Spool v Serrated picking techniques

[Cpt_Tangerine]

Hi

Is there any difference in techniques for picking spool and serrated driver pins?

I have been merrily defeating an ERA 4 spool pin euro for a while now and have now decided to have another go at a Mila lock that has been frustrating me for some time. Now I know how to recognise spools by the large amount of springiness I'm pretty sure that this lock has serrated drivers.

I can get the lock to false set but when I try to use the heavy pressure and roll back technique I always end up resetting all the pins.

Any advice on how to get around this? The lock seems to be very stubborn about letting the pins set out of their bind order so I can't seem to get the security drivers to set first.

[Olson Burry]

I think the main difference between spool and serrated pins is that you can more easily tell when you've got a spool "false set". A little more upward pressure should give some feedback on the wrench to let you know the plug is trying to turn back to let the rest of the spool past the sheer line.

Serrated are a little more tricky in some cases, because you dont usually get the degree of plug movement experienced with false set spools.

A feather-light touch is good when dealing with either pins but with serrated I understand it could be and idea having found the binding order, to over-lift the pin, even pushing the key pin in to the barrel, then to relax the torque and allow it to fall back in to the key way, binding the driver at the sheer.

It is important when dealing with security pins to ascertain in which positions they are, and if possible the binding order. I understand that spools can often be set first but this isn't necessarily the case with serrated ones.

All the best

OB

[Cpt_Tangerine]

Thanks for that. I'll give oversetting them a try and see if I can overcome it that way.

[mkultra23]

the way I've found is best to defeat these pins is to apply extremely light pressure on the tension wrench and to modulate the amount of tension applied. Beware the false set, if your picking spool pins and you suddenly get the plug to move 3-5 degrees and then sticks, you have a false set and the flanges of the spool pin are catching at the shear line. If this happens, breathe, and back off on the tension while firmly scrubbing the offending pin stacks to attempt to dislodge the spool pin and force it into the bible. Usually its more effective to start over when you get a false set and proceed with light-medium tension (pulsate the tension somewhat if you follow my meaning) For serrated pins your main objective is to aplly feather light tension, just one-finger almost barely even touching the wrench. The best advice, given to me by my teacher, which took me a while to fully appreciate, is "FINESSE NOT FORCE" never force any component of a lock whether you are picking or changing a combination or repairing or installing, this is easy to forget when you are stressed or frustrated ( or being chatted up by your customer as you attempt to open their door

[Scott_93]

Try oilling the lock- I use (in order of preference) GT85, 3-in-1 and WD-40. I was also trying to pick a MILA and a squirt later it was open. Also try overlifting, raking then picking all with light tension in that order.

Scott.

[djslacker]

I'm all for the reverse picking, but just know what you are picking. I just took apart my American Lock Series 5530 and 4 of the 5 key pins were serrated. So overlifting would put you in the same predicament that you are stating in. But that lock also had serrated spool pins which would also apply to this post.

[PickFree]

There are a couple of things i'd try. Firstly try "bouncing" the tension wrench whilst applying pressure with your pick, sometimes it can cause them all to reset but if you practice and you are very light with your tension movements then you can set the pins. As mentioned above a feather wrench is also good.

The other way as mentioned is to put pressure on the pin with your pick and overlift it so that the driver pin gets stuck at the shear line, then very slowly release the pressure and see if only the driver pops back down.

If you can and if possible then try and define the binding order as that will really help. Just like any security pin it takes some getting used to. My advice would be to get a lock, put only normal pins in and one serrated pin.

[wolfie]

my lil technique is to count the "clicks" of ther serrated pins as they pass the shear line, the 5200 i have, the upper pins are all serrated with 4 serrations each before the bottom of the pin