reading a bit online I was able to pick the Master. What a rush!
I went home same day and picked my roommate's Steelcase filing cabinet, which he lost the key for. Not a bad way to get a free case of beer.

I just bought a 11 piece Southord kit and have been picking everything I see (and own obviously).

This site seems to be filled with tons of info and lots of nice people.
I look forward to learning all I can about this surprisingly fun hobby.

jarvis