Question...

[Keyed]

Sorry I am new and don't know where to ask this but,...
I just started picking locks and have been adding pins and am now up to four. The thing is, no mater how many pins there are it feels like all I have to do to open the lock is push one perticular pin and it pops open. Am I doing something wrong or is it the lock that has a problem (its a kwikset)? Please help

[Jason13]

Sometimes you just pin pick each pin and open it like that, that apply some tension and feeling which pin binds first and go from there.

[Keyed]

thank you so much!

[EGOOT247]

Are your springs alright? Are the pins the same size?

Let me get this straight: All you do is push one pin (out of 4!) and the lock just opens?

I have this lock (from good ol' Marc's Store, they sell garbage...), and the springs are kind of... Strange. When I take the key out, the plug can still rotate because the springs don't do their job... I have yet to understand why... It isn't a very complicated lock (I am talking about mine here) so the lock's teeth don't move the pins much. I have decided to move on from my frustrating Marc's lock long ago. (I really got off topic!)

Are the springs doing their job?
I mean, pushing one pin to pick four just seems...like I worded that strangely.

Are you sure you did not pick the other 3 before picking the fourth one? (silly question, I know...)

[Dent]

Possibilities:

1: The other 3 pins are very deep, such that with bad technique and a low tolerances, he is setting the other 3 just by inserting the pick and trying to pick that 4th pin.

2: When assembling he messed up somehow and pins aren't blocking shearline...

[S&G]

Also if your lock is used, like from the front door of an apartment building the plug might not have the top holes centered to the bottom holes and only some pins re-lock.

bottom & top driver stack together are not long enough so bottom + driver is the length of a 9-pin +.03" or so and the spring is your top pin (so to speak). Therefore only one pin may be locking you lock.

dirty lock so the tops get stuck and stop after pushing the bottoms past the shear line.

the lock likes you and wants to make you feel confident by falling open.

What brand and keyway are you starting on?
Weiser is a real confidence builder for beginners.

[illusion]

What is likely happening is that he is pressing sdown on the other pins by accident and the lock is opening... this would only work on specific pin combos though.

[S&G]

[PG-13]...

also if he uses the same approach each time when inserting his tool.

As it seems to get results again and again, a rewarded action becomes habit. So long as he continues to approach the same lock in the same manor he will continue to see the same results.

Throw in a variable.

Spray it with a lubricant, your choice.
It will feel different.
Faster, sluggish, easier, harder.

Practice completely cleaning out all of the lubricant, and try others.
A dry lock picks different from a dirty lock, and different from a new lock.
Also try lock-de-icer, as an anti-lubricant. Increase the challenge.