having a little trouble with serrations...

[maestrodt]

Alright, so I bought a couple Master 532's and they were a little too easy.

Lock2006 was nice enough to sell me one of his little packages... including an American 1100, and one of those massive round "Container Locks" which I have been able to pick. It also included an American 1105 and a Series 10... and I bought myself a Master ProSeries 6840 (which I've picked a couple times).

I don't seem to have any consistency in picking these. I can sit down one day and have one of them open in a few minutes, then the next day I can spend a couple hours and get nothing, which just leaves me frustrated, and I turn to the easier locks in my collection like the 532's just for the satisfaction of getting something open.

I think the problem is the serrations. After the 532's, I got a really good feel for the spool false set. Honestly, opening the American locks and the 6840 (which I was told was all pretty much all spools, but I see serrations on the drivers) kind of feels like luck.

The serrations should give a false set, but less than the spool, right? I think what I'm running into is hitting a false set on a serration, then NO pins want to move. Or at least that's what it feels like.

Right now I'm using top tension with a Peterson Pry Bar... none of my regular tension wrenches will fit in the top of the keyway well enough. I do NOT like the pry bar as my tension wrench, it feels awkward.

Anyone have any tips? And perhaps a recommendation on a good bent tension wrench (easier for me to feel the feedback) that would fit for top tension?

[Pickmequick]

Get yourself a wiper blade insert and bend and grind it to exactly what you want.

[maestrodt]

well, I don't think the tension wrench is really the main problem... it's just more of a complaint

[atticRR]

for myself i really find serrated pins to be a pain, they tend to trick me into either thinking theyre already set, or ill think "self, that pin cant be set properly, you ought to give that stack a good shove" and thats right when the serrations let loose their grip and i ram the pinstack as high as it can possibly go. What i find works best is the lightest possible tension, and really focusing on the response of the tension wrench to let me know that the plug has turned a teeny tiny bit.

[maestrodt]

attic, I think you pretty much just summarized what goes on in my head. i guess for now it'll be a little trial and error... pick through, shove the pin stack up too far, realize the error, reset, try not to do it again.