Cut aways?

[Nicky the Greek]

Im trying to practice and learn the fundamentals. Would it be better for me to learn off of a cut away or a lock that i buy at a hardware store

Nick

[Grudge]

Cut aways are nice IF you are having trouble visualizing what is going on in the lock. The trouble is they are expensive and only give you a single lock to practice on for all that money. Plus once you get past the basics, you won't want to see inside the lock anymore and it starts gathering dust someplace in your closet.

Unless you have a plenty of cash to throw at the problem, I would just buy a few different locks (cheaper the better to start), read up on all of the available guides and start picking. Plus, if you are handy with a Dremel you can make your own cutaway and learn about disassembly, repinning, etc. at the same time.

Hope that helps.

[UWSDWF]

I find that cutaways are only good to learn how a lock works and are not very good for learning to pick.

Take a look at db's exercise and try that out it's the best way to learn the basics

[Nicky the Greek]

yeah it helps a lot. A couple more questions for you. What kind of lock would it be best to start off with? And if i used the dremel to cut one where would i start and how? Sorry for all the questions but that's how i learn.

Nick

[UWSDWF]

cutaways and a biotch to make...
learning to pick a cheap deadbolt from the homedespot or wallyworld is best

[Grudge]

I kinda lied when I said to get the CHEAPEST locks available, skip the dollar store stuff. Think $3 to $15.

For general picking purposes: I would recommend a cheap master lock (make sure it has pins and is not a warded lock) and a cheap deadbolt. I find the Mountain brand deadbolts from Walmart are easy to pick, bump, rake etc. so you can't hardly go wrong there.

For making your own cutway: I am sure you can find a lot better instructions than this here (SEARCH = GOOD) but here goes anyway...
Buy a cheap door lock like the Mountain brand mentioned above. Once you remove the actual lock mechanism, you have a thin walled 'tower' of metal sticking above the lock cylinder that is easy to grind away one side of. Remove the metal cap and take out the springs, drivers and pins FIRST and then slap it into a vise and start CAREFULLY griding out one side of the 'tower'. You can tell when the metal gets very thin and you can actually Exacto knife it out creating a window. If you grind too much they won't stay in place anymore. HINT: If you are not careful enough, you can create a plastic shield out of a little bit of blister packaging and use that to help hold the pins in place. Not that I have ever had to do that myself.

[Romstar]

A cut away is only useful for learning visualization.

It will absolutely hinder any learning you may get from experiencing how the lock feels.

The mind has a tendency to override all other senses in favor of the eyes. This means that your brain simply isn't paying attention to what you are feeling while you are looking at a cut away lock.

After you get the gist of whats going on inside the lock when you stick a pick in there, and you have got the basic idea of how far to insert your pick, there isn't a lot a cutaway is going to teach you.

Turf it in favor of any regular deadbolt cylinder of a similar make.

Romstar

[Nicky the Greek]

Ok thanks guys for the instructions and the advice. I think my best bet is to watch a dvd on how a lock works so that will give me a basic understanding. And then buy a mountain brand dead bolt like the one grudge mentioned. I just want to learn and i need all the good tips and practice that i can get. So thanks a lot for all the info, i really appreciate it.

Nick

[Grudge]

A cut away is only useful for learning visualization.Romstar

I totally agree with Romstar. Don't concentrate on cut-aways, it actually hurts your picking ability after the very beginning stages. I have them because I give lock picking demonstrations and it sure beats telling a crowd to 'visualize that I am lifting the pins inside the lock'.

My advice: Just try reading then picking. After a while you will suddenly 'get it' and be able to open simple lock and then you can move up from there. No cut-aways required.

[Grudge]

Ok thanks guys for the instructions and the advice. I think my best bet is to watch a dvd on how a lock works so that will give me a basic understanding.

Good idea and you can check out these animated gif too. Maybe save you the price of a DVD.
http://deviating.net/lockpicking/01.01-pick_theory.html

[Nicky the Greek]

Oh, wow yeah that helps a lot. You just saved me some money. Oh, man thanks a lot. Thats awesome. Now if my picks would just come in.