tension wrench

[7-uP]

Hey, ive got a little question. On a tension wrench: ____I how long is the tip on the end supposed to be( the one who is an I..) ? have tried various lenghts but none of them seems to be any good..

[Octillion]

There is no real specified length, it depends on the lock, and is also a matter of preference. Short tips are good when placing the torque wrench directly over the pins, while one that is a bit longer will hold nicely when used in the bottom of a plug. I’d say, if you are making your own, make a variety of sizes, and play with them to see what works best for certain locks. Having the right sized torque tool can often mean the difference between being able to open a lock or not.

[CapnCurry]

I second the suggestion about having a variety of sizes on that part of the tension wrench - both length and thickness. There are some locks that'll take a very long tension wrench, and that length lets me get a good degree of control and feedback. Other locks won't really let you put a tension wrench in very far without impeding picking progress, and with those I use a short, wide wrench just at the edge of the keyway.

On any one particular lock, I might try three different picks... but I'll go through five or six tension wrenches looking for the perfect fit. To me, it's all about having the right tensioning tool.

[Treeson]

I agree with the top two posters, but believe I have something useful to add.
I didn't notice this till about a week ago, but a problem many pickers have is their tension wrench binding against the bottom of the cylinder. Although you may be able to pick while it is doing this, it makes 'playing' the tension wrench extremely difficult, especially in locks where tension needs to be reduced to practically zero. (I have a few locks that require negative tension to deal with some pins)

An excellent way to test for this is to put your desired wrench in the lock at the bottom for this particular excersise. Then, apply an usual amount of force on the tension wrench (downward) and then release the tension wrench. If the wrench binds, or hangs at all on the bottom of the cylinder, you definetly have a wrench that is not suitable for that particular lock. Try a different wrench until you get that nice snug fit that does't interfere with
A) Your picking
or
B) The rotation of the cylinder.


I hope this helps and that you understand this.


Cheers,

Treeson

[mmilitiar]

some locks have a deeper core, length doesent "really" matter, as long as it turns the cylinder.

[Eyes_Only]

Heres a tension wrench thats simmilar in size to what I use 90% of the time. http://www.lockpicks.com/index.asp?Page ... ProdID=319