by Squelchtone » 6 Aug 2018 8:01
short answer is no, but this has been asked before.
Unfortunately, lock picking doesn't work that way. There is no guide that shows if you see this keyway, grab pick x and insert it. When you buy a pick set for a pin tumbler lock such as a Yale, which may have 5 6 or 7 pins inside the cylinder, the pick set will have a hook, half diamond, s-rake, l-rake, w-rake, double-ball, and perhaps some other pick shape, and some turning tools (we used to call them tension wrenches) Most of those picks should be able to be inserted into that example Yale rim cylinder and with enough luck and skill the picker should be able to open that Yale. If you then walk down the street and see an ERA cylinder on a door, or a no name cylinder from the DIY shop on a uPvc door, and it has a different keyway shape than that Yale, you still can use most of the picks in your pick set to open that cylinder, you wouldn't say, ahh, an ERA, I'll use the S rake. Now, with experience, you may find personal preference that will tell you ERA keyways and pins pick easier with an S rake but sometimes you have to use a half diamond pick. That will be purely personal preference, as some other picker could walk up to an ERA and prefer to use only his hook pick to open that brand of lock and that particular keyway.
Just get to know the top 5 keyway in your area, this will help you learn the mechanisms, if they use spool pins for added pick proofing security, how strong the spring usually are, and with enough practice on all of them, you soon won't need any kind of guide to tell you what tool to reach for.
Hope this helps,
Squelchtone
