A n00b asking questions...

[J.Bargs]

I have so many to ask and I can only hope that those who have access to the advanced forums or someone who has good experience in lock picking enough to answer my questions can help...

1) Medeco locks--- how tough are these and about what percentage of lock smiths or pickers can open them?

2) Specialty hook picks & hybrid hook/diamond picks look like they would do well pin-by-pin picking. Right or wrong?

3) I want a better feel for pin-by-pin picking and how do I achieve or practice these skills?

4) I have a basic 17-piece set of Southord picks; what picks should buy or make next?

5) What preferences do you have when it come to picks, make your own or buy already made ones? Why?

Thanks for any responses by people

--- Digital Blue your begginer exercise thread helped me a TON---

[keysman]

1) Medeco locks--- how tough are these and about what percentage of lock smiths or pickers can open them?

Very tough . there is a reason they are used in many US government installations including the White House.
Open them buy picking ? or other methods?
Picking.. there is a video with Zeke picking one... first REAL event I have ever heard of. Then I picked a bunch ( 15-20) of Medeco camlocks myself.
Most locksmiths would not waste time tying picking one, they would use other methods to by pass.

2) Specialty hook picks & hybrid hook/diamond picks look like they would do well pin-by-pin picking. Right or wrong?

3) I want a better feel for pin-by-pin picking and how do I achieve or practice these skills?

4) I have a basic 17-piece set of Southord picks; what picks should buy or make next?

I would suggest you use the search function. You will find the answers to these and many more questions.

5) What preferences do you have when it come to picks, make your own or buy already made ones? Why?

Just my opinion:
Personaly I like the HPC picks , I started out using them and never went anywhere else.

I have made a few of my own .. I prefer making handles out of exotic materials ,Mokume-gane, brass, bronze, and different woods ,to making picks

[Shrub]

Check out This thread.


Edit, i notice you have

[pinsetter]

I want to further the question about Medeco locks a bit and I'm sure this will be OK for the public forums:

Is there a normal shear line like on all other pin tumbler locks AND the pins have to rotate to different degrees? OR do they just rotate to allow the sidebar to fall in? It is my understanding that they are actually a 2 part lock with three different functions that have to be precise to open. The way I'm visualizing it is that the pins must be raised to shear line, and that is the part that acts as any other pin tumbler lock, BUT in the process of lifting they must also ALL be rotated to the correct degree of rotation to allow the nibs on the sidebar to fall into the grooves on the pins. So I'm guessing that the lock actually has two seperate locking mechanisms: A normal pin tumbler operation AND a super tough sidebar mechanism? Is this correct?

[illusion]

Yes - each pin must be raised to the right height, at which point the sheer pin is clear, and the fingers of the sidebar can fall into the slots on the pins and allow the plug to turn.

[zeke79]

Medeco cylinder locks must be lifted to the shear line and rotated to the proper position to allow the sidebar to retract.

Medeco cam locks only have to be lifted to the proper height and rotation to allow the sidebar to retract. There are no top pins in the camlocks.

[pinsetter]

Thanks for the answers!

I must say that the system Medeco uses is ingenious! Just the fact that you cannot see the rotation AND you're gonna have to have all of them rotated correctly to get the sidebar to fall in at all is evil! I would imagine that you really get no feedback from the sidebar either right? Not until you just get lucky and it falls in? Heh....and on the cylinder locks you have to do all that while still keeping control of the shear line. It's just ingenious! Dang I wish I had the $$$ to spend on one to play with!

[J.Bargs]

Wait, say that all again about the Medeco locks? They have s sidebar mechanism that actually locks into the sides of the tumbler pins to rotate the lock? How the heck does a normal key make that all work and much less a lockpicker turn the tumblers in the plug? BTW--- yea Digital Blue, at least I'm not the total n00b that posts before reading a single thing of the forum .

[datagram]

Wait, say that all again about the Medeco locks? They have s sidebar mechanism that actually locks into the sides of the tumbler pins to rotate the lock? How the heck does a normal key make that all work and much less a lockpicker turn the tumblers in the plug? BTW--- yea Digital Blue, at least I'm not the total n00b that posts before reading a single thing of the forum .

Yeah it's called biaxial rotation. Pins must be lifted and rotated to the correct position. The key cuts are at angles, and when you insert the key it aligns all the pins at the right height and rotation so that it can turn.

[Gordon Airporte]

He's only showing a cam lock, but this might make it clear:
http://deviating.net/lockpicking/02.12-biaxial01.html

[Mr. Lock Pick]

yes medecos are hard.