Problem with pins

[Lesh18]

Hi

I have been trying to pick my lock and I keep experiencing the same problem:

I try to push the pin down with the pick (my lock has pins 'on the bottom') and sometimes the upper pin (the one I can push) gets sort of stuck a couple of milimiters lower. When I stop putting presaure on the tension wrench, there is a click and the pin springs back up.

What does it mean? Is the pin stuck just above the shear line or is it stuck below the shear line - which would mean I cannot turn the cylinder?

Thanks

[cyrano138]

That means you've overset the pin--pushed it past the shear line. If you ease up on the tension from the start, you should feel a slight give as the pin gets to the shear line, but if you're torquing down to hard with the tension wrench the tendency is for the pin to slip past the set position to overset. As a fellow beginner, I can say if there's only one piece of advice that you'll have to remind yourself to follow over and over and over, it's to ease up on the tension. Hope that helps.

jack

[Lesh18]

Then when I am unsuccessful and I ease up on the tension, I sometimes hear 5 clicks. Does it mean I overset 5 pins? That they all were below the shear line thus blocking the cyllinder?

Also, when I am pushing down the pins, do I want to do it very gently and slowly, or should I hit it swiftly to let the lower (hidden) pin spring even more down?

[Lesh18]

And is it possible to drill a hole from under http://azradial.sk/70-261-large/vlozka-do-fab-zamku.jpg to let three sets of pins and springs fall off so that I can practise picking the lock on two pins only?

[cyrano138]

If you hear five clicks, all you know for sure is that you've lifted five pins. You may have overset some, or all of them. The only thing you can be sure of is that you overset at least one. To answer the second question about how hard you push the pins, the golden rule of picking is light force applies smoothly, light tension.

As for drilling, I have no idea, but if you want to practice on fewer pins, the easiest thing to do is buy an 8 dollar deadbolt from your local hardware store and take it apart. I think this is a better method for three reasons: it will help you understand what's going on inside the lock, it will let you practice on fewer pins, and it will also let you work your way back up to more pins because you haven't destroyed it.

That's my two cents. Whatever you do, keep it up. It doesn't seem like it sometimes, but if you keep practicing with consistency and mindfulness, it will come.

Jack

[Lesh18]

Thanks for advice

And I was also wonderin which type of a pick I should use. I have seen some recommendation on the snake pick for raking, but I do not really like the idea of setting pins by random movements, I would much more prefer dealing with individual pins one at a time. Which shape could be best for this? My hot candidates are the Hook and the Hal-Diamond shape. Thanks

[cyrano138]

My hot candidates are the Hook and the Hal-Diamond shape.

For dealing with one pin at a time (often referred to as single pin picking or SPP), that's it. Hit the nail on the head.

[Solomon]

If you release tension and hear 5 clicks it doesn't mean 5 pins are overset. They might be set, overset or underset. Counting clicks won't identify pin states, you need to do that by feel. Sounds like you need to bone up on the relationship between the pins and their respective chambers, and what actually happens when binding pins are raised to shear. When you get a good grasp of that stuff everything will make a lot more sense, trust me... I highly recommend reading JK's article. You should also find this video by kokomolock very helpful. Good luck!

If you have a bit more time on your hands and fancy some more in-depth reading, check out my free ebook. The password is evva3ks

[Lesh18]

Right, so should I "touch" the pins very gently with a constant pressure or should I "hit" them with some kind of a shock?

How is it possible that the bottom pins do not fall down blocking the pathway for a key? I mean, there is no connection between the driver and bottom pins, so how come the bottom pins are sort of sticked to the driver pins? In this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIg6G8p_0o&feature=plcp the pins are in the upper part, what happens if the lock is turned over and the pins are in the lower part? Does it mean gravity will always push the "bottom" (in this case upper) pins down? Will it be a problem if they touch the driver pins just at the shear line?

Thanks

[Solomon]

Right, so should I "touch" the pins very gently with a constant pressure or should I "hit" them with some kind of a shock?

You apply gentle pressure to the binding pin and move it carefully until it sets. I explain this all in a ridiculous amount of detail in the book Part 2, Section B - begins page 13).

How is it possible that the bottom pins do not fall down blocking the pathway for a key? I mean, there is no connection between the driver and bottom pins, so how come the bottom pins are sort of sticked to the driver pins? In this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIg6G8p_0o&feature=plcp the pins are in the upper part, what happens if the lock is turned over and the pins are in the lower part? Does it mean gravity will always push the "bottom" (in this case upper) pins down? Will it be a problem if they touch the driver pins just at the shear line?

The key pins do fall back down again, they don't stay stuck to the drivers in any way once they're set. The only thing keeping them together in the first place is spring pressure; once the driver pin is above shear the key pin will be free to move up and down in its chamber in the plug. They don't get in the way of the pick unless they're very long and even then you can still scoop under and set the pins behind them.

If the lock is mounted with the pins at the bottom, the physics of picking are exactly the same. The only difference being that instead of gravity allowing the key pins to fall back into the plug to their rest position (where they will move up and down freely), they fall down to the shearline side of the plug and rest there. Pages 7+8 should help you make sense of this. Just turn the diagram upside down in your head and picture what happens.