a trick for beginners

[linty]

this is nothing really new or out there but i wish i had known about it when i was just starting out.

some locks will be really hard to pick even if you know what you are doing because one or more bottom pins will tend to jam above the shearline. when you are pretty sure that you've botched it, instead of just letting go of the tension to start over, try releasing the tension really slowly, and if anything clicks try applying a bit more tension again. the reason for this is that often the stuck pin(s) will catch at the shear-line on their way down.

i have several locks (one is a cutaway even) for which this seems to be the only reliable way of picking them and one pin will consistently need to be set this way.

just a little tip anyways, worth a shot before you have to start picking all over again.

[zeke79]

A good tip there. I often will do the same thing if I think I may have overset a pin. This technique works well and sometimes saves you some time from totally repicking.

[Dent]

Yes... but still better to work on not oversetting a pin in the first place

[linty]

honestly i have a cutaway where even when i'm watching carefully i still can't avoid oversetting. i'm sure somebody more skilled could do it, but regardless the tendency is very strong for it to overpick one this one pin.
also sometimes the front pins end up jammed too high inevitably when you are picking the back pins.

[vector40]

I would say oversetting is nigh-impossible to avoid with certain bittings. It's the nature of the tool itself.

[Omikron]

I would say oversetting is nigh-impossible to avoid with certain bittings. It's the nature of the tool itself.

Although having a Falle-Safe set can help alleviate these situations...

[Dartan]

I would say oversetting is nigh-impossible to avoid with certain bittings. It's the nature of the tool itself.

Although having a Falle-Safe set can help alleviate these situations...

How exactly do Falle-Safe's alleviate that? I've seen pictures of them (they are weird looking) but not sure how it would stop oversetting pins. Is it just because you rock the pick to set the pin (which I tend to do with my normal picks anyway)?

Dave

[Omikron]

I would say oversetting is nigh-impossible to avoid with certain bittings. It's the nature of the tool itself.

Although having a Falle-Safe set can help alleviate these situations...

How exactly do Falle-Safe's alleviate that? I've seen pictures of them (they are weird looking) but not sure how it would stop oversetting pins. Is it just because you rock the pick to set the pin (which I tend to do with my normal picks anyway)?

Dave

Most of the time the reason you overset a pin it happens while you're trying to set pins near the back. As you're working to set the pin, if the back pins set high, and the front pins set low, then many times your tool will shove these front pins past the shear line. The Falle-Safe set has wide variety of tools available that help alleviate this issue. Specifically, the "Deep Curve" picks.

Falle-Safe picks aren't a replacement for skill, they are just better tools to help you do the job better.

[CPLP]

I actually rather overset the pins and then release a bit of tension, it has worked quite well for me. Anyway This tip comes in the MIT Guide, but it is good someone had written it because sometimes people forget about it as many other technics.