The Worst Lock Pick Ever!

[MikeySR]

me... ive spend like 12 years on a master 03 lock and i still cant get it...im using bought picks and tension wrench n i just cant get it... i get 3-4 pins up, whether they are on the sheer or not is a diff question but from there i cant do anything...

Here is how ive been doing it.

push the tension wrench with a decent amount of pressure where 1 pin will be decently stiff and move it up until i feel a click... then move the second but nothing happens cept the tension changes so i start another one. From there nothing is working for me and ive spent so much time play with it what am i missing.

Are there any other techniques for picking?

[Jason13]

me... ive spend like 12 years on a master 03

How long have you tryed to pick this lock cause i think the 12 year thing is just to explain that your at it a long time rite?

[raimundo]

do you have a key to open the thing, because that would prove to me that its not a somehow malfunctioning/broken lock, then, put a drop of oil in the lock, and do the pin count just to hear the springs snap those pins down, sometimes excessive dirt and graphite have actually caused picking to be impossible, if that is the case, flush it out with wd40 and some pick working to keep the parts moving.
If all of this is not the problem, you need to get a thin shaft lowrise pick sanded well, and start watching tv while you pick without concentrating on the lock. you may be frustrated by trying to hard, the problem could be somehow a psychological block to your feeling it. this is best gotten around by doing some picking without thinking about it. just stop intelectualizing it, and examine the small part of the cylinder to see if you have eroded a groove that is catching the tensor. if your tensor is stuck, immobile, you are binding the tensor against the edge of the cylinder, get some other tensors, Yesterday, I made a nice tensor for the top of keyways out of a short piece of bicycle spoke, takes very little filing to fit it to the top area of the keyway. just bend it for the short end you will need then with a flat file flaten both sides and file, try it, file, try again until you have a nice tight fit. if using a tensor at the top of the keyway, be sure to not impinge on the first pin.
definatly examine the tensors to see that you are not binding in the bottom of the keyway, and just use some various different tensors, also use the slimmest sandedest pick you have, as the cuts may be all low on the key.

[digital_blue]

Dude... 12 years? Really?

Go to the "Beginner Lockpicking Exercise" at the top of the PickFu section of this site. That'll teach you what you need to know.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.

db

[Jason13]

Come on 12 years? You are joking rite?

[MikeySR]

Sorry i typed that at 6am after working a 12 hour shift it was ment to say hours... there are prolly a few other misstakes in their too.

[Bahrg]

If this is your first pick attempt, then I think once you do actually pick a lock. You will understand. Its something that almost has to be experienced to understand fully. Thats where DB's picking exercise comes in. By starting with less pins its easier to pick and yet you still get the "feel" for it.

Either way keep at it, once you get it you will be hooked for life

[undeadspacehippie]

If this is your first pick attempt, then I think once you do actually pick a lock. You will understand. Its something that almost has to be experienced to understand fully. Thats where DB's picking exercise comes in. By starting with less pins its easier to pick and yet you still get the "feel" for it.

Either way keep at it, once you get it you will be hooked for life

I have responded probably similarly in other threads - but you do (in my opinion) have to experience the picking of a lock. When I picked my first lock I thought no effing way! Then I showed my partner, locked the lock, and started again.

Currently I have two friends whom I am tutoring and studying with (as I am still a student of the art myself) - who giggle like school girls when they pop open the master no 3 in under 8 seconds. They are completely exhilarated by the experience of this lock popping open. its a confidence booster for them. I often test some of my pick designs out on this lock, as well as a schlage and a weiser.

Anyways I'm rambling.

[CVScam]

When I started I had 4 Master Locks, after a while I could pick 3 of them pretty easy. I had one that just didn't want to open. After I looked at the key I figured out it had a "hard" pin configeration. The key had a very high notch a very low notch and high notch and a med notch.

[MikeySR]

The key has 1 very high peak and 1 very low so i think i might be boosting the low by accident and that is why its not working for me. This is my first attempt and i just keep thinking im missing something... Also i occasionally find that when i get 1 pin in place and start a second when i get the second in place the other drops and then it happens the other way around too

[MikeySR]

What is the best pick type to use on masters?

[pinsetter]

I don't own a Master 4 pin laminated lock that a half-diamond or a hook will not open. Most people like the hook pick the best, however I'm more partial to the half-diamond design.