Has anybody used these tension wrenches ?

by **toomush2drink** » 20 Apr 2004 13:36

Has anybody tried/used the circular tension wrenches that southord sell ?http://www.southord.com/catalog.asp?cat=locksmith&rowstart=20
I could see them coming in handy for the job where the lock is very near the door frame but not sure what sort of feed back they give compared to a normal tension wrench.

Any thoughts ?

by **UnLock** » 20 Apr 2004 15:12

SouthOrd has a circular tension wrench?

by **jubb** » 20 Apr 2004 15:24

Southord has Circular Tension Tools, I don't think they can really be classified as wrenches. I'm really curious myself about the springloaded one, i guess I could see some situations where it might be tough to get a tension wrench in the right spot and keep tension on it while picking. But I think it would be an expensive alternative to skill.

Just my thoughts, if anyone has tried them I would love to hear about it.

by **CitySpider** » 20 Apr 2004 15:24

I've never used one because I've heard more bad than good. In fact, I've never heard anything good, and everyone I know who has tried them hasn't liked them one bit.

by **salzi684** » 20 Apr 2004 15:29

I have also never heard anything good about the circular tension tools. In regards to what kind of feedback they provide you would have to imagine that anything where a spring is between your fingers and the plug the feedback would be reduced, for example I get better feedback from a very stiff tension wrench than I do from a twist flex.

by **UnLock** » 20 Apr 2004 16:06

salzi684 wrote:I get better feedback from a very stiff tension wrench than I do from a twist flex.

I agree...I also prefer the stiffer wrenches as they seem to provide me with more feedback. There's definitelt more response from a stiffer wrench.

by **salzi684** » 20 Apr 2004 16:13

Unlock if you ever get a chance to pick up a HPC TR4 I would recomend it, it is one of my favorite wrenches.

by **Mad Mick** » 20 Apr 2004 18:21

I get better feedback from a very stiff tension wrench than I do from a twist flex.

I too agree with this, but for a noob where tension is generally applied in copious amounts, the flex wrench is a lot more forgiving. When correct tension is learned a more solid wrench is preferred, unless dealing with very tight tolerances or security pins...IMHO. When picking spools for instance, a flex wrench allows for picking an incorrectly set spool without altering the amount of tension too much, resulting in further unset pins...again IMHO.

by **toomush2drink** » 21 Apr 2004 6:13

Ok thanks for the opinions looks like i shall be making some funky shaped wrenches to deal with the awkward keyways. Some i have had a go at recently have been a bit fiddly and not alway possible to reverse pick. I will get back to you with some photos when i have been created.

Mad Mick i have to agree with you on the spool pins and the more flexible/springy wrenches.

by **salzi684** » 21 Apr 2004 6:32

Mad Mike, good point on the twist flex for inexperienced pickers, if I had one when I was first getting started it would have probably saved a lot of aggravation.

I am on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to locks with security pins. I find that when picking locks with security pins I use a stiff wrench and medium to high tension. I have found that I can better tell the difference between a set pin and a pin that is false set, because of a security pin, when I use a stiff wrench with higher torque. The only way I can pick an American padlock with serrated, spool, and serrated spool pins is with one of my stiff wrenches and medium tension. I know it is all personal preference when it comes to these sorts of issues but I found that once I started using higher torque on locks with security pins my picking skill increased more quickly than at any other time in the last couple of years.

I use the "feel for a pin that when pressure is applied to it will put a counter torque on the wrench" (hope that makes sense) what methods do you guys use?

by **toomush2drink** » 21 Apr 2004 7:05

I use the "feel for a pin that when pressure is applied to it will put a counter torque on the wrench" (hope that makes sense) what methods do you guys use?

I do the same but i class my tension as very light otherwide i cant seem to get the false set spool over its "lip" ( hope that makes sense)

by **PickPick** » 21 Apr 2004 7:52

Mad Mick wrote:I too agree with this, but for a noob where tension is generally applied in copious amounts, the flex wrench is a lot more forgiving.

I think with very flexible tension tools (and with the circular tools it's even worse) it's very hard to learn to apply the correct amount of tension, just because they are so forgiving. So at the beginning you'll be sucessful but you'll pick up bad habits this way. Same goes for picking cheap wafers or circular pad locks at the beginning, it's much more difficult to loose these habits than to learn to apply correct tension from the beginning.
In the club we usually tell newbies to apply the minimum tension they think is necessary and then take only halve as much.

by **technik** » 21 Apr 2004 8:40

I agree with PickPick,

it's very hard to learn to apply the correct amount of tension, just because they are so forgiving. So at the beginning you'll be sucessful but you'll pick up bad habits this way.

and I cant see any use other than for beginners! Just another lockpicking gimmick I think

by **quicklocks** » 21 Apr 2004 8:46

i have tryed the tension wrench and its pants. i couldnt get it to work half as well as a standard one so i gave it back to my friend. may be if i had used it alot then got used to it, it would have been ok. i wont be buying one!

Has anybody used these tension wrenches ?

Has anybody used these tension wrenches ?

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