DUDLEY LOCK CRACK METHOD

[Shrub]

Wow a user with a zero post count that has a post on site

[Jaakko]

I personally don't have a Dudley lock or even access to a one because they are not sold in here

I skimmed through this topic and noticed that in the previous Dudley cracking topic there was as a last post a method to "shim" the lock open but no replies to that post. Here is the URL to that topic. Stray is the person who kindly attached his/her photos of the method in there: http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=6423&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=330

Now, has anyone tried this sort of "shimming" (feeling?) on a Dudley lock?

[Stas]

Okay, I'm back )

I have boiled down the method so it is now generic, and very fast.. (tested on several of my locks)

Overview:

Step 1: Collect underpants
Step 2: ????
Step 3: Profit!!


In more detail:

Dudley locks have three code-wheels inside them. When you pull up on the shackle, the latch presses into the stack of wheels. Each wheel has a deep notch in it (real gate). If the notches are lined up together at the right place, the latch is able to move in, and the lock can open. Also note that the front wheel is at the very front of the pack, and attached to the dial.

The two rear wheels (corresponding to the first and second numbers of the combination) have two false gates, notches that are not deep enough to allow the lock to open. The front wheel has 9 false gates (making 10 total gates).

If the rear wheel is aligned so that the latch fits into a gate (real or false), then pulling the shackle up will make the latch press into the second wheel, making it difficult to move/manipulate. If both of the first wheels are aligned, then the front wheel will be difficult to move.


We can use this fact to quickly locate all the gates:

I. The first number

a. Pick a number to start with, say 0. Spin the dial clockwise twice to pick up all the wheels, and point it at 0.

b. Spin the dial counterclockwise to at least past 6 (that is, until you hear/feel the second cam from the other side). Pull the shackle up and try to move the dial farther CCW. If it feels 'scratchy', it means that the 3rd wheel is on a gate. If you can't move it at all, it's possible that you ran into a separator between the gates on the top wheel. Release the latch, move the dial another ~3 points CCW and try again. If the CCW motion with the latch pulled is free, then 0 is not the right number.

c. Release the shackle and spin the dial CW, stop at 3.

d. Repeat steps (b)-(c), adding about 3 notches every time, until you find a gate on the first wheel. This is the first number (with 50% probability)


II. The second number

e. Now, move the dial CCW about 3 points, then return it several points back (5-10, far enough not to disturb the new location of the second wheel). Pull the shackle and wiggle the dial within the gate. If it's easy to do it, the second wheel is not aligned correctly.

f. Repeat step (e), moving the dial about 3 more points CCW each time, coming back, pulling the shackle, and wiggling the dial until it becomes hard to move ("scratchy"). Once this happens, it means that you found a gate on the second wheel


III. The last number!!

g. Now, move the dial CW one more gate worth, pull the shackle, wiggle.
Continue moving like this, until you find a spot where the dial wiggles free. This is the last number, guaranteed

i. If the first two gates you picked were real, the lock should open at this point!

ii. If one of the first two gates was false, the dial will wiggle free in one of the third gates, but the lock will stay locked. If this happens, continue at step (f), to find the other gate on the second wheel. Once you find it, come directly back to the third number and try your luck again .
If you were born on Friday the 13th, then the gate you found on the first wheel was false. Come back to step (d) until you find the other gate.
Now you're done, and the lock is decoded for sure!!
(don't forget to check which of the gates on the second wheel was real)


I hope the instructions are easy to follow. They are verbose, so the description is long, but the steps are very quick to do..

The worst possible scenario that I can think of is decoding a lock with a combination like 05-10-05, with false gates at 00 and 05, respectively, starting from 10 and going clockwise.
In this case, you will need to perform 52 shackle pulls and you'll make about 47 full rotations worth of the dial.

[Stas]

Man I wish I could edit posts so I don't have to clog up the thread with follow-ups

I have to credit TOWCH et al. with the original idea (of being able to tell when both of the first numbers are set correctly by feeling for friction in the dial).

My method refines this notion: you can also tell when just the first number is set correctly, reducing the time to decode dramatically. In addition, you should be aware of the chance of hitting one of the two false gates.

[Shrub]

Can i ask how many locks you have tried this on?

[Stas]

Seven so far..

[Stas]

Err, misread topic.. I /tried/ it on 8, but it only worked on 7..

The one I couldn't open I will try again later.
The problem with it was that the second wheel would bind ahead of the third one every time, so you can only use half of the shortcut (i.e. front wheel binds when rear two are set), so it's not so lightning fast (I expect it might take me 45 minutes or even a full hour if unlucky).

So, I will not claim that it works for /every/ Dudley lock, but so far it's very effective. Of course, I only have so many of these things, but I hope that others will try my instructions on their locks and will share their story with us

By the way, I noticed that the newer locks are a bit easier (the ones where wheels still have grease), although a couple of mine were sandy and still opened just fine.

