mortice locks/tryout keys.

[dan7]

went to a job last week, to open a rusty old 5-lever mortice. managed to open it with a bit of force on my tryout keys. also managed to snap the head off it when i bent it back into shape!!! is there a cheapish alternative to tryout keys? as i am new to this and i am learning as i go along i am a little nieve. would a curtain pick do the job or am i getting a bit mixed?! any help or suggestions will be gratefully received. cheers

[Vincent-XXI]

for british standard lever locks use curtain pick

for others use two bits of wire or one of those ooh soo fancy *drools* 2in1 picks.

I'd get a closer look at british standard and normal lever locks so you can tell them apart when encountereing them.

One way to tell if its a bs lever would be to insert a curtain pick or key turning should turn the curtain which will block the keyhole.

[toomush2drink]

A curtain is normallly part of a bs lock but quite a few non bs locks have curtains too. Try out keys will only give very limited success and to have any chance of picking bs locks you need some good training and lots opractice with the many tools/decoders or get really good with a curtain pick.

[dan7]

thanks for your advice.......where's the best place to obtain a curtain pick? does chris belcher sell them?

[pinky]

there are a number of good curtain picks available dependent upon budget and upon your skill level and what useage you want to get from it.

The chris belcher curtain pick is by far the most versatile on the market and will open almost any BS lever lock and non bs curtain lock on the market, limited only by the operators skill level, its a difficult tool to get to grips with for a novice but once practiced and mastered it is your best friend. at £135 plus Vat each for 5g or 7g tools, on special from chris b this month at £95 plus vat.

The safe Ventures curtain pick is my favourite to teach new guys on, its easier to get to grips with, BUT it is limited on what locks it can open, it wont open low levers as wire cannot get under them, but a fine tool none the less. 5g tool only at £150 plus vat.

The RB Locktools curtain pick is much like the safeventures tool though has the same limitations, 5g tool at approx £138 plus vat . 7g tool at ithink about £50 extra to have both.

I tend to advise all guys new to curtain wheel picking to carry the chris b tool and one of the others, one of the others will be the easier tool for you to get to grips with, but once mastered the chris belcher tool will be the one you use almost every time, its just mastering it that takes slightly longer, but its so versatile and limited only by operator skill and understanding of the lock.

The Jiggler key set sold for 5 levers is and always has been very hit and miss, and is almost useless against modern day bs locks, a curtain pick is the tool along with the right decoders , the safeventures decoders are 100% and worth their weight in gold.