Help with EVIL BEST Padlock

[Treeson]

Wow, after follwing this conversation... It seems I should pick a couple of these Icore padlocks up. They seem rather difficult to open and I am also intrigued by the entire control like thing.

Thanks for some excellent posts,

Treeson

[devildog]

I just noticed something rather suprising while looking at those photos of that open padlock: Best padlocks use a dog locking mechanism, and can therefore be shimmed

I really thought that with the great number of businesses using Best padlocks (because, of course, they've got Best locks on their doors and like the idea of the padlocks being on the same masterkey system and having SFIC capability) that they'd at least have the heel-and-toe mechanism so they can't be popped in 5 seconds by a punk with a 'modified' beer can ...

I'm sure those things cost more than masterlocks, so you could get a good american for as much, if not less, than what you'd pay for those Best padlocks. Then again, you loose the ability to have them keyed up to the rest of the locks and you don't have the SFIC system with them that people love...

[bprzybyl]

I worked on that thing for that long and some punk might be able to achieve the same outcome? I'm gonna try it. This just means I have to lock it. I will. I'm just gonna try another concentrated effort on picking that control line.

I will try it.

[Chucklz]

The last two generations of Best padlocks at least use non shimmable ball bearing locking mechanisms. So you could only possibly shim the older locks.

[pinsetter]

I have a question about an older Best padlock that was made for US Military use. I too had a very hard time picking mine open but eventually got it.

My question:

My lock seemed to have the pins that need manipulated recessed deep in the keyway with what appears to be 2 or 3 pins that ride on an uncut portion of the key just ahead of the shoulder. My key has a fairly long uncut section before the cuts begin.

Is this common in Best padlocks, and if so, what purpose does it serve other than making the pins that matter harder to get to? ie....was it an early attempt at a security feature, or is there another purpose for it?

Thanks in advance for any information!

[Chucklz]

Post pictures of the keyway and key.

A 5 or 6 pin lock will have a longer uncut area near the bow than a 7 pin lock. Furthermore, there are some extra long Best keys for some kind of armored lock, but I have no information other than these keys exist.

[pinsetter]

At this time I have no way to take and post pics, but I can tell you this much about the key. The cut section has cuts for 5 pins, but there are 7 pins in the lock. The first two pins closest to the keyway entry are pushed to maximum height by the uncut portion of the key. Maybe it could be that it is just the way the seven pin lock is keyed and the front two pins require maximum lift.

But I now know for sure that the key has 5 cuts and the lock has 7 pins.

[Chucklz]

The last two pins are 0's. (The Best key is numbered tip to bow, so the first pin in the keyaway is the 7th pin in a bitting chart). There is a 0 cut, but it is very very shallow, and probably will not show with any kind of wear.

[fizzmahon]

I worked on that thing for that long and some punk might be able to achieve the same outcome? I'm gonna try it. This just means I have to lock it. I will. I'm just gonna try another concentrated effort on picking that control line.

I will try it.

did you manage to shim it?

[raimundo]

shimming a best could also be a matter of how closely the shackle fits and how strong the locking dog springs are, beer cans are soft aluminum and putting that in there would risk tearing it off and jamming the shackle so that it would take a hard pull to open it even if you have a key. Always very embarrasing, I was trying to open a padlocked piano for a play I was in, the school had put a padlock and hasp on the piano and our cast member who had the combo didn't bring it, I succeeded in leaving a piece of shim in there, that shim was some sort of hardend metal, like the spring from a tape measure, if you make shims out of this stuff, you might want to put them in the oven for a while to give them a controled low heat, for a while to 'draw' out some of the hardness.

[jimmysmith]

I have heared you guys talk about thinking there are no secerity pins in the older best locks.. so what about the new ones. .....I have a best padlock with no key... and out of about 50 padlocks i own this is one of the most dificult to open... I say that because i have not picked it open.. and There no way a shim can get it open for the shackle is way to to tight againts the brass. I think its a 6 pin at least... thinking more like 7 really. But i am not exactly sure. however.... I was thinking secerity pins for sure. ...because of the fact that......when i apply tension...and use my half diomond pick...and use the pull out real fast method.....then release tension..i can hear a lot if not all of the pins falling back into place. but the thing still will not open so i figured that there must be some type of secerity pins..spool or something that are getting hung up... yet not setting. I can hear a lot of pins falling back to place when i release tension but yet while tension is still applyed i shake the lock and dont hear any pins bouncing around...but once i release tension I hear then all coming back down..
Another thing is the pictures of the best lock that started this topic.. looks smaller then mine... mine has a longer body and also a longer shackle.

any ideas?

[jimmysmith]

Also....can you buy best key blanks? or are they restricted in anyway?

[HeadHunterCEO]

I haven't a clue, but come to think of it, that does kinda look like what would have made that impression. I figured a hacksaw blade, and never even noticed the fact that they were the same on both sides (HEY, I'm not oblivious, I was just very focused on picking).

I acquired the padlock, 2 cores in mortise/rim cylinders, and 2 mortise/rim housings, all for around $20. I picked one core to the shear line the 1st time, while the other is an easy rake, but I've never gotten control line. I'm still learning the I-core tools.

Too bad you can't reverse pick a control line and then plug spin it (I've tried). If someone has, lemme know.

Thanks all,
Brooks

you can also drill a small 1/8 hole throgh the face of the padlock to the control lug. in this matter you can direclty apply pressure to the lug via a thumb tack and a rubber band or whatever.
don't drill in too far

[apb]

One thing i will always try when i come upon a cheap padlock that is hard to pick is to try an alternate bypass method. Basically, its the same technique you would use against a file cabinet or something similar. Take your rake and push it all the way to the back of the lock. Tilt the tip so it is near the uppermost part of the keyway (top pin)and try to see if you can "catch" anything back there. Then push straight down, scraping against the back of the lock. Sometimes you will be able to pull the latch back manually and free the shackle. I used this against a lock made from (if I remember correctly) Yale, but it may have been Best, can't really remember.

[raimundo]

A friend gave me two best cylinders in the shell and wanted them and the shells back separated, I tried the comb edge tensor, but it didn't work, I can only pick the open function, I haven't tried to shim that combtensor in with toothpicks yet, but I was talking to another member about the possibility of picking the open function, turning the core 180 degrees, and working on the control sleeve through the bottom of the keyway, possibly with a hook or comb or make a bottom of key sputnik type to operate on the control sleeve through the bottom of the keyway

The core is 180 degrees rotated, you can reach the control sleeve pins from the bottom of the keyway,

What ideas do anyone here have to contribute on how to pick the sleeve from this position,

anyone?