ARCHIVE 2003-2013 Introduce yourself HERE if you are new. :)

[Firearm]

^^ Is it me or did that seem like a bunch of spam or someone trying to get adult men to solicit a teenager? It's either a cop, a porn site or a girl who's parents need to monitor her web activities better! ^^

Anyway, I am new around here and I read for about 4 or 5 hours the other night, including the newby instructions. I couldn't stop reading the posts here and all the help you guys give. I have always loved puzzles of any kind and tinkering to figure out how things work. I am a copper by trade and one of my former Sergeants was a locksmith on the side. One night he showed a bunch of us how to rake open wafer locks and by the end of the night I was opening and locking the drawer locks in seconds (I know this breaks the rules of not picking locks that don't belong to you or ones that you rely on, but I didn't know those rules then and he was my boss ). I was hooked after that and wanted to learn more, but had no tools and no knowledge on how to make them myself so time passed and I didn't do anything with what I learned. My dad was a mechanic and owned his own shop and one of his customers was a local locksmith. After my dad passed away I ran into the guy while I was working and asked if he could get me a rake and tension tool. He reached in his pocket, gave them to me and refused to take anything for them. I've had fun with them, picking a few padlocks, but I had no idea how to really pick a lock since most of what I was doing was probably luck at best. I have recently decided to learn the true art and have read and studied a lot. I have a tip of the iceberg knowledge of how they work and I went through the steps of starting at 1 pin and have worked up to 5. That is an excellent tutorial!! I can open a couple cheap dead-bolts I had laying around, along with some cheap-o padlocks, but some of the locks I have tried have me skunked so far. Right now I can't wait to find new locks and I keep working on the few I have. It's very addictive once you get going. Unfortunately, there are no clubs like this in my area so I'll keep working on it alone for now. I'm in northern Minnesota if anyone is close.

Sorry for the ramble and thanks for the great site. I love how you guys are so good at spotting people who are just trying to scam and in my line of work I appreciate it. Keep up the good work and I'll be around if anyone needs info on law enforcement.

[UWSDWF]

Welcome everybody,
For all thoes new to the site and lockpicking, LP101 is a great place to start.
Take a look at the new users section, first and don't be afraid to ask any questions just remember to try a search before posting.

If you're looking for locks to pick, buy some but, DO NOT PICK LOCKS YOU RELY ON
I repeat DO NOT PICK LOCKS YOU RELY ON, they can and will break, then your house/car/safe/chasity belt is vulnerable or unable to be opened (think: emergency situation).

Cheers,
UWSDWF

[mtj_nvk]

Hi,
I m new one. I m from europe, slovenia. Yesterday I have got pick tools and tensions. I try to open 5 pin lock, but it is f.... hard. I have read many books, see videos how do they do it, but I dont understand it. Why does not open it? Also in europe we have pins in locks down and not up, like in us or uk, and other.... Is it maybe some diferent technic to pick locks?

[hawaiian_d]

Im new to the site.....but been picking for just a bit of my life. Actually started working for a locksmith during high school.....though thats been awhile ago.

Have had a blast picking locks etc.....is just a great time seeing how fast you can really do it. Always looking for the next challenge....though ASSA and Medeco may have to wait a while.

[GSA_DENIED]

Hello to all you interested in the sport and to all who remember me. I know whatever, I just arrived in Korea for my new duty station and realized i have not been around here for a while, so here i am just popping my head in to say hi and in a couple of weeks once i am set up again i will be back here then, til then PEACE!

[hug]

have just enroled.wonderful that such a site available.as of yet,still a little
unfamiliar with the various routines.are bogota picks on sale at any known
suppliers.
hug

[UWSDWF]

have just enroled.wonderful that such a site available.as of yet,still a little
unfamiliar with the various routines.are bogota picks on sale at any known
suppliers.
hug

no 'supplier carries them but their is a sticky in the b/s/t forum that has a contact to buy

[just2gorgeous]

Stumbled on this site yesterday, decided to purchase a Southhord 14pc set from Lockpickshop.com.

Im anxiously awaiting for my set to arrive, and cannot wait to start my new hobbie.

Anyway, im " J2G " and its nice to be here.

[liverider2003]

Hey everyone...I signed up yesterday in hopes of figuring out how to unlock my Brinks "40 number dial" 3 digit combination lock...It was a lock for my gym class locker back in highschool that I had found rummaging through old boxes of stuff. The only info I could find on the web about picking/cracking/opening these locks was the Master Lock algorithms and the pick method using a thin metal shim.

The Master lock algorithm method was not working out for me as this is a brinks lock...they seem to be designed the same as the master locks, but the 12 number thing was just not working out right.

So I decided I would try to pick it using a metal shim...and try to peer inside the lock that way to figure out the combo.

I picked it quite easily about an hour ago today...and I could easily see the cams with a flashlight. I could also see the gaps as I spun the dial around. I figured out that the cam closest to the back side of the lock was for the first number...so I spun the dial until I could see the gap of that cam directly through the hole in the lock body...I looked to see what number the dial was on...and subtracted 10 from that number. That was my first number and it was 25. For the second one...I spun the dial a few times to re-align the cams....went clockwise to 25...the back around to 25...then I looked into the hole in the lock body again and kept spinning it very slowly past 25 until I saw the gap in the second number's cam...for this one...I added 10 to the number showing on the dial...this number was 27. Then for the 3rd number...that is the cam that is secured directly to the inside of the dial knob...so I just spun it until I could see the gap in that cam, and subtracted 10....the last number was 38.

I locked the lock again...and tried my combo of 25-27-28...and to my astonishment...it friggen unlocked!

Sorry for such a long story...but I am just so excited...and I hope to move on to some cooler things.

Later,
Corey

[theopratr]

As is tradition, I will throw a quick entry into this thread...

I'm not new to lockpicking, but I am new to this forum.
Looks to be a great resource... with quite a few regular users!

[russ_gillespie]

Hello all,

I decided I'd start looking into lock picking this evening after many years of wanting to learn but never getting round to it

So be prepared for lots of questions!


Cheers

Russ

[NickBristol]

Welcome to the forum Russ, Brighton's a nice place too.

Questions are welcomed here no matter how daft they might be... just remember that the search button is your friend so use it first

Next step is to check out the beginners guides HERE

[Tozzy]

Hello everyone! I'm Tozzy. Just got into lock picking by chance really. I was in an internet cafe about a month ago and the words, "lock picking" came into my head when I was trying to kill some time before paying the bill so went to hunt down some info and here I am waiting for my new 'Easy pickings' set to arrive so I can pick my 5 pin tumbler (not my nose lol) which has been quite a frustrating experience, but I must add, very challenging . That's the thing, when you know something is possible, you just gotta keep going . Be prepared for some questions in my threads, but also look out for lots of provided advice when I become more into this amazing hobby.

Remember, one pin at a time .

[GiftOfGab]

I´m a newbie, drawn here after watching the bump key video from Toool. I will be posting some of my own attempts at making bump keys, for everyone to judge and tell me just what it is that I´m doing wrong here.

Bump keys is certainly my primary reason for registering here, but there´s a whole lot of other more complex stuff here that seems alot of fun too, so I might very well try other things in due time.

Oh and I´m european, from Scandinavia.

[CrowdedApartment]

Hello,
I've been a member for a while but haven't posted anything yet. I just like messing around with locks in my free time. Nothing too serious.