Two tension wrenches?

[Schuyler]

I'll try to get a photo (I'm sure several other folks have photos on here, maybe they can beat me to it?) of a stepped tension wrench. It looks like it sounds, instead of a flat end, it's staged in 2-N positions. I've only gotten decent use out of the 2 stage wrenches, but it usually keeps you much more snug in the lock and reduces the interference with the pick, as they can take up less space by fitting more specifically.

And as far as transferring between wrenches, I mean to keep tension applied, remove your pick, add a wrench to the opposite side of the keyway, remove the other wrench & get on with your picking. Not remove tension altogether, though yes, on many locks, if you have a sturdy false set you can fool around a bit without tension without loosing your pins.

[tballard]

I've mentioned this in other threads, but I picked up a trick from jgor which I can't live without: paperclips. When dealing with a lock with what I call an "undercut bottom ward" If you straighten out one leg of a paperclip in slide it into the undercut, it will keep your wrench from camming under and jamming against the shell. You don't hold the paper clip, just let it float in the groove. Finding the "right" paperclip is important. I prefer "OIC No.1 Super Premium Clips" (PC-1P, stock number 99910)

Seriously. I can hardly pick a 5200 or 1100 series without one.

[thelockpickkid]

I have several models of American locks, I have never had any trouble picking any of them or others that I have had to pick at work. I also have never had to use any special wrench or two wrenches. Here is a link to my youtube, I picked a 5200 in this video, picked it so fast that it wasn't even worth filming, most of the time it isn't this way but it doesn't take me much longer than this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4aEqY7qzs

[raimundo]

good one, paper clip, I was always thinking of getting a selection of roller bearings to fit to various keyways to help the fit of the tensor blade without digging into the cylinder wall. I'll start looking at the paper clips again.

[Schuyler]

Rai dug up a good old thread, with links to a few others in it, describing both tapered and stepped tension wrenches. Looks like some of the images are down now, but some interesting stuff, some of which might be appropriate to the problem at hand:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16681
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viewtopic.php?t=15486&highlight=tension+wrench+slope

[rrkss]

Interesting concept, I'll have to give it a try.