Upside down keyways

by **crazyman** » 24 Sep 2006 17:35

Hi I am new to lock picking and got a basic kit on Friday with a book, I am planning to buy a few cheap locks on Monday. But I notice the lock on my PVC door the keyway is upside down! But all the examples/videos I find show the key biteing faced up not down like my lock. Does this mean it is a high Security lock? Does an upside down keyway mean it is harder to pick? Why do they put the keyway upside down harder to pick or something else? I am in the u.k if that helps

Thanks

p.s I am new to lock picking so sorry if this is silly question

by **SFGOON** » 24 Sep 2006 18:07

I can answer all those easy!

No.

by **Krypos** » 24 Sep 2006 18:19

SFGOON- not even gonna tell him then eh?

you live in the uk, its a euro cylinder.

it means it is nearly impossible to pick. sorry. get something that isnt upsidedown like that. thats the only way.

by **Romstar** » 24 Sep 2006 18:43

Krypos wrote:SFGOON- not even gonna tell him then eh?

you live in the uk, its a euro cylinder.

it means it is nearly impossible to pick. sorry. get something that isnt upsidedown like that. thats the only way.

You trying to mess with the guys head, or did you just not want to tell him he should start with something easier?

Crazyman-

You are most likely staring at a euro cylinder. Find something with a keyway thats a little more open and forgiving. Right now, you just have to practice, and then you can tacle things like you have on your front door.

Romstar

by **Shrub** » 24 Sep 2006 18:50

Well as you shouldnt be picking your front door it doesnt matter either way, if you get one used or new to practise on simply trun it the other way round if you want,

The keyway is most likely the standard shape we have as its the most common,

They are upside down (in your explanation) because of the way the internals are on the rest of the mechs,

Get yourself a standard Yale 5 pin cylinder and repin it to 3 pins to start with,

by **kodierer** » 24 Sep 2006 22:52

I used a brinks rekeyable padlock to learn to pick pin cylinders, and I started with 4 pins, and then went to 5, and then changed the keying around a couple times. It used a KW1 key, and at that time I had a kwikset front door, so I learned to pick my front door by keying the padlock to my house key. But before I ever tried picking a pin cylinder I picked 3 filing cabinets with wafer locks, and lockbox which also had a simple wafer lock.
A euro lock isn't high security, but it may be out of the league of a complete beginner. I'm from the US, so I've never ran across a euro, but thats what I've gathered from reading here. I would say getting a rekeyable padlock would be the easiest thing to do.
Get one where on the box it states to use a Y1 a KW1 or a WR5, or even an m1 key to start with.

by **kodierer** » 24 Sep 2006 22:54

I forgot to mention that whether your lock is mounted upside down, right side up, or sideways its still the same lock, and has no bearing on its pickability.

by **Schuyler** » 24 Sep 2006 23:07

I actually wrote a fabulous rap song about this very discovery.

viewtopic.php?t=15392&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=37

Hope that helps...at all.

by **Krypos** » 25 Sep 2006 0:32

sorry. didnt mean to sound rude...just goofing around. and i forgot the smiley...dang.

follow everyone elses advice, and you'll be good to go man.

by **Stinger** » 25 Sep 2006 1:00

And just for your information. I live in Europe too, most of the doorlock are standart "normal" locks - the upside down eurolocks is just a small part of them. You should be able to find some easy locks all over the place.

by **raimundo** » 25 Sep 2006 8:39

Just take the door off and turn it rightside up, and rehang the hinges :twisted:

by **bumpit** » 25 Sep 2006 22:33

My friends lock was upside down and I looked at her front door for over 30 seconds. She must have thought I was crazy :lol:

I live in Canada and I found this unusual.

by **Romstar** » 26 Sep 2006 0:56

bumpit wrote:My friends lock was upside down and I looked at her front door for over 30 seconds. She must have thought I was crazy I live in Canada and I found this unusual.

It is unusual. Either it was installed improperly, or the handing is wrong. Depends on the quality of the lockset and who installed it.

Some sets can be assembled either right or left hand, and others can't be. As I said, it bepends on the quality of the set and the knowledge of the person doing the job.

Romstar

by **Raccoon** » 26 Sep 2006 2:38

The direction of the cylinder has no bearing on its difficulty, that I can tell. Any cheap US (right-side-up) lock, can be mounted with the keyway (up-side-down) the way europeans like it.

It's just the way you brits like to mount your locks. This evolved from the orientation key-holes faced on old warded locks. The key was inserted face down, and so brits felt more comfortable holding modern keys faced down.

This is how I understand it, anyway. I've never seen it in writing.

by **SFGOON** » 26 Sep 2006 7:16

You'r wrong Raccoon. UK keys are installed upside-down because the limeys are too lazy to turn them right side up!

Upside down keyways

Upside down keyways

take the door off

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