Electric Picks and the Professional

[pauly003]

Just a question on the tools used regularly by professionals. Do pros ever use electric picks or are these just a novelty. What about snappers or pick guns. My guess is that true pros only use single picking and raking, but i could be wrong. I will try and set up a poll.

[Shrub]

Pros as in lockies?

Well i use hand picks and on very rare occasions the snapper bar,

I have a manual gun that i use to loosen off stiff pins and ive made a couple epg's but not for me or for me to use on the job but ive a project on that will leave me with a top notch blast the commercial ones out the water epg,

You will find alomst all lockies will use a epg on the job at least in the uk anyway, some use them as their manual picking skills are simply not up to spec and others use them for speed or awkard locks,

Attchments like the dimple blade etc can allow the lockie to open locks that otherwise would be extremely hard to open on the door,

I hate bump keys and dont use them although ive got one or two, for the a few who regulary come across locks like the mul-t-locks they are indispencable,

[bonez]

i think the question is like how longs a piece of string?

each lockout or job can be very different from the next!

so having the versatilaty of all the tools is a must!
all the tools and kit mentioned on this site do get used
on a regular basis, it's just a question of what's needed at
that particular job!?!

j.

[Shrub]

Its a funny question to me as i see most of the regulars on here as pros (uwsdwf not the sort your thinking off lol) even though they arent lockies, a lot of so called lockies dont even know what a manual pick looks like,

[UWSDWF]

Its a funny question to me as i see most of the regulars on here as pros (uwsdwf not the sort your thinking off lol) even though they arent lockies, a lot of so called lockies dont even know what a manual pick looks like,

had to stop me from making some sort of remark.... didn't yeah

[Shrub]

Pros with vibrating tools have already been covered elsewhere i think lol

[pauly003]

It was just my first attempt at making a poll and i thought the question was relevant. I figured most of the people on this site were just hobby pickers, but i guess i was wrong. I preety mush just wanted a locksmiths opinion on fancy products like electric pick guns, as opposed to old school single picks. By everyones responses i think maybee i should have refined the poll question to something better, sorry

[Shrub]

Not really, to be honest its a pretty obvious answer but if you dont know it then its not a dumb question,

A poll may have been a bit much but relevent all the same and relevant to the site, some of the polls on site just get deleted straight away due to their idotcy,

Its a reasonable question and youve pretty much got the answer i think,

Just to add theres a good mix on here, mostly hobby pickers but theres a lot of lockies as well, to tell the differance, the lockies are the ones that are grumpy, dont post much and when they do are simply moaning and then theres the hobby pickers who are excited to tell everyone what they have accomplished that day,

Of course theres grumpy hobbists and helpful lockies, its a mine field i tell you lol

Anyway dont beat yourself up, reasonable question and theres likely more legs left in the thread yet as well once those across the pond jump on,

[Romstar]

I always carry two manual pick guns. I haven't owned an electric gun in a long time, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it if the situation called for it.

For the most part, I am quite happy hand picking a lock for a customer, and it is always my first choice.

Like Shrub, I use the pick gun to loosn pins, and move lubricant around, but there are occcasions where just that action is enough to pop the lock, and everyone is happy.

I really think it boils down to a question of skill and time. Some customers want in 30 minutes before you even arrive, and others are just content to watch you do your thing.

A few customers have even expressed concern over the pick guns, and asked if it could cause any damage to their locks.

When you ask about pros, my guess would be that you have to think about the type of "pro" you are inquiring about.

As Shrub has so rightly stated, there are some professional working locksmiths that quite simply can't pick locks that well manually, and they rely on the manual or electric pick gun. One fellow I know is an amazing door and lock fitter, but the only picking he does is raking, or the gun.

Another gent of my aquaintence won't go near a pick gun, and he's an absolute master with his picks. So long as he has working fingers, there isn't a door that he can't open I would bet.

Generally, in the overall scheme of things, I would say that a pick gun should be in the kit of every working locksmith, or anyone called on to open doors. Simply because it offers you other options before you admit defeat, and resort ot other less savory methods of entry.

Every locksmith has had a few of these, and while they always bothere me, there are some who never hesitate to use the drill. I don't think that is appropriate unless there is an emergency of some sort, or you have a very high security lock that must be opened now.

I hope that you got the answer you were looking for.

Romstar

[pauly003]

Thank you shrub and roomy for the answers. That was just what i was looking for.