Top Tension

[ElbowMacaroni]

Is there any trick to not knocking out the tension wrench when applying top tension? Every time I try to do it, It's always falling out.

I'm guessing, it's just be careful, and practice though...

-EM

[LocksmithArmy]

ha yeah be careful...prractoce... i have found that a smaller tensor helps. thinner and smaller int the leg of the L... the stick of the L isnt really relavent i dont think.

[MacGyver101]

Every time I try to do it, It's always falling out.

That can sometimes be a sign that your tension wrench is in too far, and is pushing up against the front pin. (And, as a result, you may be dislodging the tension wrench when you raise the front pin.)

If that's not the case, then you may be knocking the wrench out with your pick by accident... and the only cure for that, as LocksmithArmy suggests, is to practice.

If you're not doing either of those, then you may just benefit from having some extra friction between the wrench and the keyway. Adding some serrations to the end of the tension wrench can help a lot; I'm a huge fan of Peterson's "flat 5" wrenches for that exact reason. If you haven't seen them, you can see a close-up view part way down the page here.

Hope that helps...

[Solomon]

Can't really say much that hasn't been said already. If you're using top of keyway tension, you definately want a shorter tensioner, especially if you're picking it in your hand. If you have the lock mounted in a vise, you can use a regular sized one but I personally find a shorter one is easier to control whether the lock is in your hand or not. You'll want to avoid raking at all costs, as the pick tip can dislodge the tensioner right out of the keyway very easily. If you're using top tension and you really must use a combination of raking and SPP, I'd advise a gentle scrubbing or rocking motion instead.

[WolfSpring]

I had that exact same problem and it didn't seem to matter how short the wrench was, as soon as I popped the last pin in place the movement of the plug seemed to force the wrench from the lock. I found it was one of three things for my problem.

1. Wrench touching 1st pin, pin pops wrench moves
2. Wrench a little to wide for the keyway, plug moves you loose tension it flys out.
3. Not anticipating the movement of the plug and thinking to much about the tension on the wrench so when the plug moved my tension didn't keep up.

I found making a thinner wrench i was able to allieviate #2, shortening it eliviated #1 and #3 was just experience. By thinner I don't mean the thickness of the metal but the thickness of the bite after you bend the L. This is what helped for me, I found using a the smaller wiper inserts worked for the thinner wrench, or a file. Hope that helps, good luck.

[ElbowMacaroni]

I think the biggest issues for me now are #2 and #3. I know I'm not hitting the front pin since, I've already addressed #1, as I thought that was going to be the only problem, but correcting that and still having issues eventually prompted the question.

Thanks everyone for at least confirming my suspicions, and the several suggestions as well.

-EM

[ElbowMacaroni]

Update...

Well, I added teeth to a couple of wrenches, and it seems to help keep it from falling out when I adjust tension at least so far. Still knock it out sometimes with my pick though. But that just goes to practice I suppose.

[Rickthepick]

all part of the hobby lol tie some string around it or paint it bright yellow

[magician59]

The trick is to use a rigid tension tool. You don't need to buy one; just file the short leg of a 1/8" hex key to a thickness of about 1/16". What I do is make the blade parallel to the long end for better control. When I insert it into the keyway, I bottom it out on the first pin, then back it off just a "hair". You'll be so pleased with the control this gives you, you may never go back to using flexible turning tools.

[ElbowMacaroni]

Interesting, I'll have to try that too.

Thanks!

[ElbowMacaroni]

Well, I wanted to give some feedback here on my adventures in top tension. I didn't really want to sacrifice any of my hex wrenches, so I bent and filed/ground (ground two, filed two) some 2.5" 8D nails to just fit in the top, I made a few with differing thicknesses for different keyways. This worked out quite nicely, they don't fall out on me when varying tension or if I accidentally snag on it when removing a pick. I hope this helps someone who doesn't want to kill off their hex wrenches. Another nice thing about this is that since the nails are already malleable, I didn't have to worry about ruining the temper and making them spongy. They are quite rigid enough for this purpose as they are and heat didn't seem to make them softer. I think I might make some of these for bottom tension too, they so far seem to give pretty good feedback.

Thanks for all the tips guys!

-EM

[ToolyMcgee]

2mm music wire also makes great TOK tension rods.

[ElbowMacaroni]

Interesting on the music wire, but isn't music wire that think a wound wire around a smaller core? Also, I think that's roughly how thick these nails are too... I didn't take the vernier to them, but give or take close... I forgot to mention that they were finishing nails, so you don't have to remove the head. Although they may have been a touch thicker as I did have grind/file them to fit various keyways and went for a tight fit as recommended by others in this thread who were suggesting the hex wrenches. A 1lb box of finishing nails is alot cheaper than buying a bunch of hex wrenches in an appropriate size even from harbor freight (or similar store,) so that's why I brought up what I wound up doing in the hope that someone will find it useful.

-EM

[ElbowMacaroni]

Ok, just since we were discussing dimensions, I went ahead and broke out the vernier... ok, so it was a digital caliper, but for all intents and purposes...

The finishing nails were 2.5mm, I brought them down to 1.3mmx1.3mm and 1.7mmx1.7mm for the business end, two on the vertical axis and 2 on the horizontal axis so I could have varied starting angles 90deg apart.

They fit quite well in kwikset and schlage cylinders, and in the master, brinks, and a few other padlocks I have so far. I still have to try them in my other locks. But, as it stands, the results thusly are quite decent, nice and rigid, lots of feedback. I'm very happy that I spotted that box of nails. the only downside I see is that they could be longer... nails are cheap, will probably be scoring a box of longer 8D finishing nails very soon. I think I like these better than my commercial tensoiners and the ones I made from wiper stiffeners which honestly, I cannot tell the difference between the commercial ones and my homemade (wiper stiffener) ones. Same material, same shape, same lengths. I guess it's good to have both styles for different purposes after all, I suppose it might be easier to go with ultra light tension with the wiper blade ones...

Sorry for rambling, but maybe the details can be of use to another relative newcomer to the most addictive hobby ever, and that's saying alot about the hobby since I brew my own beer too! And then again, maybe it's excessive pain, and the meds that accompany post procedure recovery pain (they burned nerves out of my neck... oh super freakin yay of yays... well, it'll help in the long run the recovery is just a total b****h on wheels, worse than I'd anticipated by quite a lot )

[raimundo]

If you find a bicycle spoke that has a 90 degree bend and a nail head, on the end toward the axle, you can cut this nail head to fit tightly in the upper keyway and use a short piece of it for a tensor.

every one of the people who use long handled tensors should do this.
grip the tensor blade with thumband forefinger and then push on the farthest part of the end of this with a feather, or the edge of a piece of paper, press as hard as you can to prevent the blade from rotating in your fingers.

the tensor handle is a lever, and the amount of torque that it can transfer to the plug is sufficient to pick the lock even with a short tensor handle.

light tension is the one to learn to work with.