Newbie Question: Do you twist cylinder both ways to pick?

[marlowe]

Essentially, I see a great many posts on this site about "picking order" for the pins, and people often suggest skipping some for others, etc - this leads me to wonder if tension is always applied in the same direction?

That is to say, once you (hopefully) know which way TO turn the cylinder, are you always applying tension in that direction, or are you switching it based on which pin (and therefore which defect) you are after? (This seems physically impossible to me, as wouldn't you undo whatever picking you'd already done?)

I'm just somewhat disappointed in myself that I am confused at this point, having been trying on and off for the better part of a year, and with the various exercises detailed on this site.

Am I completely missing the way tension functions? Thanks in advance for any help.

[unlisted]

I would suggest you do some more reading, including the frequently asked questions, and the lock picking guides.

That, my friend, will give you all the information you are requesting.

[Squelchtone]

That is to say, once you (hopefully) know which way TO turn the cylinder, are you always applying tension in that direction, or are you switching it based on which pin (and therefore which defect) you are after? (This seems physically impossible to me, as wouldn't you undo whatever picking you'd already done?)

You're over thinking it. When you insert your house key into the front door, you just turn it in one way to lock it and another to unlock, you dont insert the key and jiggle it left and right in order to open the lock.

The tension wrench does 2 things, it helps in binding the pins against the side walls of the locks while picking, and as a regular key would do, the wrench is your handle that helps you turn the lock when its finally picked.

Unless you have bionic powers you're not going 'to know' which way is the best way to apply tension in order to pick a lock based on picking order. And that order totally changes when you apply tension in the other direction. BUT, just to be clear, you don't alternate tension while in the middle of picking a lock, that makes no sense. Either you're trying to turn counter clockwise or you're trying to turn clockwise, but not both at the same time, or during the same exact moment you have a pick tool inserted in the lock. And yes, if you actually tried to flip the wrench mid way, you'd end up releasing the pins and pretty much be starting over when the wrench is reinserted and turned in the opposite direction.

Now, that said, if I'm holding a mortise cylinder in my hand and someone say's "can you pick this?" I will first try to pick it in the direction that gives me the best place in the lock's warding to insert a wrench and keep it snug and out of the way. (example: for Schlage that would be counter clockwise because the locks keyway shape has a natural shelf for me to rest the wrench, nicely out of the way of the pins.) If that's not going so well, I'll reinsert the wrench in the opposite way in order to put tension on the plug in the other rotational direction. If that doesn't work I'll go to top of keyway tension and try to pick CW and then try to pick CCW.

Hope this helps you gain a better understanding, and as unlisted said, find some of the guides that are on here or linked to from here.

Squelchtone

[raimundo]

Lockpicking is an art not a science, practice, experience, skill and especially luck all play thier hand.

If you can't pick the practice lock you are using, tell us what lock it is and we may be able to help.

even a master #3 can give problems if too much force and newb picking can create problems such as badly damages internal areas such as scratched pins, and a tensor binding groove eroded into the cylinder wall.

[FarmerFreak]

To the original poster. Ignore the first part of this post, I'm being a smarta...

BUT, just to be clear, you don't alternate tension while in the middle of picking a lock, that makes no sense.

Two words. False sets.

On a slightly more serious note.

Lockpicking is an art not a science, practice, experience, skill and especially luck all play thier hand.

I use to agree that lockpicking is an art. But I keep getting better and better by using pure science and logical reasoning with my picking. I'm not so sure it's an art anymore.

Practice, experience, and skill are all very very important. But to get the experience and skill one has to practice, so the emphasis goes on practice. And the more you practice the less you have to rely on luck, which should be a good thing.

[Raymond]

On North American locks the turning direction is usually toward the door hinge. But, there are exceptions. Some locks were just designed differently and some deadbolts have the bolt installed upside down. This cannot be guessed from outside the door. As someone earlier said, pick the lock in the easiest direction. Picked is picked! You can then use a plug spinner to reverse the direction as needed.

[marlowe]

Thanks very much for all the responses and advice - I promise I really have read absolutely everything linked or labeled "FOR NEWBIES", as well as watched cutaway diagrams on youtube, etc and all manner of other visual aides.

I think what I need to do is just start all over again, assume I know nothing, and come at it fresh. Thanks again.

[fjardeson]

Get a cheap Kwikset (NOT SmartKey!) cylinder.

Pin it up with just two pin stacks.

This will start you on the road to "visualizing" which is keeping in your mind's eye, via feedback through your fingers, what is going on inside the lock. Add stacks as you get better.

It sure worked for me!

[freemind]

I'm very new at this, but I must say I like fjardeson's advice. I actually pinned my first 'cheap' cylinders with just one pin and kept picking that one pin over and over and over again until I got the feel of the right amount of tension to use and got the feel of the driver pin getting set on the lip of the plug.

My next purchase was a cheap 'high security' Brink's deadbolt lock from Walmart. This lock had two spool pins in it. I removed all but one of the security pins and picked it over and over again until I got the feel of that. Now I'm at the point where I'm adding all the pins back in and varying the positions of the regular pins and the spool pins.

I'm getting better and better with lots and lots of practice. I'm really finding out that in the picking videos I've watched, it appears that the picker is placing a lot of tension on the wrench, but that just must be how it looks on video, because once I realized how LITTLE tension it really takes, I was very, very surprised. Now when I'm having trouble picking a lock, I immediately check the amount of tension I'm applying and usually find that's my problem. I'm still picking cheap locks though, so take my words with a grain of salt.