Fortress???

by **BOBO** » 24 Aug 2004 9:01

Ok, so I can pick some deadbolts (kwickset and Yales) and most Master padlocks in a few minutes now. But I have this VERY cheap "Fortress" brass padlock made in China (says 50 mm on the bottom). I cannnot get this one to turn!

It feels like all the pins are set - either by scrubbibg or individual picking, and the plug turns a few degrees like it wants to open - but nothing. Has anyone handled this lock in the past? Is it possible it uses mushroom pins in a lock this crappy?

Thanks in advance

B

by **zeke79** » 24 Aug 2004 10:37

It is more than likely spool pins. Alot of cheap locks contain spools.

by **jimmythelock** » 24 Aug 2004 11:34

In my experience cheap locks are just as nasty as some of the harder locks on the market. This is because the driver pins are usually made from what looks like a piece of brass wire which has been chopped (by a drunk monkey?!!!).

It is this chopping that makes the driver pins bahave as if they were spool type pins, that is the ends are so mashed that they become spool like.

I had two cheap padlocks like this once and they drove me mad. I picked one, but one remained illusive, I say illusive as I got feed up and took it apart to confirm my suspicions. I can only suggest light tension and some patience.

Hope that helps.

Jimmy

by **BOBO** » 24 Aug 2004 15:54

Thanks all. I'm finding in my short tenure here that supposedly "good" locks are somewhat easier to pick because of their closer tolerances...who'd have thunk it?

by **Cat** » 26 Aug 2004 14:09

Hey, I just succesfully picked a fortress, it took me a while, and it's a weird lock. Details as follows.

Looking at the key I thought I'd get a good idea on how to pick it right? Wrong. The first 3 pins were supposed to lift the pins the same shallow amount, and the 4th last pin was supposed to be real deep. I though, ok, I'll go after the 4th pin first, after all it was binding the most.

I'd push it all the way down until it felt like it set, and worked the others. I always ended up pushing 3 and then 2 far down and then the 1st pin would just stay springy. It drove me crazy. The plug would turn and everything until I got to the 1st pin.

So this how I cracked it. First off I got a real set of good picks, but thats besides the point. Then I picked it front to back. 1st pin wasn't binding, but the 2nd was if I put more torque on the plug. I levered it down with my pick since it was quite hard to set with the torque that was needed, then I set the 3rd pin which was binding at the same time as pin 2. Then I found that pin 1 was binding...wtf, so I set that and bam the lock opened. This still has me confused. Even though the key is cut to push pin 4 all the way down, the only way I can get it to open is by not touching pin 4 at all.

I'm guessing that pin 4 is so deep that the key (bottom) pin is so long that you don't need to touch it, the key pin is below the sheer line. How is that for a quality lock!

by **CycloneJack** » 26 Aug 2004 15:56

I have a fortress padlock, the plug turns both ways. I could not get it open putting clockwise tension on it, so I went counter clockwise and the sucker opened with little effort.
Hope this helps.

by **Cat** » 27 Aug 2004 0:50

The one I was talking about only opens clockwise, it's a round lock that looks like the one in the icon above that says "shop" on the top of the page under the "lockpicking 101" banner.

by **AMC91999** » 10 Jul 2006 11:26

i have been messing with the fortress padlock and i found out that the 3rd pin is a secruity pin.
So use the snake pick to get the 1st, 2nd, and 4th pin and use a regular hook pick to get the 3rd and then the lock should twist open very easily.

hope that helps

by **Aqua** » 10 Jul 2006 11:47

I really doubt that there is a rule which states that a security pin comes as 3rd in a fortress padlock. It's usually all random. It might work on 10, 30 or 50%, but you can come across one which has 3 security pins, or a spool in the first position (arr...that can become really annoying).
Mabey try disassambling your padlock, and repin it again, so you would put more feel into it, instead of doing it from memory.

Cheers,
Aq.

by **AMC91999** » 10 Jul 2006 12:06

i knw i was just saying how i got mine open.
i knw for a fact i doesnt work cause of an order u can do it any order.
i also knw a guy that has the same lock and he has the security pin on the third aswel maybe a coincidents, but i think from messing with it that it is a security pin.

good luck

by **AMC91999** » 10 Jul 2006 12:07

i knw i was just saying how i got mine open.
i knw for a fact i doesnt work cause of an order u can do it any order.
i also knw a guy that has the same lock and he has the security pin on the third aswel maybe a coincidents, but i think from messing with it that it is a security pin.

good luck

by **Krypos** » 10 Jul 2006 12:31

if it looks like that pic then its probably an ABUS knockoff (right? i mean arent nearly all discus, not disc btw, abus knockoffs?)

i have an actual abus discus lock like that one, it has a nice restricted keyway and because when you turn the key you turn the actual bolt/shackle, it requires a bit of force to use a tension wrench on it.

other than that, im afraid im not of much more help.

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