Picking wafer locks

by **Chronos** » 21 Oct 2004 22:25

Okay, so I am fairly new at picking locks, I just got my first set of manual picks about a week ago and have picked some shlage's and kwiksets, but have had trouble with wafer locks. I was under the impression that wafer locks were easy than dead bolts with pins, am I wrong? Is there some different technique I need to use? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

by **Chucklz** » 21 Oct 2004 22:32

Wafer locks can be alot of things. From single sided no sidebar "crap" locks, to spit wafer sidebar monstrosities. Please describe with as much detail as you can the lock you are trying to pick.

by **Chronos** » 21 Oct 2004 23:04

Hmm, I am not too sure, there is no brand on it and it looks to me like your standard grey metal knob, one like you might find on a classroom or something. Everyhting feels normal inside as far as I can tell too, but I have very limited experience, so can't be too sure of that.

by **Chucklz** » 22 Oct 2004 8:44

Picking the schools locks eh? Don't do that. It will just get you into more trouble than you would ever want.

The "wafer" locks that I know of that come in knob sets are 1. The Schlage wafer, generally found in the US, but have not been made/installed in many years. You will pick these eventually.

2.) Something from Ingersoll. If this is the lock you have, just put your picks away, and walk away from the lock. As a noob, you have almost no hope of opening this lock. Even most of us here couldn't do it with the tools you probably have. This is one to build up to. Don't let the lock defeat you, you just need a few years to practice.

by **Fallen_Pin** » 22 Oct 2004 10:20

I find that wafers need a bit more tension than deadbolts and padlocks. Instead of feathering your wrench, try actually putting some force into it =^-^= . This makes the wafers a little harder to move around, but if you push on em you will feel them snap into place. Also, the deep hook is probably the best pick for this job. You can use other picks to get a feel for what's going on inside the lock, but a strong deep hook is your best bet for cracking these things

by **monkeE** » 22 Oct 2004 20:47

Has anyone else seen cabinet wafer locks that you can decode with your eyes? NOT in superman fashion or anything, but a few cabinet locks I've seen and played with (legally of course) have required all the wafers to be moved the same distance from their points of origin. This basically equates to a low set being very low in and a high set being very high. I just looked into the keyhole and then moved the pins according to what I saw...

by **skold** » 22 Oct 2004 23:51

get a key that is has the wafers 1-5 size range and basically turn the key as hard as you can with out breaking it, eventually the wafers will configure to that key

by **Fallen_Pin** » 23 Oct 2004 1:36

Oh dag Skold! :O Nifty!

by **monkeE** » 23 Oct 2004 2:02

um.. does that destroy the lock?

by **skold** » 23 Oct 2004 3:51

it will scrach wafers and untill its perfect will "crunch" and be a bit hard on the key to turn.

by **silent** » 23 Oct 2004 5:35

pereferably a hardend brass key, unless you want to be pulling out half a key

by **Chronos** » 23 Oct 2004 11:03

Okay, I guess I should probably clarify that I am picking this lock legally. Also, I forgot to mention, there is definitely single sided and as far as I can tell does not have a sidebar. Would I be able to tell right off the bat if it did though? Also, does that forcing the key around thing work for all wafer locks, or just the cabinet ones?

by **walkerjr** » 23 Oct 2004 17:55

Ive found the easiest way to pick these open (if it is a fairly simple wafer lock) is to get in there with a thin tension wrench (windscreen wiper style) and preferably a double ball pick. With the tension on and the pick in, just wiggle the pick up and down on the wafers, and the lock will open.
Also try a single ball, half snowman or a half diamond.

by **skold** » 23 Oct 2004 19:58

Auto jigglers seem to work fine for me

by **Fallen_Pin** » 26 Oct 2004 13:24

The first time I picked a wafer lock, it took me all of 20 seconds to do it

Heres how I went about doing it.

Apply lots of tension
Scrub it with your deep hook (This might take a bit of practice)
The lock should turn steadily, depending on how well your raking it. Then you should hear and feel the whole thing clunk down in defeat to your ultim4t3 l337 h4x0R skills =)
Haha, I did this in my schools bathroom ^^, the lock was on a metal box that hid a valve from the public. It was harder to pick the bloody thing closed though. I was tempted to just leave it, but I didn't want anyone tampering with the valve and damages to be caused because I had a few minutes of spare time, and not enough concern for the aftermath of my bathroom shenanegins (Hahahahaha)

Picking wafer locks

Picking wafer locks

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