Electric Pick Worth The Money?

[Bioniccreeper03]

Hello i was looking at getting one of the electice picks and i wanted to know if they are really worth the money? anybody have one? if so what do you think about it

[iNtago]

if your a hobbyist then no theres no fun in it.

poping the pick gun,
iNtago

[melvin2001]

yeah i have to agree there.... if you are a hobby picker, then they are fun for about 15-20 minutes or untill you pick pretty much all the locks you own. then you put it away and forget where you put the charger because you never use it anymore.

if you are a locksmith then it will be a valuable tool that helps to please your customers by getting them back in wherever they locked themselves out of. not to mention vibrations are always fun...*cough*

[Romstar]

Agreed.

If you are looking for a toy, vibrators are cheaper, and generally more suited to that sort of play.

If you are a professional locksmith, they are worth the money easily.

I prefer the HPC model, but the SouthOrd is very nice.

As a hobbiest, you might have some fun learning to use a manual pick gun. If you ever do need to answer a lockout call from a friend or family, it will help you, but the electric will soon find a place on a shelf, or in a drawer, or on the buy and sell forum.

Romstar

[2octops]

I've got a couple of HPC's and Pro-Locks and both brands work fine after learning how to use them. They are like any other tool and they do have a learning curve.

However, for sport or hobby, it would definately take all of the fun and skill out of it.

[lunchb0x]

for a lot of the new locks it will be alot easier with it, expecialy for locks with the keyway sitting sideways and not always being able to get the pick gun in.
one thing i have noticed with the electric pick gun is the ladies find it funny. i dont know why

[stilte]

Probably looks familiar to them.

I got a snap gun and hardly ever used it since. Was completely appalled when I saw the needle coated with brass and brass dust flying out of the lock when i tapped it upside down. Just couldn't bear to damage my locks.

[lunchb0x]

do you have the tension turned all the way down, i mave a majestic pick gun and havent had any proplems with it wearing out the pins
maybe the spring in your gun is too strong?

[stilte]

I'm using the Brockhage snap gun, turned the wheel only a couple of times. It probably isn't wearing out the pins that much, I used it for quite a while on a really cheap 3-for-$2 lock I bought and the key works fine still. It's just that my heart aches when I see my pins crying brass dust whenever I beat them.

[zeke79]

If you are a professional lockie, the best made gun off the shelf I have seen is Wendt(very expensive). Though some around here can make better electropicks then any manufacturers out there right now such as Shrub from what I have seen on an engineering standpoint. Maybe shrub will chime in on this thread later.

[Shrub]

Thanks Zeke,

Well as said the better one on the market today is the Wendt but i sold mine the same week i bought it to to personal issues with it, a lot of professional lockies use the Wednt and HPC versions on a regular daily basis and have no problems and wouldnt be able to open locks NDE without one,

That said i personally dont use one although i do have a manual SO one to loosen off gummy pins in a lock,

If you are a lockie then yes get one anyway, they are are good tool to have and are very effective once youve practiced the use of it a little,

Its true they can destroy locks in mere seconds Multipick sell the be all and end all gun which has a separate unit to control the speed and vibration of the pick tip but they are renown for being able to totally destroy the lock in seconds if not used properly, the multipick one is so fierce on its highest settings that it almost turns into a DE situation lol

All pickguns have the possablity to destroy locks and they do require some practice and careful useage, putting a gun in and holding the trigger until the lock opens will not open the lock for you and never will, brass fileings can be cut down if the pick blades are de-burred and a cylce of the trigger button used with varying tension,

Its true that home made ones can be made to work just as well or better with some thought, i hope to shortly post up details of the latest screwdriver conversion ive done which has been said to be far better than the HPC gun and in my opinion better than the Wendt as well but thats obviously the maker saying this lol

The common commercial ones right now would be the SO, HPC and Wendt, there are of course others and they may be the same under differant packageing,

The South Ord one is the baby of the lot, its almost next to useless, the batteries are of a low quality and power rating, the voltage they put out is below the deemed acceptable needed for such a tool and the force of the needle is a lot less than the better ones out there,

The HPC gun is a mid entry tool, a lot use them to great effect but again the batteries severly hold them back, with a change of batteries they can be made into a very very good pick,

The wendt, this is the most expensive out of the 3 and for that money i would expect top notch build quality inside and out but unfortunatley it severly falls short ona lot of points but this gun does actually do as its supposed to,

