my picks are bending is that bad? :O

[gr00ve]

im trying to pick this lock, i believe its a Brinks R70? puck style lock. anyhow, i need to turn hard to get any pins to set but when i push that hard i have trouble moving pins with my picks and sometimes they bend and get misshapen. my set is a pxs-14. would getting better picks fix this problem? or am i just doing it too hard? i feel like the metal is really weak.

[barbarian]

When you use the key to open the lock, that will give you an idea of how much tension is needed to pick it. Most people starting out use too much tension. I think if the picks are bending, that's too much.

I bent a tension wrench before on a lock that was weathered and stiff. The lock was picked, but it just would not turn. I could have used a screwdriver to turn it, but I didn't have one. WD40 or something would have been nice too.

[Olson Burry]

Just chill, maintain a small amount of pressure and push each pin a little at a time. As long as you counteract the spring bias on the plug that should enough.

At some point, with low pressure, something will 'give' letting you know where you are. With high torque the little give-aways the lock provides cant be perceived.

[gr00ve]

well yeah there is no spring in the plug, it just turns with the key in and you need to turn the key back to lock it. also even using the key, its a pretty tight turn. its not my tension wrench bending, its my picks. do picks normally bend?

[MacGnG1]

use the key to see how much tension u need to use.

i have one and u do need to use a lot... its an interesting lock.

[MacGyver101]

do picks normally bend?

No. Your picks should only be lifting the pins, applying only slightly more force than the tiny springs that are pressing down on the pinstack. If you're bending your picks, then you're using way too much force.

[femurat]

The first time I successfully picked a lock I focused on what happened before, as the MIT guide suggests.
These were my thoughts:
- I'm cool
- the force needed to turn the plug was less than I supposed;
- the force needed to lift the pins was more than I supposed.
After a few days of practice I realized that the wrench should be used with an even lighter touch.

If you apply too much force, it becomes impossible to lift the pins. This is your situation, in fact you said that to turn the key you need almost no force.

Happy picking

[gr00ve]

i said it was a tight turn, as in its got a strong force to overcome before it starts to open. i can pick it quite well with the force i put on it, but sometimes my picks bend, they bend sideways mostly but maybe its because of the way im putting my pick into the lock

[Squelchtone]

i said it was a tight turn, as in its got a strong force to overcome before it starts to open. i can pick it quite well with the force i put on it, but sometimes my picks bend, they bend sideways mostly but maybe its because of the way im putting my pick into the lock

As they like to say on the internet. "you're doing it wrong!"

Picks should not get bent. Get a different lock to practice on, I can see that you are already learning bad habits on this one. I'd get away from using words like force when picking locks, and start to think of words like finesse, style, soft touch. Think about it this way, and I know we already told you/somebody this, when you put a key into a lock and turn it with 2 fingers, that certainly doesn't take much force, so why would using a pick and a tension wrench suddenly require metal bending force?

There are locks of course such as American Lock padlocks and Brinks R70's that once you pick them require a heavy amount of pressure to overcome the spring which controls the shackle, but try to think of picking and the shackle popping open as a two step process. They follow each other, and do not occur at the same time. Once the cylinder is picked, it will give you feedback that it wants to turn from its home state of 12 o'clock to something like 1:00. usually it will not even be that many degrees, but when you sense this increase in the range of motion that the plug has, THEN apply more and more pressure to see if you are at a point to over come the spring in the locking dog, which will then turn 90 degrees and if the lock uses a spring, the spring will push the shackle out of the lock when the ball bearings or locking tabs are allowed to fall in or retract.

Something you may find useful to try, and it is probably not the easiest think to explain without posting a video is to wabble your tension wrench as you are picking. Most of the time, I don't insert the tension wrench and keep uniform tension until the lock opens. There are many times that I will let off on the tension, add some light tension, back off again, add some medium tension and so on. Try to pulse the tension wrench as you are picking (sort of like tapping out morse code, or impatiently tapping your finger on your desk, and you may find that as you do this over and over, a moment will come when you release the wrench just a little and then press on the wrench again, suddenly, the plug will turn a lot and then just keep the tension wrench on the lock to overcome the spring and pop! the lock is open.

good luck
Squelchtone

[op-sec]

I believe you might be running into the "never picked a spool pin before" problem and thus, you're reluctant to allow the plug to rotate BACK against your tension wrench.

The R70 has spool pins (I forget how many) but, you'll get some very nice feedback from the spools. Once you get your first false-set, at least on all of the R70's I own, the remainder of the pins are rotate the plug AGAINST tension (as in backwards) as you get past the spool. Then, they will set.

It sounds like you're using WAY too much tension and not allowing the plug to counter-rotate when you're picking the spools.

The R70's I've got are very easy to pick - once you get the hang of spools and what they "need"... Relax your tension. Only use as much as it takes to get a pin to bind and even then, remember that if you're not getting any pin movement and the plug isn't trying to counter-rotate, you've either already got the pin set, you've OVER set the pin or you're using WAY too much tension.

I'm not saying I've never bent a pick before. I think we all have and we all probably will again but, this is almost ALWAYS a case of too much tension. And unless you've had the R70's immersed in salt-water for the past month, they will never put up enough of a fight to cause a pick to bend.

[op-sec]

OK. I just went out in the garage and brought in my lock collection box. After the locks warmed up a bit, they pick just the way I remember them.

The R70's spool pins false-set VERY deep so, you are going to have to give it some room to come back around. As you apply pressure with your pick, allow the plug to push back against your tension wrench. The last spool (at least on my three R70s) doesn't so much require a lot of pick pressure as it requires you to "use the force" and trust that you can really allow the plug to counter-rotate that far. The lightest tension possible while still keeping some tension on the plug. My R70's rotate about 5-6deg against the plug spring before you get pin binding. Keep that in mind.

Oh.. And if you want to exercise your skill, put your locks outside in the cold and let them get down to 50deg F or so. They pick MUCH harder when they're cold. I picked every lock in my collection just now and I'm telling you... I never remember the Master #3 putting up a fight. It sure did tonight. It was stiff and unforgiving. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm really getting used to the feel of "quality" locks with tight tolerances now and you could drive a school bus around inside most Masters.

The #930 put up more fight than usual while cold too. The only lock I have that picked just as easy was the #911. It picked like butter - just like nearly every other #911 I've touched. They sure picked the right color for the plastic cover on those things.

[savs2k]

it takes a while to get use to the feel. I use to bend the picks i made alot but now im getting better at it and it hurts my hands less practicing picking. Just keep practicing and youll get a better feel for it

[raimundo]

Op Sec, it gets that cold in south carolina?

heres how you pick locks with mittens on,

put the tensor in the lock to optimum position, and then push the tensor handle into the mitten (make a tiny hole) so your fingers can operate it from inside.

Do the same with the pick.

[femurat]

I can't believe somebody could pick with mittens!

[TheSnakey]

my favourite pick is starting to bend i think it was from when i first started though