A lock I picked

[Minion]

This is NOT a good safe to buy if you're serious about security. The first time I tried, I got it in about 15 seconds (probably luck), and now can do it in about 25 seconds consistently, with two different safes, and I'm extremely un-trained at this.

It has a massive keyway, plenty of room for any of your tools, and I believe it's a wafer lock.

without further wait, here's the video:

http://minion.jrbach.com/safe.avi <-4.15 megs (about)

There's no sound in the video, as my capture card is not working properly.

But yeah, It's not exactly a "safe".

OH!

And another lock that I picked *cough*raked*cough* uber-fast (half a second from pressure on the tool to exiting the lock)
http://minion.jrbach.com/picky.wmv

It's a simple file-cabinet wafer lock.

When I posted the filing cabinet video on another website, they thought it was unlocked.

[Minion]

I can't edit posts, so here goes:

in the last sentence, it should say "was unlocked before I started".

But yeah, I noticed that the cylinder turns a little bit then stops again. What's this indicative of?

[master in training]

But yeah, I noticed that the cylinder turns a little bit then stops again. What's this indicative of?

Im not sure what you mean by this, so try and explain a bit more, are you talking about the cabinet lock or the safe?..

One thing I can see from your picking is that you seemed very very rough with your tools, you seemed to be using too much tension on the safe and having to press hard on the tools, and when you picked the cabinet lock, you raked it very aggressively. I'll make a vid now if you want of me picking a couple of cabinet locks, you can be much more gentle and not end up grinding bits off your lock and damaging your picks to open them quickly.

Well done for opening them though, its good to see you're as hooked as the rest of us

Have fun, good luck!

~ MiT ~

[Minion]

Well, what I mean is it feels like the lock was picked, and the cylinder rotates slightly, then it binds up again.

Also, I was doing the pick upside down for the camera, so I didn't have the right angles on the tools. However, I do realize that I am rough with the tools and such, but I'm hoping that I can eliminate it over time. This is my mother's safe that she uses to keep miscellaneous valuables in, and I wanted to see if it was as safe as she thought it was.

[master in training]

I just opened both my cabinet locks with anything straight, including a small screwdriver and the ends of my tension wrenches!!

Name a pick from a normal pickset and I'll open it for you and video it(except hooks, I cant find one that fits, normal are too high, slim line goes between wafers, lol).

Try moving onto something a little harder, go get yourself a door lock of some kind, like a Kwikset, the you can take all but the first pin out and build up from there as you learn to pick better. This will improve your skills a lot, especially in pin by pin picking, since raking is ok, but pin by pin is better and wafer locks tend to be easier to open than pin tumbler locks.

Good luck!

~ MiT ~

[Frappinweemish]

Minion, what you are encountering is probably a spool pin. A few days ago, i had that same problem for the first time - you feel the plug turning, and start celebrating, but then everything binds up again and you are quite confused. That is the spool pin you are feeling. It has false set. What you need to do next, is find the pin that when you push it up, the tension wrench wants to go backwards. Let it go slightly backwards until the pin actually sets, then reapply tension. I hope this helps. Also, Mad Mick made a wonderful animation of this in action. http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=8177

[serrurier]

One thing to remember about this type of safe or strong box is that they are made for a whole lot of different purposes and you have to read each description to suit your needs. The one you have is really designed to sustain heavy heat and is not really designed for safety since you just have to take the entire box and just leave with it then you have all the time in the world to break in. You are right that if you need security this model is not the one you need but if you have paperwork or pictures you still want after your house has burned down this model will do the job.

take care

[Minion]

Thanks everyone, and serrurier, that is the main application that the safe is meant for, but that isn't what my mother purchased it for. She purchased it for security.

[Grudge]

From what I have heard, Sentry makes really good fire resistant stuff (lots of stories on how they survived a fire with everything safe inside). That being said, their Fire-Safe units are pretty poor from a security standpoint.

You can open up a 5835 model (the one with both a tubular lock and an electronic keypad) and then close it up like nothing happened in under two minutes. Never assume a fire resistant safe has significant burglar resistance (unless it is actually rated)

[Chrispy]

That being said, their Fire-Safe units are pretty poor from a security standpoint.

All fire safes are. It's the construction that makes them fire resistant that compromises their security. Thin metal walls with insulating material sandwiched in between, makes it vulnerable to forcible entry methods.

In the same way that a burglary safe will cook everything in it when it's in a fire, the interior heats up very quickly during a fire.

For more info on safe standards, search (not sure if it's on this site) for UL ratings in both fire and burglary. 350-1, 350-2, and 350-4, etc. for fire safes and TL, TRTL and TXTL for burglary.

[Chrispy]

(unless it is actually rated)

As Grudge was saying....