Best Access Systems

[xayandevorak]

I have a quick question. Has anyone used/picked a best access system lock? They're the locks that say BEST on them with two 3/4s of a circle on them, one is the plug? My question is how do these rata versus a kwickset/slage/master keyhole. I saw a few at work, and probably shouldn't pick them. I havn't seen them anywhere else, so I was wondering if they're rather difficult, or have security pins, or if they are just pud locks. Lemme know if you know anything about them.

[bumber]

I saw a few at work, and probably shouldn't pick them. Lemme know if you know anything about them.

You should NEVER pick locks that dont belong to you...And also you should NEVER pick locks that are in use and relied upon....

All that being said they are better IMO than kwikset, (most)schalge, and almost(...almost) all master locks....(for master locks sake the pro-series are fun to pick )

[freakparade3]

bumber, show me a master padlock that is better quality than a BEST lock and i'll eat your shoe.

It's not a good idea to pick locks at work, in fact it's illegal unless you have permission. Even if you have permission, it's a bad idea. BEST locks are tough to pick, you need special knowledge. Search around, I posted a link to a PDF from Matt Blaze yesterday.

[WOT]

I have a quick question. Has anyone used/picked a best access system lock? They're the locks that say BEST on them with two 3/4s of a circle on them, one is the plug? My question is how do these rata versus a kwickset/slage/master keyhole. I saw a few at work, and probably shouldn't pick them. I havn't seen them anywhere else, so I was wondering if they're rather difficult, or have security pins, or if they are just pud locks. Lemme know if you know anything about them.

BEST Locks? They're fun... and ALL their keys require a special vise unless you want to play around with paper clips everytime you cut them. They're among the most difficult blanks to clamp down into my key machine and it pisses me off.

[Eyes_Only]

Jaw C and maybe D on the Bravo II machine works very well in clamping them securely for cutting. But if your machine isn't well calibrated you're gonna have problems.

[xayandevorak]

I was being sarcastic by saying I probably shouldn't pick them. Of course I shouldn't, haha. I just have never came across them where I live, so it's a learning experience for me. I think i'll order one, and see what they're about.

[bumber]

bumber, show me a master padlock that is better quality than a BEST lock and i'll eat your shoe.

Now do you mean better quailty of construction and function, or are you regarding there pickability? Becasuse I didn't mean to imply that masters are better just that some of the pro-series are more fun to pick than BEST locks....

Oh and I wear really big heavy leather boots so ill be on the lookout

[bumber]

ok so for clutter sake, ill post this question here....

How can you tell BEST models apart? I know there are keyway charts, but alot of the pics look the same, its easier to tell with the keys in your hand...so what should I look for on a deadblot as far as finding models and such...

[Eyes_Only]

If you're really stumped I guess the BEST way to identify a BEST is to have a key ring full of the different keys for these locks. And if you think you have them all and none of them will enter the lock it's probably a restricted keyway that you can't get the blanks for unless you're cleared to have access to them or to order extra keys.

[WOT]

ok so for clutter sake, ill post this question here....

How can you tell BEST models apart? I know there are keyway charts, but alot of the pics look the same, its easier to tell with the keys in your hand...so what should I look for on a deadblot as far as finding models and such...

Practice You can't always tell at looking at the front of the cylinder though, since the face is often worn beyond precise recognition.


You can buy a try out kit from eBay, but the one I can find is not complete.
The one you can find on eBay is
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-J-K-L-M-MA-Q-R

Mine is
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,Q,R,DD,TA,TB,TD,TE

This is not even complete. I'm missing N,P,TC, BA and all the W series.

[keysman]

ok so for clutter sake, ill post this question here....

How can you tell BEST models apart? I know there are keyway charts, but alot of the pics look the same, its easier to tell with the keys in your hand...so what should I look for on a deadblot as far as finding models and such...

Practice You can't always tell at looking at the front of the cylinder though, since the face is often worn beyond precise recognition.


You can buy a try out kit from eBay, but the one I can find is not complete.
The one you can find on eBay is
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-J-K-L-M-MA-Q-R

Mine is
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,Q,R,DD,TA,TB,TD,TE

This is not even complete. I'm missing N,P,TC, BA and all the W series.

My ring has the following:
A,C, DD,DE,E,F,FM,G,H,J,JK,K,L,M,N,Q,TD,

Want ot trade around and fill in a few missing ones? PM me

[WOT]

ok so for clutter sake, ill post this question here....

How can you tell BEST models apart? I know there are keyway charts, but alot of the pics look the same, its easier to tell with the keys in your hand...so what should I look for on a deadblot as far as finding models and such...

Practice You can't always tell at looking at the front of the cylinder though, since the face is often worn beyond precise recognition.


You can buy a try out kit from eBay, but the one I can find is not complete.
The one you can find on eBay is
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-J-K-L-M-MA-Q-R

Mine is
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,Q,R,DD,TA,TB,TD,TE

This is not even complete. I'm missing N,P,TC, BA and all the W series.

My ring has the following:
A,C, DD,DE,E,F,FM,G,H,J,JK,K,L,M,N,Q,TD,

Want ot trade around and fill in a few missing ones? PM me

PM sent

~SFIC.WOT

[robotmaxtron]

is there advantages/disadvantages to the different keyways? If no, is there a keyway that you prefer to have over another?

[WOT]

is there advantages/disadvantages to the different keyways? If no, is there a keyway that you prefer to have over another?

Best locks are almost always used in master keyed systems, often a very large ones, such as an office building or university campuses.

Using multiple keyways let you have more usable keys. The more levels of master keying you have, the less key combinations you have available.

The actual usable bittings are far less than theoretical maximum. Since many Best locks use two-step progression, even though there are 10 possible cut depth, the usable cut depth per chamber in a given system is only 5. Since the top master uses one of the 5, you only have 4 usable bits per chamber, reducing the theoretical maximum to 16384, then certain combination is not used, such as 0000000, 1111111,1010101 and you can have some operating cuts coincide with control cuts, but not too many. I'm not sure of the exact number of overlaps allowed though.

Using additional keyways, you can have two keys with the same bitting and still be considered two different keys since they don't enter each other.