Tubular SouthOrd Pick...

[The_Catz]

Ok, After studying for an extensive amount of time... I chose southord... pissibly a mistake, maybe not.

I am used to picking locks by hand and have done so on tubulars as well. I am really used to this technique.

I recently got asked by a close friend that lost his keys to ;said machines; and he had full legal ownership of, to pick the locks so he could replace them. I was asked as he had seen me pick many locks before. Well this dumba... well anyways, keyd all machines differently... Thank go they were only 20 some odd of them. (He got matching keysets to replace the lost keyd ones). After about ten or so of picking each lock 2 -3 times to get them all the way opened, I wished I had a wonderful southord pick...

Short story long, I got the pick, it seems to suck. I have studied on using it, and wacthed videos. Here is my problem. The tension is nice, to an extent, if I tension it more than a little (say between kryptonite and esd) the # 4 Pin (directly 180* from the tension pin) gets EXTREMELY tight and I cant move it myself, much less the springs in the lock move it. I think that would even hinder an Ace II from popping heh. I have taken my pick all the way apart and replaced the o-rings with neoprene rings and moved each finger to a different slot that it moves easier in.... Same problem as soon as tourque is applied to the tension adjustment.

Has anyone else seen this problem? Do I have a defective pick?

I cant even open my stupid kryptonite lock that my pen works nicely on.

[dmux]

does it do that on all locks or just a certain one

[Eyes_Only]

Im sure a lot of people on this forums have had simmilar problems with the tubular pick tool. When I first got mines I was able to figure it out in 5 mins. But I picked up the tool again after about 6 months of neglecting it and now I have a very hard time working with it even after 3 days of practice.

[Shrub]

Have another look at your instructions the recomended method the way i do it is to set all the feelers at zero cut then nip them up with the 'o' ring part,

Insert your pick a little and excert a little tesion,

Fully insert the pick whilst gently wiggleing it until its fully seated in the lock,

Lightly rotate the pick one way then the other way quite quickly and on one of the turns the lock will open.

[The_Catz]

Maybe I should have been a bit more clear... I am sure of how to use the pick, the problem is with the #4 feeler.

If the o-ring or tension is even slightly tight, the #4 pin will NOT move at all. all the other move freely.

(;) <--- imagine this is the pick, the . is the #4 feeler, and the , is the tension pin, the oring tensions slightly on make the #4 feeler Stuck!. I have oiled and moved each feeler around, nothing seems to make this feeler move properly.... Maybe I need to file it down some...

[Shrub]

Well its probably the South Ord burr,

Take the feelers out and emry the edges with some wet and dry paper, you will probly find the feeler that is stiff just has a burr on one edge.

[Nasydave]

I've noticed that southord seems to have a problem making the tension collar a perfect circle. (or at least, when tightened with the cap screw holding it) What I did was take out the little tiny cap screw that holds the tension collar on (small allen wrench), and replace the cap screw with a small thumbscrew (40 cents).

Now, if one feeler is too tight, I can rotate the tension ring so the "tight area" isn't near a feeler. But in all honesty, without the cap screw, you'll find the tension collar doesn't seem to bind that much anymore. The thumbscrew I bought (6-32? home depot, ace, menards, etc) still is long enough to go through the collar and position the collar without touching the shaft directly. And it gives me the added anvantage of always knowing where the guide pin it.

Or, you can always file. Remember the southord is brass, so if you use a power tool, have a soft touch.

[Shrub]

Hmm now thats an interesting idea, yes the collor is sloppy and to tighten it up would infact put it off centre and yes i do also have the same problem now i think of it, ill make another collor and see if it makes things better, the other solution would be to drill and tap into the other side and even the spacing out.

[The_Catz]

:: slaps himself on the head ::

I looked at that screw and thought about it, then moved on thinking.... Nah couldn't be..... You were right. I replaced this screw with a thumb screw and drilled it to where it would lightly tighten to the opposite side of the shaft. now the collar is off the shaft and equal pressure all around.... hmm, maybe ill make a collar that tightens each feeler seperatly like this....

[The_Catz]

alright, after fixing the shaft, fileing the feelers and oiling it, my results are great

These are after about 20 or so picks before having been timed.

Krypto- 2 secs
Ace - 15 secs
Ace II - 57 secs (with the high then mid tension feel method)

Great pick, Ace II's can be done with it after all. Kudo's to the member that mentioned the High Tension, mark pins, mid tension, then feel for the others.

The ACE II I picked had a pin set as this, 7 3 6 1 5 5 2. Pretty good combo, being the high tension pins were pins # 2, 4, 5, 7...... Mid tension being the remaining.

How are you guys making the videos, if I knew this capability with my digicam, I'd take a video of my ACE II in my machine (Yes I own it and have the keys too) lol.

[Nasydave]

I should have also mentioned that the southords (and hpc's) come shipped with one oring inside the collar... I always add a 2nd oring.

I just got the HPC quick reset tool last week. It comes with a redesigned collar and 2 orings. Oddly enough, though, all of the feelers had an arc in them, and the tool was so closely machined that the feelers "grabbed" as they slid, and the tool worked like crap.

I sanded the feelers, doing the sides really well, and straightened the feelers. Now it works like a champ.

I bought the quick reset because (as I warned) the southord shaft is brass, and if you're sloppy with a power tool, you end up with a really strange looking tool ...

[Demonithese]

Im having trouble too.. any solutions on what to help me with? i don't know the level of hardness of my "practice" lock, but its a :weslock National.

I tried my old safe, but its not a tubular lock. just a kiddy one.

No matter what, i can't seem to get the pins aligned so my torque pin can move, this is the:

Southford LAT-17 pickgun.

[Demonithese]

where do you find these videos? (used google, came up dry)

[LockNewbie21]

Looking for vids of tubulars.. theres a great one on here you would have to search for it he does a demonstration with the old style 7 pin and two locks witht he new one. Ones a krypto and some other no name..its a goodie. Also some uk lock website has a very very basic demonstraion. Try dogpile.com go to videos and type in tubular locks.


Andy

[zeke79]

The thing you must keep in mind is the way the SO and many of this style tubular picks work. You are in a sense impressioning the lock so you must insert the pick fully into the lock and keep the pick straight at all times. Then rotate the pick clockwise and release rotating force. Slightly withdraw the pick, apply clockwise rotating force and push the pick back into the lock. Repeat this process withdrawing the pick a small amount more each time and eventually the lock will open. You must be carefull and insert the pick straight at all times or you will mess up the whole process and have to start over again. Once you have picked the lock, only rotate a few degrees so you are sitting between pin chambers. At this point you need to fully extend the feelers and reset them on a flat surface. Then you can insert the pick back into the lock and you will have the exact code at that point and you are free to fully open the lock. I hope that helps out a bit.