Trouble with a lock :(

[thejtown]

I bought a lock that I believe to be a Home Hardware brand lock, all it says on the body is "Home". It has a 40mm body, and I think 4 pins. I've been picking it with a hook pick, and when I release the torque slowly I hear 3 clicks. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong!

[UWSDWF]

if you have the key make a plug follower and take it apart see what makes her tick

[josh0094]

maybe you missed one pin?

be like me.. rake the hell outta it..


i actually have one of those. takes a bit of fenese

[thejtown]

You have one of 'em? . It's my first day lockpicking I've got my master lock open but this one's giving me a lot of trouble. Don't know anything about raking.

[robotmaxtron]

sometimes you hear the three clicks but sometimes two may drop at the same time.

[raimundo]

clicks are likly the set pins falling down, you hear each distinctly because they dont' all fall in the same microsecond. likely you are binding a pin with too much tension and thats whats is keeping it from opening, You'll get it and when you do relock it and do it again immediatly,

there is something that words cannot express but fingers can learn that happens, and the best time to redo it is immediately while the lesson is in your fingers.

Comments anyone, do you recognize what Im talking about or not?

[thejtown]

I understand completely, my masterlock took me about 2 hours at first but I kept doing it over and over and now I can do it within 10-15 seconds each time. I guess I should just keep it at it and hope to get it eventually, thanks alot for the tips everyone

[bumber]

its almost like an instinct that just appears...but after you let it pass its gone for awhile. Its almost like you see it in your mind and just redo it...but when the image fades so does the "feeling"

[thejtown]

Update: I can get 3 pins to set without doubt, all except the back pin. When all the others are set I can still feel the back pin there and no matter what I do it doesn't want to set, it won't set last and it won't set first. Any suggestions?

[cracksman]

I think it is somewhat like muscle memory, to respond to raimundo, I feel it in the fingers, and in the palms off my hands oddly enough. I've seen a show on a safe-cracker who could feel a feathers resistance. So the sense of touch really can be trained to recognize the slightest changes. I also have noticed that calloused fingers don't inhibit picking, so I assume its more the "vibration" (can't think of the right word) that is what we feel. I've wanted to write a book on "The Zen of Lock picking" for awhile now, but I'm lazy

Sorry for the digression, thejtown, cheap sloppy locks can sometimes be very difficult. I've found lighter tension, and closing your eyes, listening and being aware of what your hands are feeling helps. I would also suggest trying your wrench in both top and bottom of the keyway. Where you put the wrench changes the alignment of the plug and makes it pick differently. I have one lock that I can only pick with a wrench that tensions both top and bottom at once. I am positive others on this site could pick it in other ways though. I bet you will pick it soon and laugh at how easy it is to pick it again

best of luck,


Cracks