Somthing you will only know if you have stripped all the models down is that the HPC and Wendt are IDETICAL inside that is the only differance between the HPC and Wendt is that the motor and batteries are differant, the arms, bearings etc are all the same mechs in a differant houseing, the HPC uses a Black and Decker electric screwdriver case where the wendt uses a alloy purpose made body,

There arent too many 'Pimp my EPG' threads so maybe ill sort somthign out in the future,

As for should you get one? well if you are a lockie and fall short on your manual picking skills somewhat then yes certainly, you wont do business without it,
If you are a hobby picker wanting a new toy to play with then no dont get one, the money involved for 5 mins fun before you never use it again is a waste, convert somthing you can find around the house and make your own,

If i was to buy one now knowing what i know and how to deal with various problems i would buy the HPC and change the batteries for a higher power, longer lasting faster charging set,
That said, i am working up to making guns that out perform even the multipick one so home brew is the only way to go if you have the skills to do so,

The new screw driver conversion thread will be posted this weekend with luck although ive passed the gun on before i finished the final pics i should be able to explain it without them,

Hope this helps,

[whiteknight38]

Interesting post Shrub. I found this thread while searching the forums for multi-pick recommendations. I too, sold off my electric pick (HPC) about ten years ago. I couldn't get it to work as welll as my my HPC pick-gun. After the HPC gun died on me, I almost immediatly threw my ILco gun into the garbage. Honest to God, right in the garbage, but I totally swear by my Majestic Lock Aid gun and give it two unqualified thumbs up. I have had an over 90-percent success rate with it, and frankly only hand-pick when the gun fails me.
I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself, but customers are funny.
If you pick too quickly, they get all paranoid on you. (Under thirty seconds.)
If you pick too slowly, they think you're a mook.
Fact is, if I manage to gun it within two seconds to a minute, I leave the cylinder slightly turned, and pull out the picks and fiddle for another minute or so with picks. After about two minutes or so, (the optimum time, in my experience,) I turn the plug, and wipe imaginary perspiration from my forehead.
Then, they think they got their moneys worth.
Time is money, (that's why I use the gun, instead of doing a Zen monk number on my pick skills) but I'll ALWAYS waste that extra minute to put on a show.
The fact is, the average locksmith only attempts EDT for about five minutes before pulling the drill. Not all locksmiths are really adept pickers, partly because guns and electro picks work to help atrophy their picking skills, assuming they had any to start with. I doubt there's more than one in one-hundred local pro guys, who would do more than glance and shake his head, at some of the stuff some of you guys on this list and at Toool attempt, and succeed at regularly.

But that being said, I am interested in the multi-pick.
If the Wendt is the Cadilac of electrics, but no better than the HPC, then to hell with it. Your rec is good enough for me.
But what about the multi pick?
I'm especially interested because it works on upside down EU cylinders which are starting to pop up lately on patio doors, and high-end storm doors here in North America.
Guys, please don't tell me to make my own out of a toothbrush, or something, because frankly, I don't care how much it costs.
I just need a solution to the looming problem of upside down EU profiles, that doesn't involve a huge learning curve.
Dude, it's cold up here.

[cybus]

My HPC Electric pick arrived today from Aldridge's and I dont mind admitting im having no luck at all with it. I know its early days but please could you guys suggest a picking technique, I mainly pick euro cylinders. There seems to be no room for the pick to move with even my smallest tension tool in the key way aswell. Any thoughts please.

[cybus]

Never mind, I was abit quick off the mark with that post. Just done a search and found a few tips.

[Bump]

Shrub has a bad Karma with the Wendt and probably for good reason but it really is the "DB" of EPG's. Don't however compare the Multipick http://www.multipick-service.cc/htdocs/en/werkzeug/mp/ with other EPG's, this thing is in a league of its own and should only ever be used with a great deal of care; it will eat your locks.

The HPC is a good mid-range tool that is both affordable and effective on a wide range of locks but I never found it worked well on the high security end, I always felt it lacked the frequency of strokes to rattle security pins into place.

I endorse everything else said about EPG's though, don't bother unless you have to earn a living because it will certainly either erode your manual skills or bore you after half an hour and never be used again.

BTW, all EPG's can be used on Euro cylinders, you just turn the EPG the other way up.