Not working anymore?

[Malekal]

Hi Guys...

is it possible that locks I used to be able to open, I can't anymore? I'm not able to open anything tonight.

Jinx? I should get better... not worse! lol

[billdeserthills]

Thing is until you have mastered picking, you can become prone to losing your ability. Remember that most successful picking
is mostly about using the correct tension, & do yourself a favor & spray some lube into the lock you are working on. Don't make
yourself all crazy trying to force the ability to manifest itself. Worst case, you can pull apart a lock and take a few tumblers out,
until you learn again.

[Malekal]

Thanks for coating it

I'm trying on my garrison 40mm and a Yale File Cabinet lock, which I was able to do a couple days ago, repeatedly.
Now I get to 3 pin out of 4, bolt has shifted like 30 degrees, but I can't get any further...

[Malekal]

Ok , 30 might Be a tad much...

http://i.imgur.com/s3Ukeih.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/q8J0ylU.jpg

[kwoswalt99-]

Those probably have spool pins in them. There's a ton of info on spools here, such as http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60742&hilit There's tons of youtube vids on them also.

[Malekal]

I thought about that, but i'm not feeling any feed back, counter pressure, as would be felt...

Now I'm not discounting your advice It is entirely possible. It is also possible I'm not feeling them.

I appreciate the input

[Malekal]

I'll be ... It was a spool!

http://i.imgur.com/AQzCdSP.jpg

I apologize for doubting. I should know better.

Thank you for setting me straight.

[kwoswalt99-]

Nice work. Maybe try using very light tension. Counter-rotation is very subtle.

[Malekal]

Nice work. Maybe try using very light tension. Counter-rotation is very subtle.

That yale is really old, I actually had to twist a bit back with the pick itself to make it go back as the springing mechanism seem to be relaxed.

Thanks again!

[Malekal]

After 2 successful unlock, I decided to gut it to see what's inside.

Since it's my first time gutting a padlock, I did an ok job... But a pin is stuck in the lock and I can't find one of the springs...

But here goes http://i.imgur.com/9TzmwSx.jpg

Look like a serrated and 2 spools, and some really small tumblers

EDIT: 3 Spool and 1 Serrated. Got the suk$@#$ out.

[kwoswalt99-]

How did you take that Chinese one apart? That serrated is a pretty halfhearted attempt. I'm not even sure why they bother, when you can hardly even tell that it's there when picking.

[Malekal]

I used a standing grinder and a column drill.

it's a bit dirty work. must be a better way

[kwoswalt99-]

You mean you ground and drilled off all of the pins? Those padlocks aren't meant to come apart, but I've found the best way is to drill a little hole in the caps and use a screw extractor to pull them out, with very little damage.

[Malekal]

You mean you ground and drilled off all of the pins? Those padlocks aren't meant to come apart, but I've found the best way is to drill a little hole in the caps and use a screw extractor to pull them out, with very little damage.

I actually grinded 'till I saw the chambers, then drilled the cap off.

I did not know beforehand that I could just drill the caps off. I'll know next time.

[femurat]

By the title of this post I thought you won the lottery or were thinking about retiring from work. You lucky old man

Cheers