[butterboy]

After going to dudley site i was rather impresed.
One thing a saw and was interested in was a two diddgit lock for the physicaly impaired, does any one know how that works?
The other thing was the computer,on there site did that say you could put in serial number and it would give the lock combo?
Are there key locks as good as they make them sound,? Im only asking because i have never heard of them.

thanx.

[Stas]

After going to dudley site i was rather impresed.
One thing a saw and was interested in was a two diddgit lock for the physicaly impaired, does any one know how that works?
The other thing was the computer,on there site did that say you could put in serial number and it would give the lock combo?
Are there key locks as good as they make them sound,? Im only asking because i have never heard of them.

thanx.

I have no idea at all about the accessibility locks (I've never encountered them) -- I'm only familiar with Dudley's standard school lock. These are very widespread here in Ontario, and were heavily used in all the high schools I've attended. Depending on where you buy them, they can actually get kind of pricey, from $5 to even as much as $10-$11 for the basic lock. For some premium, you can get one with a cute design on the front, or one with a shackle guard.

Speaking of which, I read some past discussions on Dudley locks, and I'd like to share the fact that, in my experience, the internals of the locks have nothing to do with the color of the dial, the color of the paint on the front, the design, the presence of a shackle guard, the presence of the serial number (or any attributes thereof) the style of the logo text nor with the letter printed on the back. I have a pretty impressive gamma of these locks and the level of wear and tear is the most significant aspect that influences how easy it is to decode.

As for the handheld computer and the software that Dudley sells, I don't believe that it's a master database of all Dudley locks ever created Rather, I think it's a tool for school administrators et al. to keep track of their locks and lockers. In fact, the majority of Dudley locks that I've seen don't even have a serial number.

[Shrub]

7 or 8 is a reasonable number, were they all new or of varying ages? (i mean decentvarients),

Of the one youve got to work so far were they all a simular age with the one not opening being a differant one?

If so what are the ages of the ones youve had this work on,

[Stas]

I believe that the locks I have span a long range with respect to manufacturing date. They are very different externally: different font used for the logo, different colors of dial/text, different shape of shackle (round/squared), other slight differences in the casing design. Therefore, I expect that they were manufactured at different times as well.

If there's interest, I can take pictures, so you can compare yours to mine.

[scorpiac]

Are there key locks as good as they make them sound,? Im only asking because i have never heard of them.

I have a key operated Dudley padlock it's brass and just says Dudley on it there's no model # or anything and I no longer have the packaging. I haven't been able to open this thing by spp or raking for the life of me but I have been able to open it due to one Major security flaw. There is no lip around the plug preventing you from shimming it (which I've done with one of those little metal strips out of a security tag). I am of coarse talking about the type of shimming you would normally do to a deadbolt cylinder from the rear of the cylinder.

Phil.

[Stas]

Just added another notch to my belt: my friend's Dudley lock: (new logo/square shackle) black dial/black lettering (B), top rivet hole off-center (filled in), no serial number.

I decided to time myself this time: I clocked in 7 minutes, no rush. Combination turned out to be 45-20-50, so this was one of the unluckier ones (Going clockwise from 00 to 45, then counter-clockwise from 45 to 20, investigating false gate at 31) -- in the vicinity of 35 dial turns and about as many shackle pulls.

And I used think that these offered better decode protection than Master locks, what with all the formulas floating around for them .
By comparison, the Master lock formulas narrow down the options to ~100 combinations (as far as I know), some of which will have to be dialed fully.

I really hope that some of the people who had such a heated discussion before about graphing the 'sticking points' will now be able to recover their combinations


A note about the decode time: none the locks that I have tried to do this with were attached to anything. Your results may vary if your lock is attached to a hasp. I suspect that it may be easier, because you will be able to use your entire arm to pull the shackle, which is faster and stronger than your fingers.

I'm certain that Stray's method (of using a feeler through the gap between the lock and the shackle to feel the wheels) can, with practice, be even faster, however I do not have the tools nor the patience to attempt it.

[Stas]

An additional thought:

One modification that may improve decode time is to reduce the resolution at which the wheels are probed: using 4 divisions instead of 3 will reduce the worst-case number of wheel turns from ~47 to ~37, with a corresponding reduction of the number of shackle pulls necessary (down to 30 or so).

[scorpiac]

Stas: I bought a Dudley combination lock today at work (I am a service writer at a Walmart Tire and Lube Center) I had a coworker open the package and remove the combo sticker and keep it so I could not know what it was. I took it home after work and cracked it using your method. Just for further reference the lock I bought is silver with a black knob, says dudley on the knob, has a shrouded shackle that says dudley on the shroud, and has an E on the back. Anyway just wanted to give you props as your method worked for me.

Phil.