Got my first pick set!

[LarrySDonald]

Wohoo! Got my first real six string.. umm, I mean pick set. I haven't had time to play too much yet, kinda still supposed to be getting work done. I did take a moment to pop open a few simple padlocks (a Masterlock four pin, a non-name Masterlock clone and a no-name tiny lock) and man, when the actually-good people here say having real picks to work with makes a big difference they're not kidding. Hopefully when I have more time to play it'll translate to harder locks.

Got them from lockpickshop.com with the rebate from here, they were as good, polite and professional as everyone said they would be (they even called to confirm that the street I live on is a street as I didn't fill out Soandso St but just Soandso) and shipped promptly.

Ok, not much info for a first non-intro post, but I'm super stoked to be getting further into this and can't wait for work to calm down.

[cppdungeon]

congrats, and welcome. what kind of tools did you use before?

--Cpp

[LarrySDonald]

Mostly bent up hair pins. I attached a few to broken silverware handles to make them a little more easy to use (just heated until red hot and shoved into plastic) and sanded them down a few rounds to make pretty decent hook and snake picks. I've ground down a few saw blades, but they never turned out well and always snapped before actually being useful.

The absolute biggest gain is having a good tension wrench. This time I've used bent up heavy wire or bent hairpins, but the grip and feedback with a better tension wrench is amazing. The other ones slipped a lot or, when working, didn't give much in return in terms of feeling the slight movements when something happened. I could live without the picks (don't get me wrong, they're way more responsive too) but the tension wrenches are the killer app here. I've picked a Brinks 2101-105 door lock twice in about two hours (managed it mostly by luck three times with crappy tools over weeks) mostly because doing the false-set then lighten tension, push up and real set with the spool pins just doesn't happen when you can't really feel the feedback on the tension wrench. I'm still awfully green on all of this, but I have renewed confidence that perhaps I can actually in time get at least mediocre at it.

[Satan130]

i was just like that a couple months ago. i used a boby pin, pen cap thing for a tension wrench, and eventually made a hook out of a saw blade. i thought it was the bees knees(forgive the old people reference). then i got a set like yours. there is no going back.

[ToolyMcgee]

The absolute biggest gain is having a good tension wrench.

Word. Having a tension wrench that fits the lock well enough to gain control over the plug rotation is key for picking a lock. Especially when it comes to security pins.

[savs2k]

congrats on the set. You'll be getting alot better faster. You shouldn't give up on making your own picks though! I've made alot of my picks and just put in an order for a klom and goso set. Update us on your progess as you use the set more

[LarrySDonald]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Riy92PWgI
Brief vid of picking a #3T (I believe that's what it said it was at least). No bragging rights by any means, just kind of mostly for friends not doing this going "Cool, send video". But since I shot it anyway, might as well link it I guess. SPP with a hook.

[op-sec]

when the actually-good people here say having real picks to work with makes a big difference they're not kidding. Hopefully when I have more time to play it'll translate to harder locks.

Congrats. I have that same Southord set. It was my first pick set as well. I still carry the southord short-hook and ball picks along with some homebrew tension wrenches and my HPC short-hook in that case every day. I very rarely use anything else.

Oh... and it most definitely does translate to harder locks.

[op-sec]

Good job on the video.

You'll find that the hold you're using is going to serve you well also. Using your middle finger and the bottom of the keyway as pivot points gives very good control and you get nice feedback to your thumb and forefinger. You'll notice this much more as you get into higher quality locks but, it can be felt on the #3 still.

[LarrySDonald]

I experimented with a ton of holds, but really I agree (for what it's worth) - bracing against a finger on the lock gives a much more detailed control of what is happening. The Brinks door lock is popping in a minute or so now. I'm pretty sure there is only one security pin in it (possibly two if one is serrated rather then spool). There is something oddball going on with the fifth pin, the spring is much tighter and feels odd somehow. Fourth is a spool for sure, it pops to the side a little and sticks if the others are in line but releases if I stick it, then lighten a bit, push up and then reset after the tension gives the other direction a bit. The third may have something going on, it catches and sticks and pops and does all sorts of odd things but just jiggling it a bit gets it in place. First and second feels like normal pins. It was billed as High pick/bump/shim resistance, but I haven't found anything much online and while I disassembled it was far as I comfortably could (I'd like to be able to reassemble it) I'm not sure how to safely take it to components with a knob without ruining it. May shoot a vid of it at some point if I get around to it, but it's getting easy enough I may need to pick up a better lock. I've got a few feelers out with people who tear down or fix houses, so perhaps they'll provide some interesting stuff or I'll find something interesting elsewhere. Or I'll bit the bullet and go down to Walmart, though I'm on the next-to-last level in terms of what my local place sells for "high security" (Yeah - you know a lock is pretty badass when a n00b can learn to pick it in a month, NOT).

