Learning raking technique

[epidemiologist]

I’m a fairly new picker who has taken this on as an enjoyable hobby late in my life. I find locks fascinating and I have been able to pick 7 or 8, after practicing patiently, trying not to get frustrated, and finding, as many on this forum have counseled, that after a while you actually do start to feel things and the lock yields. Which brings me to my question for this very knowledgeable and helpful forum. While there seems to be a number of useful learning techniques for single pin picking (practicing on progressively pinned locks, for example), I haven’t seen anything for raking. I ask this because I went out and bought a Bogota rake pair from Serepick and they are really gorgeous. But . . . I can’t open a single lock with them. Since they are widely acknowledged by experienced pickers to be extremely effective, it is obvious I am not using them correctly. But I don’t have a clue what I am doing wrong. I’ve looked at some videos of their use but they didn’t show me much. I can rake easy locks, like Master #3 or #5, with an S rake or half diamond and I can SPP them and a number of others, including a #140 with security pins. But I can’t get the Bogota to work on anything. Anybody have a suggestion as to how I might learn?

[pintalgado]

Follow the link...http://gregmiller.net/locks/mitguide/chapter6.html

[epidemiologist]

Ahh. Many thanks. I read all of the MIT Guide but didn't remember that part. I should have learned by now that it pays to go back and re-read stuff after you have had some experience. It's like "practice locks". The most important thing about them is the "practice" part.

[raimundo]

You are using one of them as a tensor for light tension?
Just put the rake in and shake it lightly, do not over tension, just get those pins hopping and pulse the tension so that you are allowing pins to fall back down.

Newbies are always trying to force pins to stay 'up'. as they think this is the important thing to do,

when you rake you are letting the pins drop frequently, do not bear down on the tensor in fear of letting a pin drop,

when releasing tension you can pulse that too, sometimes a pin drop is the last thing before opening.

If you need more information on using the bogotas, tell me what locks you are practicing on.

[epidemiologist]

Many thanks, raimundo. I will try this. I realize it takes a bit of practice but you have given me something tangible to go on. I love the feel of the tensioner, although I was trying others as well. As for locks, I have about a dozen (I'm pretty new at this), only a few of which I haven't picked open (the ones I can't pick are a Master 40mm that for some reason I can't get; and 4 old utility company Wilson Bohannon 622 padlocks that I can't even set a single pin on; very stiff springs. Thought I might try cleaning with electrical contact solvent and try again). Have a Lori 5 pin mortise, a couple of U.S. Lock padlock cores (5 pin), a Kwikset door lock, what looks like a Schlage cylinder I got from a locksmith for free and two or three easy Masters (#3, #5, #140). I can SPP all of them except for the WBs and Master 40mm. What mystified me is that I can't open any of them with your triple Bogota (which are beautiful), so I knew I was doing something very wrong. I appreciate the help. Once I get it working I will report back on what seemed to make the difference. Meanwhile, happy holidays to all (posted a couple days before xmas).

[SquallLHeart]

for me.. shaking the bogota around and wiggling it a bit while placing light tension on the tensioner seems to work for most locks. it's certainly a more random method than SPP.. as it's pretty much a raking method that relies a little bit on luck as well as a little skill. it's amazing once you get down the technique for using a bogota.

raimundo.. i have to personally thank you for this wonderful design. i have a few different bogotas i got from serepick.. and the original triple still amazes me.

i had to use it earlier around midnight tonight when my gf locked herself out of the apartment.. and she and i were outside freezing in the cold... i just so happened to be carrying my titan set.. and within half a minute.. i was able to open the door. she was utterly amazed... and i had to jump here on the forums (after i dunno how long of a hiatus i've been from here).. and say thank you... thank you. bogotas are awesome..

i've made a few on my own as well using your DIY, and they perform just as well..

to the OP, good luck.. i've been doing very well practicing on kwikset door locks (which also happened to be the lock i had to open tonight).. they seem to be very susceptible to raking with bogotas.. and you can probably hone in your technique with that.

from there, you can expand and tune your raking to different locks.

[chaos4zap]

I would also suggest that you play with the placement of the Bogota's. Depending on the keyway and the size and location of your tension tool, the Bogota's will be pushing into the pins to various extents (if that makes sense). Usually you are using the handle of the half-diamond bogota for the tension and, again, depending on the keyway, you may be limited to where you can put the tension without binding with the bottom of the cylinder, but you can still usually mix it up by angling the bogota's differently or resting the bottom of the bogots on the warding of the keyway. Also, if you are not having success with going in straight, play around with tilting and raising/lowering the front and back of the Bogota's inside the lock. Like raimundo said,light pulsating tension almost always works the best, but if it's not working, play around. I have a Schlage mortise that I couldn't open with anything but the pick gun and could never Bogota the thing open until one day, almost out of frustration, I but a butt-load of tension on it and after a little jiggling with the Bogota...it finally opened. Since Bogota's tend to work better as a "jiggler" than a rake, you can even get away with trying top of keyway tension(TOK) in some cases, if you're careful and have another tension tool available that is suitable for TOK. After you get the hang of it, even security pins can be overcome with the Bogota's by either over-lifting the security pins or sometimes, since security pins tend to false-set lower than other pins. you will get a false-set and the bogota will be kind of stuck in the lock. You can just ease off the tension and work the bogota until the false-set pin can be raised to the sheer point. I don't know what it is about Bogota technique, but some of it is hard to put into words and I hope that all of this doesn't come across nearly as rambling as it sounds in my head as I'm typing.