Stuck halfway

[Erasmus]

Hi folks. Out of a desire to acquire a new unusual skill, I nabbed a copy of the MIT Guide to Lock Picking and within a few minutes picked the doorknob lock and deadbolt lock on my apartment door. Yay.

Out of a desire to build consistency in my lock picking, I unlocked each a few more times, and on the most recent attempt on on the doorbolt, I (after setting all the pins) turned the plug 180 degrees (clockwise), so that it was upside-down, and it stuck in that position. It now will not rotate in either direction. The knob on the inside of the door is also stuck.

My first thought was that, since the keyway is open on the "bottom" (now the top), the driver pins might be protruding through and blocking the drum's rotation. Following that logic I tried to re-set the driver pins, but to no avail. Indeed, upon visual, flashlight-aided inspection it doesn't appear to be the case that the driver pins are at fault: they're seem flush with the open edge of the keyway.

Obviously I am displeased with the current situation, and was wondering if the collective wisdom on this forum had some advice, possibly including "Serves you right for picking your apartment door" but also perhaps something along the lines of how to go about extricating myself from the situation gracefully.

Here's hoping,

Erasmus.

[Erasmus]

Update: I managed to rearrange the plug into the right orientation, and the knob on the inside of the door works again. Can't offer an explanation, except that I held the drivers up with a pick and wiggled the knob until it went.

Remaining problem: key won't insert all the way into the keyway. A little brass... doodad seems to be protruding into the keyway near the end.

-Adam

[Shrub]

You shouldnt pick locks that.... oh right

Hmmm, the first problem was either the bottom pins had dropped into the loading holes when you turned the plug, jiggling it freed them luckily or as you suspected the top pins had dropped a bit into the cut out in the plug.

As for your new problem im not 100% sure but it may be wise to now remove the lock and service it as in pull it apart.

Is the key full as in has anything broken off it into the lock?

Has anything broken off one of your picks in the lock?

Is the brass doodaa a burr on one of the holes or the keyway?

Can you see all the pins and are they all moving up into the chamber freely when you lift them up with your pick?

It could be youve bent a pin trying to turn the plug back when it was stuck before and now it wont go into its chamber correctly, if the pick now lifts them all up freely (without tension) then thats not it.

I know its difficult but a pic may be able to show the obsticle and explain a 1000 words.

Is the key bent in anyway? try it in anothe rlock if you have the same keyway and see if it fit all the way into that one.

[Chucklz]

Apartment door? Probably masterkeyed. You've probably had a small masterpin slip. Your lock needs to be serviced.

[Erasmus]

[quote="Shrub"]As for your new problem im not 100% sure but it may be wise to now remove the lock and service it as in pull it apart.[/quote]

Erm :(

[quote]Is the key full as in has anything broken off it into the lock?[/quote]

Nope. Wasn't using the key at all before The Event happened.

[quote]Has anything broken off one of your picks in the lock?[/quote]

Nope. The pick was uhm... a hairpin. And a shiny aluminum one at that. No, the pick is intact.

[quote]Is the brass doodaa a burr on one of the holes or the keyway?[/quote]

Nope. The keyway is chrome-coloured. Furthermore, the doodad is "loose". I don't seem to be able to move it from its position, but it's possible to wiggle it a bit.

[quote]Can you see all the pins and are they all moving up into the chamber freely when you lift them up with your pick?[/quote]

I can't see all the pins, but you know.... it's not one of those "see-through" locks :) However, I can lift all the pins, withdraw the pick, and count 5 clicks as they spring back into place one after the other. If my hallway weren't so busy, and there weren't people chatting loudly in my apartment, I imagine I could pick the lock again without difficulty.

[quote]It could be youve bent a pin trying to turn the plug back when it was stuck before and now it wont go into its chamber correctly, if the pick now lifts them all up freely (without tension) then thats not it.[/quote]

Indeed. Also, the pins protrude downward from the top of the keyway, whereas the doodas is sitting on the bottom, sort of stuck between the bottom and the left-side (and higher) ward.

[quote]I know its difficult but a pic may be able to show the obsticle and explain a 1000 words.[/quote]

Working on it. Currently I can't seem to hold the webcam steady, with my laptop on my lap, in a half-kneeling position, with a flashlight illuminating the entire keyway, and taking a picture... otherwise this reply would contain one.

[quote]Is the key bent in anyway? try it in anothe rlock if you have the same keyway and see if it fit all the way into that one.[/quote]

Key's in good shape and slides pleasantly in, until maybe an eighth of an inch from the shoulder.

Anyway, thanks for your suggestions... if I manage to take a decent picture, I'll post it.

-Erasmus

[Erasmus]

[quote="Chucklz"]Apartment door? Probably masterkeyed. You've probably had a small masterpin slip. Your lock needs to be serviced.[/quote]

Sigh. Okay. I'll talk to the manager.

Thanks guys. Rest assured my future lockpicking practice will take place on locks that are not part of doors.

-Erasmus

[Erasmus]

Another update: Chucklz' suggestion led me to examine the MIT Guide, which, it turns out, has a section on master-keyed locks. There's another pin segment, a spacer, which is what I suppose Chucklz referred to as a "masterpin". Anyway, the MIT mentions that it can fall into the keyway and get wedged inside, as was the case with me. It mentioned that the only solution is to remove it, so I did.

The key now fits all the way into the keyway, but does not turn. I can't think of any reason that the loss of a spacer would cause a pin not to line up properly with the sheer line... could I be missing something?

I have some pictures of the spacer, and will post as soon as I figure out how (the usual [IMG] thing doesn't seem to be working).

-Erasmus

[maxxed]

The key now fits all the way into the keyway, but does not turn. I can't think of any reason that the loss of a spacer would cause a pin not to line up properly with the sheer line... could I be missing something?

-Erasmus

The master wafer or spacer as you refer to it is added to the bottom pin in the lock and the total height of the two equal the depth of the key. The lock needs to be taken apart and the wafer replaced

[Erasmus]

So, is this thing a "master wafer" or spacer?





-Erasmus

[What]

yes, that is a wafer used to master pin locks.

[Chucklz]

Master pin is the most accepted terminology( Additionally what the MIT guide refers to as scrubbing is usually called raking) . Yes, that is indeed a master pin, and it looks a bit beat up. Your lock definately needs repair. It wouldn't be a particularly bad repair, but it shouldnt be your introduction to repinning/masterkeying, lest you stuff it up even more.