Newbie questions about technique

[maxx233]

Hello all!
So I finally got a set of picks for christmas, and started playing with them a couple days ago. First day I was able to confidently get a Master No3 that I bought using SPP and raking (scary easy!), as well as my garage lock (keyed the same as my old front door lock) - also scary easy. I couldn't get my new Schlage front door lock though, so at least it's not super-newbie-easy ;)

So anyway, a couple days went by of not practicing, and I tried the Master No3 again... And I couldn't spp it for the life of me! It's driving me nuts. I can rake it easy, but can't spp now for some reason. So I went through DB's newbie exercise last night on my old frontdoor deadbolt mounted to a board. No matter how I re-keyed it, it still was pretty easy and it was a good exercise to go through, but I still can't get the master 3!

So now I'm doubting my technique, and before I proceed to learn things the wrong way, I wanted to check in that I'm doing it right!

1) How do you guys hold your picks? I've been holding mine kinda like a pencil, with middle and index finger in front (middle finger on bottom) with the thumb wrapping around the side. It seems to be OK except my muscle in between thumb and index finger cramps up after too long.

2) How do you lift the pins? I've been leveraging the bottom part of the hook against the keyway and using the handle like a level to pull down, thereby raising the end of the hook and pushing the pin. Is this right, or are we somehow supposed to lift the pick as a whole without disturbing the other pins?

3) Is it wrong to use the half diamond as my main pick? That first day when I opened the No3 and my garage door pretty easy I was using the half diamond because I couldn't seem to do anything with the hook. But it seems everyone uses the hook for spp so I've been trying to, and so far the results haven't been great. Am I just nuts, need more practice, or should I just forfeit and go back to the half diamond and restart the newbie exercise using it instead?

Thanks all!

[cheesehead]

hello, and welcome! First off, we generally advise against picking locks you rely on -I.E. your garage lock. Unless you are prepared to fix or replace the lock, you should keep to practice locks, as the possiblity of damaging the lock does exist.

As far as holding the pick: hold it in the most comfortable manner to YOU. from what you are describing, you are holding the pick in a manner somewhat similar to me. It's not uncommon to experience some level of discomfort when you are first beginning, but you will train your hands and fingers, and it will become second nature before you know it. Make a consience effort to relax your hands while you work, and take breaks to lessen the fatigue. When we try hard, and are very determined, it's easy to exert WAY more pressure than needed, and cause yourself discomfort.

In response to your second question: some pickers use the fulcrum method, some don't. I always have, and it works well for me.

Lastly - the half diamond is a great pick for spp! you will find most pickers either rely on the half diamond, or short hook for spp. both work great.

just relax, keep practicing! walk away from the lock and picks for a couple minutes and regroup if needed. You will know when you hit your groove, and your confidence will skyrocket! Good luck!

[Engineer]

When I was starting out and still occasionally even now, tension will get to me and I cannot pick a lock I've picked many times before.

Part of the problem maybe that you are EXPECTING to pick the lock and so you subconciously tense up when you don't get it as quickly as you would like.

Some simple exercises, like shaking yours arms out, might look stupid, but could make all the difference. For me, I usually find when I'm like that, my best cure is go to bed, it's been a hard day...

When that is not possible, some exercises are probably the best thing you can do. While picking, force yourself to relax as best you can and become aware of how much pressure you are putting on the tension wrench (it's not called a tension wrench for nothing). Often you will have been putting too much pressure on it. I try to force myself to back off, until I hear one of th pins I'd just picked, drop back down again.

Unfortunately there could be a few reasons and you have to find out what works for you, but hopefully the ideas in the replies you get will help some.

There is also always the problem of you can damage the lock, especially when you are first learning. Fortunately I don't think this has happened to you, as you can still rake it with ease.

[Olson Burry]

Good advice, as ever there from Cheesehead and Engineer.

With SPP, be careful of overlifting the pins and trapping them there by using too much tension. It will never open if you over lift a pin so lift slowly and deliberately.

I find by using an SPP tool you need to hold it slightly differently and possibly more tightly than a rake to maintain control. Unconsciously this tightness can manifest itself in the tension hand and wrist, which could mean too much.

[le.nutzman]

I'd have to agree with what's been stated already, the fact that you've successfully picked a lock usually acts as a subconcious precursor in future attemps. I picked nothing but American 5200s for the most part, because that's what my mainstream exposure is. When I picked my first one, my confidence shot through the roof after I took it apart and realized how many spoo/serrated pins I had defeated. The next day and for about 3 or 4 days after that, I couldn't pick it to save my life.

Regardless of how many times you have already picked a lock, to avoid the subconcious precursor to failure, always treat the lock as if it's your first time picking it. This allows your mind and body to relax and stay more in tuned and focused on opening the lock without your ego trumping your skills.

[raimundo]

Try to pick it, then take your finger off the tension wrench and hold the lock keyhole down.
Does your tensor fall out of the keyway, if it does thats good, if its jamed in there between the plug and the cylinder wall, you are not applying any rotation to the plug.
pick up every windshield wiper you can find, strip out the stainless steel strips that are found in many, not all, of them. These come in a variety of widths, all good for tensors, but you have to chose the right tensor to do the job.
The reason I like the bits of wiper stiffener is because most of them have a rounded smooth edge that will not bite into the cylinder wall.