First Pick A Success?

[Pan0pticon]

Hi all. I'm new here, and really like this forum. Lots of great info.

Anyway, I just got a set of picks from LAB (the 13's). Tried 'em out on a Schlage residential 5-pin for about 5 mins, and no dice. I can't even navigate the keyway with any accuracy.

Tried again on a laminated Masterlock (#7) 4-pin. Took about 15 seconds. I just can't seem to navigate the keyway in that Schlage. Well, gonna keep trying. Thanks for all the great info on here .

[illusion]

It is all about the angle that you position your pick inside the lock. You need to move it so it glides alongside the wards and allows you to lift the pins.

Just play about and see if you can get the pick angled properly.

[jitter]

My first was a cheap combination from helping hands. It took me a couple of days to manipulate it. I have tried American Lock Co. locks but have yet to get one because of the false gates. I am working on drilling though.

My second was an old knob lock a locksmith gave to me. It took me about a day to pick it the first time. After that I could do it from 10 sec to 10 min. I have picked this one about 50 times. The tension is getting really to hard.

My third was a brass padlock by helping hands. It also took a couple of days to pick. I think I have picked it 3 or 4 more times since then taking anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.

My fourth was some kind of knob lock on my moms utility closet. It took me about 20 sec the first time. Then it took anywhere from 10 sec to 1 hour.

My last was as padlock from public storage. It took me about a day the first and only time.

Now I cannot really pick any of them. I don't know what I am doing wrong. It sucks. I try and try but nothing. Maybe I am trying to hard.

Anyway, that is my limited experience. I will just keep picking until it comes more naturally.

[Kaotik]

jitter,

Good deal, at least you had the chance to open them at least once. Impatience and being nervous can play a big part in picking, which is why some people have difficulties picking in front of others.

One question though: Is Public Storage and padlock dealer and distributer or is it a public storage facility?

*I'm not implying anything just asking.

Keep practicing and you will get them in no time.

[jitter]

Thanks for the words kaotik. You are right. I get nervous and that does not help with this. Plus I don't stop and take a break. I just keep going until I get frustrated. I am working on that.

I finally picked a knob lock a couple of times yesterday and made me feel more confidant. I just relaxed and said what the hay, I will pick it or I won't and voala two picks in about a half an hour.

The public storage lock was purchased from public storage but has made in Germany 50mm on the bottom. I still have yet to pop it besides the one time though still working on it.

I need to make some more picks and smaller ones at that. That is part of the problem with it is my current picks are to big and just don't leave me enough room to pick at it.

[9000white]

took about 4 hours with SO pick set and Easy Pickings book.it was a #3 master pad lock.i put it in a vise like book said which was mistake for me.couldnt feel any pins set.got completely frustrated and started picking as fast as i could and it popped open.what a surprise.then i read further in book and realized i was raking it.i can pick now after taking it out of the vise where i can feel what is going on inside the lock.

[Tennessee R]

I believe that the first lock I picked took me days, (on and off, of course).
I had read the MIT guide, and a few others.
Thinking back, I'm pretty sure that it was an old master padlock, and I was using paper clips.

Now, I've gotten better at some locks, and some, I still can't pop open.
My favorite is trigger locks for guns, with 2 or 3 (wafer I believe they are) pins. I love to take the keys off the key ring, and bend the ring to the appropriate shape, use a pin or something for tension, and pop it in a few seconds. Great feeling.

However, I sat down one day at my door, and started practicing, to the point where I could easily and consistently pop it open, in about 8 seconds many of the times.

[omirix]

First lock opened up for me Thursday. Took ~30 seconds of raking with a paper clip as a pick, and a lanyard clip as a torque wrench.

[bazzq126]

I recently moved to a new house and the original owner didn't give us all the keys to the locks. Worried that he would be able to enter the house whenever he wanted I bought new locks and installed them. What to do with the old ones? Why not look online and see how to pick them. So here I am. My first stop was Southord's site to pick up a set of picks, after waiting ever so patiently for my shiny new set, it finally arrived. So I took my locks and my new pick set and sat on the couch and tried to put my new found knowledge to work and too my surprise it did. The first lock I tried was a Dexter dead bolt. Starting at the front of the lock I started pushing the pins down one at a time playing with the tension of the tension wrench after about a minute it opened. Man that was easy I thought, so I tried it again with total opposite results. Over and over I tried and it wouldn't open again. Selling out I pulled a rake out and tired that bam over and over again I was able to open the lock. I guess practice makes perfect.

[d_goldsmith]

I started looking up lock picking one night and found the howstuffworks site and the Bible. Read them both and then made a pick and wrench out of allen wrenches with my dremel. I tried my deadbolt first and couldn't get it, and then drove to a local convenience store and bought a padlock. It was only 3 pins and took me about 10 seconds on the first try. I picked it about 100 times. I figured maybe it was just a lucky choise and it was the easiest pin combo possible, so I took it back and said the key was jamming and I was hoping I could swap it for another one. Took that one home and had the same results. I went to home depot the next day and bought a master 140 and a master 570. The 140 took a long time and I still haven't gotten the 570. I've boughten a 5 pin chinrose, a 4 pin lynx (cheap 7-11 brand) and a clear brockhage 5 pin off of lockpicks.com since. Great fun

[NSKerben]

Crappy front door kwikset titan at my house(before i ever visited this site now i know not to pick lock i use ). i used that double ball pick (====Oo) and raked took me less than a minute, then i tried actually picking(single pin) it with the hook(or finger ive heard) and it took about 7 minutes.

[scorpiac]

My first lock was a master padlock took probably about 1 minute or so. I took a pair of cheap tweezers that were made of really thin flat stainless broke them in half, bent one half into a tension tool and the other into the shape of a lifter/feeler pick and I was amazed when the lock poped open in a minute or less LOL. All this was inspired after watching "Lock Picking For The New Millenium" This movie really helped alot.

[zerg49]

I picked a little padlock on my dads toolbox in like 2 min now I can do it in 2 secs. Its a small brass taskforce padlock

[New-York-Locksmith]

ooh can't really remember- but no way it took me less than an hour - it was a master padlock....i'm almost sure of it - all i can tell ya - it wasn't as fast as some of you natural born lock-picks...

[Meduza]

never succeded yet , i think the lock i practice on is too small, it's very small, i tried like 20 minutes with the "snake", 5 pin then i was tired of it
almost you cant have the "turner" and the snake inside same time, its exactly that it fits, may that be the problem?