by ToolyMcgee » 27 Aug 2008 18:50
All of my 140's have at least two spool pins. They are harder than your standard master no1 or no3, but not by much and it certainly isn't unthinkable that you could pop this little sucker. Put light tension on the plug from the TOP of the keyway in front of the first pin. Start from the first binding pin, lift it to the first set then slightly back off tension and lift it more. Serrated pins in these have shallow grooves so the sets are going to be difficult to tell from real set pins, but I can tell you that the first groove binds the pin at the shearline when you apply tension, and the next one provides a false set, so if it locks up, them moves and false sets, and you let off tension a tiny bit and it sets again it is a serrated pin. Spools are easier to tell because the false set they give is bigger than a true setting pin. Backing off tension after the false set try to push gently and if you get a rough metal dragging and the plug spins backward and stops sharply, then it's a spool. You can push normal and serrated pins past the shearline, but they won't come sharply to a halt like a spool does. The real trouble comes in trying to bring a 140 spool out of false set without unsetting other pins, or picking to hard and shooting it past the shearline. You could try using the back of you short hook to lift all the pins at once, then apply tension, turn your hook right side up and release some tension letting pins fall on to your short hook reverse picking them. It can work good on some 140's as 1 spool generally gets caught at the shearline this way. This however is making it more difficult than it needs to be.
Maybe get a made in china kwickset deadbolt knockoff for as much as a master no1 costs. Practice on it for a week or two and come back to the 140. Use the search to look for discussions on security pins and the 140 specifically as I know they are everywhere on this site. The only reason I wrote so much here is the 140 is one of my confidence locks. I have a pile of them I pop compulsively when I feel rusty, am getting my butt kicked by a tough lock, or just watching tv. Have fun picking yours.
-ToolyMcgee
When you hit false set on a spool pin the lock rotates more than it would if you had set the pin in most cases with a 140. Also if you back off tension and push up with your pick on the pin in question if the plug rotates backwards it's probably a spool pin. Serrated pins on 140's have shallow cuts, so it's a smaller click than a real pin set. Also, as I said before if 1 pin clicks more than once and doesn't give a spools false set it is a serrated pin.