Tension question

[ninjimbo]

I am a relative newcomer to lockpicking--been at it about half a year and have picked hundreds of locks. I have noticed something strange recently though. A few locks that I have been playing with won't turn until after a few of the pins drop back down. I usually use some combination of raking/picking from the back of the lock to the front. On these two locks, I can rake and rake away and the cylinder stays in place. As I release pressure from the tension wrench, I can hear all 5 pins dropping, meaning that I maneuvered all of the pins above the shear line. Now here's the weird part...after about two "clicks" of pins dropping down from the shear line, the pressure releases and the lock turns.

To reiterate more succinctly, the lock isn't turning even though I am pretty confident that all of the pins have been raised to the right level, but will turn after a few have dropped back down from a lessening of tension wrench pressure.

What's going on here?

[Aldenrenfrid]

Whats happening is that you are over-setting 2 or so pins, as you release pressure those drop first Luckily they are the last binding pins here, but the drivers get caught on the shear line. At that point all the pins are set right and *click* the plug turns. Happens a lot with overset pins. Though when you release then you're not always lucky enough to get only the ones you need to drop first

[ninjimbo]

I did a little more practicing and can give a little more detail. I am 100% positive that I am getting the pins up on the first rake attempt--it's happening every time with this lock. I can put the wrench in, give it one good slide with the rake from back to front, and no turn. Then as I gradually release pressure on the wrench (and I am not putting much on the wrench to begin with) I hear three distinct clicks of the pins dropping and the lock turns every time on the third click.

Wrench in...pressure...rake...nothing.
Release pressure...click...click...click TURN!

I'm not exactly complaining--I can get the lock open with minimal effort. This just contradicts what I understand about how pin and tumblers work. If the pins are dropping back down into the cylinder, shouldn't it NOT turn?

Someone with some more understanding of locks please help!

[ninjimbo]

Thanks Aldenrenfrid!

That makes a lot of sense. Any suggestions as to how to rake more effectively without oversetting? Am I using too much upward force?

[Aldenrenfrid]

Humm, with raking it can be difficult, because the focus is more on getting all the pins moving fast, with SPP it's more selective and you can feel better not to over set. You can try with even less tension, or perhaps more of a 'jiggling" motion, instead of in and out?
Honestly I'm more of a newb with raking myself, trying to get my technique down But keep up the practice, and give SPP a try on that lock, see if you can learn it better and maybe figure out how to rake it without over setting.