[op-sec]

You'd be amazed. Sometimes the "high security" locks are easier.

Tighter tolerances, yada yada.

[LarrySDonald]

I'm pretty much consistent at 30-45 sec on the Brinks now. The second is def also a spool, but it's also the one that sets the easiest at first (at this point the most out of position) so I never really noticed. If I do it last it's solidly stuck, if I do it first or second the fact that it's a security pin doesn't enter into the equation because the others hold the rest in place too much to allow it to tilt and do it's job. I've managed to get it caught a few times though and it does the same thing, little twist and pushing on it twists back on the tension until it sticks and then clicks. I guess higher tolerances would make it a bit more predictable. This one seems to rattle pretty good all in all though.

I'm hoping to find more diverse locks. I get more and more that the big hurdle is getting lots of random expendable locks to work on. Before I was all about "I want better picks" (and I still intend to try to make some better ones, including a decent tension wrench, now that I have a reference point for how they should be) but now it's more on "I want locks that I don't already know what they'll do". I don't want to rush in too deep because I know myself well enough to know that a lot of hobbies turn into six-month romances rather then lifelong companions. I don't pour money into them to any serious degree the first few months, no matter how passionately I feel I'll love this forever.

[Clead]

I don't want to rush in too deep because I know myself well enough to know that a lot of hobbies turn into six-month romances rather then lifelong companions. I don't pour money into them to any serious degree the first few months, no matter how passionately I feel I'll love this forever.

Haha, I know how that feels. I'm an INTJ so I like to start things. I think starting thimgs is actually a hobby of mine. The biggest section of my book collection has titles like "Introduction to..." "Beginner's guide to..." "Getting Started in..."
Congrats on the new pickset. Looks like it's going to serve you well.

[LarrySDonald]

I rarely buy into books, but it usually goes like that with me too. The skills never go away, they fade back a bit from the best I got but they're always there. I think this will last more then a little while though, but there doesn't seem to be a dire need to push more cash into it, there's still enough skills to be had without breaking the bank. Learning the cheapest ones first is my usual MO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TShTKaZ8Dc8
Picking the Brinks. I even managed to get both spool pins stuck that time (second try, ended up being off camera on take one) and a little so-so on the others.

[LarrySDonald]

Replying to myself, a decent sign of insanity.

I'm starting to think, now that I've abused the tolerance away, that the other ones are probably serrated or spooled. I guess when I've picked it to pieces or have a realistic way to take a knob apart I'll know.

I guess my infatuation with having a decent pick set is still mostly overwhelming me, but I can tell a few things.

The rake and the snake in this set underwhelm me a bit, especially the snake. The wobbles in it are pretty small and barely move anything. Could be I just don't know how to use it right, but I'm not quite feeling it. I've tried a few other locks I got (two non-security knobs plus I violated good sense and picked two keyed indoor ones in the house, though I could have opened them and replaced them should I mess them up) and I still feel the hook is what I feel. The single diamond goes kind of ok, only a little harder. I haven't tried the rest, as they don't seem right for any lock I have. I can still see no fault in anything else.

I saw several animations of how spool pins work here which made an amazing difference. Pushing them made the cylinder turn backwards and then suddenly snap and go forth no more. Prior to reading, that was a "" moment - I guess I had it moving a bit but now not so. Now it's a "great, it's set and I can move forth".

Another post I read said to make sure to be working above the possible lever. I couldn't agree more. I can still measure my experience taking this seriously in weeks, and security pins bring no fear to my heart. I'm sure there are plenty of things I couldn't deal with, but I could have stuck around picking easy "normal" locks for ages. I still need to get better at those just as I do with the spool pins. But I'm much better off for going for it. I'm also better off for getting a fairly cheap pick set to work with. I'll certainly take a crack at making something sometime soon (our wiper blades probably need changing soon anyhow), but now I know what things are (to me) supposed to feel like.