Pins in the Hull

[logosys]

What do you do when you're picking a lock, and bind one of the key pins on the shear line (pushed it up too far)? Do you have to release your tension and start over or is there another option?

[Chucklz]

Do you mean to say that you push a bottom pin all the way above the shear line?

If so, you probably have an incorrectly pinned /poorly designed lock. Additionally, theres a good chance that you've stuffed the spring. But, other than that, you can treat the pin as picked. No problem.

This kind of attack was used on very very early Medeco locks. It was fixed rather immediately, so the chances of finding such a lock are close to nil.

[WhiteHat]

I think he's talking about what to do when you overset a pin.

if you're good, you can slowly release the tension and the key pin will drop down, leaving the driver siting on the shear line. if you're not so good, release the tension and start the whole thing over.

the over-set and release method (called reverse picking) can be very effective against security drivers on some types of lock.

[Guitar_J]

I'm going to have to try that.. I bet it takes a steady hand on the wrench... sounds........................Like a challenge!

[WhiteHat]

sometimes slightly "pulsing" the tension helps a bit (as in: decreasing and increasing the tension but not enought to unset all the other pins). - I've found that it works better with a rigid wrench (as opposed to a flex one) but others may find otherwise.