Real Technique to picking a wafer lock?

[amc31b]

Ok this might sound like a dumb question. is there any real way to pick a wafer lock? all the wafer locks in my house and office are all real easy to pick. including my sentry safe. all i do is insert my half diamond pick, lift all the pins. then insert my tension wrench and begin wiggiling my pick up and down while applying moderate toque and the lock opens.
Am i just getting lucky with the 15 or more locks this has worked on? or is this the actual technique? all the reading on picking i have says nothing about actully picking a wafer lock, it just says how they work. so what is the correct technique(s)? is there any one technique that is better than others? let me know what you fellow pickers think.
Thanx
Have good pickings!

[illusion]

heavy tension is the biggest factor with these locks...

i find this technique best:
lifting all the wafers to their maximum height first with the flat of a pick, and then insert the tension wrench.. reduce the tension slightly and gently stroke the wafers so they set to correctly... varying the tension makes it much easier... and a half ball pick reduces wear and damage on the lock... an easy lock to pick all round... even the more advanced versions open just as easily... ohh yeah, and some jigglers work on these locks too

my favourite method, and best I have found

[kodierer]

These locks are extremely easy to pick. Personally I prefere to pick them like a standard pin tumbler. I place tension on the lock, and insert my pick, and then lift one wafer at a time. Wafer locks usually open particularly easily. You can also just insert a rake, and tension wrench, and then rake a wafer open much faster than any pin tumbler. However a stiff, and old wafer lock can require actual push with the pick, and I do not like picking these unless properly cleaned, and lubed, because they can be rough on a pick.

[Eyes_Only]

Some GM and asian automotive rocker picks can also be used in opening a wafer lock.

[amc31b]

Is a rocker pick also known as a "jiggler"? also, in didnt know you could pin-by-pin pick a wafer lock. isnt the idea of a wafer lock to lift all the wafers and make the plug one smooth peice on the inside? so wouldnt that mean there is no real shear line? i am saying this because i took apart the wafer lock on my computer desk and there were no driver pins. all the wafers were contained in the plug. the cylinder around the plug just had cut outs for the wafers to be lifted into.
maybe a veteran picker could help or if anyone finds a detailed page to wafer locks, please post!
Thanx,
Have good pickings!

[SFGOON]

Rockers and jigglers work on the same basic idea but are different, a rocker is a pick and a jiggler is shaped like a key, (sort of.)

Wafer locks are absurdly easy to pick and always have been.

[illusion]

Is a rocker pick also known as a "jiggler"? also, in didnt know you could pin-by-pin pick a wafer lock. isnt the idea of a wafer lock to lift all the wafers and make the plug one smooth peice on the inside? so wouldnt that mean there is no real shear line? i am saying this because i took apart the wafer lock on my computer desk and there were no driver pins. all the wafers were contained in the plug. the cylinder around the plug just had cut outs for the wafers to be lifted into.
maybe a veteran picker could help or if anyone finds a detailed page to wafer locks, please post!
Thanx,
Have good pickings!

take the wafers out of the plug... you will see that the purpose is in fact to make it a perfectly round shape so it can rotate... the binding defect still exists in wafers, but they do not have driver pins (they aint got pins pins at all for that matter).. they can be pin-by-pin picked.. but as far as picking them goes information has largely remained untouched as it is very easy. of course there is a shear line, it is this which prevents the lock from being opened without the key..
to better understand the lock take the plug out of the housing (springs tend to pop out so look out for that) then push the wafers into the plug with your fingers so the plug is a perfect circle with no bits sticking out - this is what the correct key does, and at this point were it in the lock housing it would freely turn.
take a pick... when you lift up one of the wafers you are not in fact lifting the wafer out of the housing, but into the plug... when all of the wafers are flush with the plug it will open... hope that cleared it up a bit

[Eyes_Only]

The method I use is to first apply light tension on the plug and use the flat side of the pick to push up to set some of the wafers. Then rake whatever else that didnt set with a half diamond pick. A lil bit like the technique illusion described.

[grit1]

I have three or four disc/wafer tumbler keys that seem to work in almost every lock you try them in, with a little jiggling. There are two really common wafer tumbler keyways, one in a "left" configuration and one in a "right" configuration - I have a jiggler key for each. They're not really special, just happen to be in a conveinent [usually thin] bitting that allows for easy jiggling. Look around - you'll find some like mine I'm sure! ~Grit.

[illusion]

funnily enough the key for my old moped can open about 6 of my wafer locks

[mike-z]

i belive there are specitaly picks for wafer locks do they help are they easer i didnt read every thing so just re inform me if you said anything avbout it.

Ok this might sound like a dumb question.

there is no such thing as a dumb question only pointless ones

[kodierer]

No.
There are no stupid questions.
However there are a lot of inquisitive idiots.
Theres actually a demotivation poster with it. I think thats pretty funny. Remember however that ignorance can be fixed, but stupid if forever.

[Chrispy]

Stupid if forever?

[iateshaggy]

i don't even use a pick with wafer locks, i just put my tension wrench in, lift, jiggle, and turn at the same time and i'm in.

[iateshaggy]

Is a rocker pick also known as a "jiggler"? also, in didnt know you could pin-by-pin pick a wafer lock. isnt the idea of a wafer lock to lift all the wafers and make the plug one smooth peice on the inside? so wouldnt that mean there is no real shear line? i am saying this because i took apart the wafer lock on my computer desk and there were no driver pins. all the wafers were contained in the plug. the cylinder around the plug just had cut outs for the wafers to be lifted into.
maybe a veteran picker could help or if anyone finds a detailed page to wafer locks, please post!
Thanx,
Have good pickings!

take the wafers out of the plug... you will see that the purpose is in fact to make it a perfectly round shape so it can rotate... the binding defect still exists in wafers, but they do not have driver pins (they aint got pins pins at all for that matter).. they can be pin-by-pin picked.. but as far as picking them goes information has largely remained untouched as it is very easy. of course there is a shear line, it is this which prevents the lock from being opened without the key..
to better understand the lock take the plug out of the housing (springs tend to pop out so look out for that) then push the wafers into the plug with your fingers so the plug is a perfect circle with no bits sticking out - this is what the correct key does, and at this point were it in the lock housing it would freely turn.
take a pick... when you lift up one of the wafers you are not in fact lifting the wafer out of the housing, but into the plug... when all of the wafers are flush with the plug it will open... hope that cleared it up a bit

i have a wafer lock that is held in by a #6 wafer and the first five are for locking. to remove this kind you simply unlock the lock and lift the #6 and it comes right out.