Detecting number of pins in a lockand removing pins

[speero]

hay
i just started picking and am just wondering if theres an easy way to remove pins for a beginner to practice or i there are specific practice locks?
i was also wondering wats the easiest way to tell how many pins there are ina lock?
speero_

[illusion]

Congratulation on your serious attempt at searching....

Guide to take a lock apart: http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=10505

How to tell the number of pins:

Insert the pick into the lock and put it right to the back - draw the pick out of the lock and count the clicks.... 5 clicks= 5 pins.

You'll find that a lot of deadbolt cylinders will use 5 pins.

[clayton1123]

I prefer kwikset deadcolt cores, they are easy to take apart and the pin cover just pops off making for an easy repinning job.

[Exodus5000]

As a general rule of thumb, most padlocks you'll encounter will have 4 pin stacks. The majority of key-in-knob and deadbolts will have 5 pin stacks. Illusions method of counting clicks is the easiest way to determine the correct number otherwise.

If you havn't already, have a look at Digital Blue's tutorial on repinning a lock and learning to pick sequentially adding one pin at a time to the cylinder (which is what it sounds like you're wanting to do.)

-EX5K