help on mortice pick please

[gazzaull25]

hi i know some body selling a mortice pick from safe ventures its a 5 gauge and he has a brand new wire as well, what sort of price is reasonable for that bit of kit? it will be my first mortice pick i will be buying and hoping i can get the feel for it.
what locks will i be able to pick with this curtain pick?
thanks for ur help in advance. gary

[1st solution locksmiths]

Hi Gary

The safe ventures 5 gauge curtain pick is great on locks with no low levers
IE, Union 2101 2201, Chubb 3k 75, Ect will do some chubb 114s, union 2134Ect. But very restricted upon the lever packs.
They normally go for around £150+vat as new.
It's a tool worth having as it is a good learning practice.

[sidpick]

Its a nice curtain pick and the first one I bought, but to be honest Its has many limitations and was only designed for a few curtained locks (as the above post)
It is great for these locks, the extra tension afforded by the extended tension bar and the general build quality is great.
The tip is two piece and where it was once silver soldered its now glued. If its glued it may slip with extended use. Its a mega quick fix.
The kit has 2 allen keys, one is mega small to undo the part which actually tensions the curtain (don't loose as you need to undo this to change the handing of the wire!)
All in all, a good tool to have but won't be the only curtain pick you'll need, many have made and posted on the advanced section tools for under a fiver which will open more locks!!
Good luck with it!
Sid

[gazzaull25]

hi there thanks for the replys been good advice cant get in the restricted part of the forum yet to see the other tools so will have to have a play around and see what i can come up with.
cheers guys .

[Shrub]

Well i cant remember many if any pics in the advanced forum so dont worry, there were one or two in the south meeting threads but they were gone a long time ago, i will go and have a double check in the advanced section but really i dont remember them.

Its not hard to work out, you need a tool that will follow the measurements of the key so it will fit in the lock, that tool then needs to able room for a wire to also be inserted so the levers can be manipulated, the tool should not touch the levers.

The wire should be able to 'ride' on that tool and be able to be manovered under each lever inturn without upsetting it even if its a low lever, it should them be able to be rotated so it can lift a individual lever as heigh as it can either go or need to go to create a set position.

A day palying with key blanks, locks and various metal tubes and wires can get you a fully working tool.

You can just use 2 wires after all, bend one to move the curtain and the other to lift the levers.

[sidpick]

must have dreamt it! oh well!!!! maybe I should put some in there so It'll encourage people to get into the advanced forums!! really, there very simple and I probably should have said ''many people have made them and pictures are on forums......'' and everyone is making different types - but there all made from stuff you can get in homebase, b & q and a model shop, about 1 hours work and a dremmel! you'll find - like I did that using your own home brew tools will make using the professional tools much easier and you will get a much better understanding of the locks your trying to pick (as you'll be measuring, taking apart and tinkering to get your tool working!!) - again, good luck mate - get a 3 lever legge to start with - it will build your confidence and then go onto 5's thereafter

[Shrub]

you'll find - like I did that using your own home brew tools will make using the professional tools much easier

Oh yes so true, until you get better at understanding what you need to make then the home made ones become just as effective but its great fun making your own mortise tools.