Bumping problems

[Lumberjack12345]

Ive attempted to make several bump keys but none of them seem to open any of my doors, I want to know if i am making the key incorrectly or if my technique is wrong.

if you guys have any tips on either subjects please let me know, it may solve my problem.

[digital_blue]

Well, for starters.... we often say not to pick locks that are installed, or ones you rely on. Well let me extrapolate a bit....

ESPECIALLY DON'T BUMP LOCKS THAT YOU RELY ON!

That's a biggie. Extended bumping will TRASH your lock.

Now then.. in order to answer your specific question, it's hard to say whether it's the key or the technique since you've displayed neither.

Take a picture of your bump key and post it up. That will be a good start.

Cheers,

db

[Lumberjack12345]

i took a picture of the key, its hardly visible due to bad camera, but describing it, some of the things i think i may have messed up are: that the hills inbetween valleys are not necessarily equal in heigth, nor are they straight up and down (some look like triangles that lean one way or the other) there are only 4 valleys when i think the lock is a five pin.

for the technique portion here are some of my concerns. i also do not know how much presure to put on the key while i am bumping it.i dont know if im pushing too much or too little.

[jasontimmer]

actually, i would recommend buying some machine cut bump keys off the internet. theyre pretty cheap. also, get a bump hammer, much more effective than a screwdriver handle or the like. once you get your keys, take them to wal-mart or a hardware store and have them copied. get a few sets. my local wal-mart does this for $0.97 a key. pretty cheap. take them home and file your tips and shoulders. these should work much better than a hand-filed key. work on your bumping technique, and remember that not all locks are responsive to bumping. i found that in a few cases, some stubborn locks can be coerced to open with a bump key of you use a thin file to shave off about another 1/4 millimeter or so deeper into each valley- this works for locks that have pins already set to "9"