least inexpensive way to start out?

[vixroy]

hey guys

i just got my first set of picks, pxs - 14 from southord. i raked open a few of the locks in my home and on the doors pretty easily without much instruction, but i feel like the feelers are the picks that will take time to be proficient at.

i read the faqs and used the search box, but most people say to cut away locks and work one pin then move on to two and so on. my problem is #1 i dont want to spend that much money and #2 im 18, i dont have much locksmithing experience. i just wanted to learn how to pick cuz i thought it was cool but i dont have locks and machining tools lying around.

for these reasons, what would you suggest i do to work on my feeler pick skills?

[5thcorps]

Buy a $7.00 Kwikset knock off from Big Lots and disassemble it. There are all kinds of posts on here to help with this and also re assembling it. Assemble it with one pin at a time until you've worked your way up to a full plug. Then take it apart and insert the bottom pins in a different order and start again. Master this one unit before moving on to others.

[datagram]

Don't rake locks on your house! Just buy a Kwikset deadbolt, they are easily disassembled and you can repin them to be as easy/difficult as you like.

dg

[vixroy]

gonna go to home depot today

thanks!

[Engineer]

Excelent advice from 5thcorps there and a timely reminder from datagram that no matter how tempting it is to practise on those locks around you that are in use, it is never a good idea. Locks do break because of being picked sometimes and if it was in use, you can be asked some very difficult questions by whoever owned the lock - Especially if it was at work...