First attempt troubles...

[Murff]

Hello all, as you can see, I'm new here. Been interested in learning lock-picking for awhile, and finally bought a set of picks (15 piece slimline set) and a descent book (Visual Guide to Lock Picking, McCloud/Santos, 3rd Ed.).

I've run into a problem already, and I was hoping your experience might help me along. I don't have any practice locks, so I decided to attempt the door knob lock on my water heater room. It's not marked, but it's the same lock that's on my garage entry door, and the matching deadbolt is a Schlage, so I might assume the door knobs are Schlage as well.

I tried raking and regular single picking, and I always come to the same point, I can't feel any spring tension on any of the pins and none are binding, but the lock doesn't open. When I release tension, I always hear 3 pins drop. I have been working from the pin farthest in and moving outward when I'm picking. Also, the door knob and pins feel very loose before I start, not sure if that's relevant.

My question is two fold: 1) Are the Slimline picks good enough, and 2) is this just a feel thing or am I doing something fundamentally wrong.

Thank you in advance for any advice you care to pass my way,
Murff

[MacGnG1]

first of all you need to NOT practice on locks that are in use!
second, goto the hardware store and buy some kwiksets and a master lock or 2.
third, read everything on the site.
PRACTICE!!!
after that you should be pretty good at picking

[Murff]

first of all you need to NOT practice on locks that are in use!

Lol, that's why I was using that door. No need for a lock on it, it's inside my garage and there is nothing important in there
I got the rest, been looking around, juts hoping for some first hand experience was all.

[nostromo]

1) Slimline picks are just fine. They're especially good at narrow keyways but will work fine elsewhere.

2) Could be feel. Is there a locksport group near you? Better to learn from others if you can. But you still need more than one lock to work with. If you're going to invest in picks you should invest in locks, too. Get some cheap chinese padlocks and some better made ones, too. Easier to learn if you can hold the lock in your hand instead of kneeling on concrete.

[Josh K]

Go to a local locksmith and pick up a Schlage / Kwikset Mortise cylinder for $20. Ask if they also have a plug follower.

Go home and follow DB's Beginner's Lockpicking Exercise.

Rinse and repeat.

[Squelchtone]

H 1) Are the Slimline picks good enough, and 2) is this just a feel thing or am I doing something fundamentally wrong.

Hi and welcome to the site.

Burn that book, you will learn more from us in a week than you will from that book.

To answer your 1st question, just because the lock didn't open doesn't mean the picks are not good enough. A lot of people think picks have magical powers where simply inserting them into a lock, the lock opens in 5 seconds or less like in the movies. As others have said, with practice you will get better. But starting on a fully pinned up Schlage knob is too much lock for a beginner. Take that knob apart and remove the cylinder, then take out all the pins and start with 1 pin like in db's instructional sticky.

To answer your second question, yes it could very well be doing something fundementally wrong, but don't worry with time you will develop a better feel for your locks, for your picks and your wrenches.

One quick tip I will give you, and only because I see new pickers do this all the time when I'm training people is they insert the wrench, but don't really know what it's for, and then they insert the pick and attempt to turn the wrench as if it was a key. Then when I tell them to move the pick in and out of the lock, they try to insert it at sharp angles to the face of the lock instead of just going straight in.

The other thing new pickers do is put far too much pressure on their tension wrenches. You can't force the lock to turn, in fact it doesn't take much pressure to turn the plug, just think of how little effort it takes to turn your key when unlocking or locking your front door. If your finger is turning white when pressing a wrench, then you're pressing too hard.

The other other thing that new pickers assume is that "if I just lift all these pins up and make them stay up, the lock should open, but oh no, what's wrong, it doesn't open?" Well, the point is to trick the lock into thinking that you inserted a real key, and if you look at a real key the cuts (valleys) have different cut depths, so the key lifts the different pins to varying heights. If you could just lift all the pins up and make them stay up, then a blank key would open all the locks you inserted it into. That said, there is no quick answer of how to tell how high you need to lift each pin, that will come with time as you get a better feel for how pins inside locks behave, how they feel when pressed up with a pick, and the sounds the lock makes.

Check out this Locksport International Guide to Lockpicking, you'll get a lot out of it.
http://www.locksport.com/home/lsiguide.pdf

Squelchtone

[Murff]

Ty all very much for the replies and tips. Great links too!

[Murff]

My first success!!

Used an old Master lock the Military issued me many years ago.

It's big picture, but here it is!

Took me 3 tools. I raked it a few times, then had to set the inner most pin and it opened. Gonna try it without raking later...

[Antique key maker]

I'm in the same ballgame, I can't pick any of my house door locks yet.

[Josh K]

I'm in the same ballgame, I can't pick any of my house door locks yet.

Duplicate the feeling by buying a similar set and practicing on those.

[loki-aka]

Someone is probably going to read you the "Never pick a lock in use" routine. But not me.

[Antique key maker]

What are some of the damages that can be done by picking a house lock?

[Josh K]

What are some of the damages that can be done by picking a house lock?

Most dangerous is jamming the cylinder by trapping a spring between the plug and casing. You can also over set pins stressing the springs, jam master pins, break springs, flip the plug 180 and have the driver pins fall into the bottom of the keyway.

Lots of things. Don't do it.

[Squelchtone]

What are some of the damages that can be done by picking a house lock?

The damage to your reputation when your friends, co workers and neighbors find out you can pick the front door. A lot of people misunderstand what we do, so picking a lock while sitting on your couch, versus picking a lock to your front door is a lot less likely to get you in hot water, whether you break a lock or whether a room mates iPod goes missing and people look towards the guy who knows how to pick locks.

Squelchtone