Old and used

[Oliwerko]

Hi there again.

Today I encountered a helluva lock. Simple 4-pin tumbler padlock, that is. Nothing special, except it was heavily used for last few years and sometimes you have even difficulties opening it with the key. The keyhole entrance is looking like melted butter and when I tried SPPing it, the feel was just horrible. There were pins freely on springs and pins that couldn't move at all, none of them I recognized as binding, no matter what torque I applied. In desperation, I tried my saw pick. Note that I have never successfully raked a lock open and generally don't seem to get this technique right. After some fiddling movement in the keyhole lasting for about 10 seconds, it popped open. 5 consecutive tries confirmed it. Totally easy to rake (well, it was not raking as pulling the pick out, it was rather only random movement in the keyhole) yet almost impossible to SPP it.

What I want to ask is what is your experience with old and used locks? Did you encounter such locks a lot? Did you fing it easier or harder to pick? Do you have any tips/tricks what to do when the lock is old/used/dirty? Share your thoughts.

[straightpick]

Congrats, you discovered something that takes a lot of people a long time to figure out. A lock that is very worn or sloppy succombs to a rake must faster than SPP. A good quality lock will SPP easier than it will rake open (depending on how it is combinated). A lot of cheaply produced locks will rake open rather easily and make you pull your hair out if you try picking them. Using a rake properly is as much an art as SPP is. Most people think you just ram it in and out or try to use it like a saw. It takes finesse. That lock sounds like it was so worn that the top of the holes in the plug were worn to the point of being beveled, and left no place for the pins to "catch" on when you tried to pick it. If you are going to try to rake open a lock, don't lubricate it first! If you're going to SPP it, then lube away.

[femurat]

This may be the case of my old padlock: it's so hard to pick cause the pins get jammed. You can't say if they're binding or stuffed up.
I had another old lock and I solved the problem with some oil drops. I decided to try a different approach with this one, so I didn't lubricate it. I'll try raking it... Thanks.

[raimundo]

I lthought this thread was about me

[Oliwerko]

So raking is generally more effective with worn locks?
It's interesting, 'cause this old lock is actually the only one I successfully raked open.

femurat - be sure to put your result here.

[straightpick]

I lthought this thread was about me

The old and used part

[femurat]

Hi Oliwerko,
yesterday evening I tried both SPP and raking but nothing worked.

I opened it once but I couldn't repeat the process so I think I was just lucky. I try to describe what happened. SPP as usual, after about one minute I thought it was open cause all the pins were set, but I couldn't rotate the plug. Then, without moving the wrench, I tried a very gentle raking with the back of my hook and it opened. I tried it again and again but nothing worked. I also tried raking it but usually I don't rake, so I'm not very good at it. After 15 minutes I gave up.
This lock is an old brass VIRO... I can post here a picture, maybe somebody could help me to find out if it has any security pins. I don't want to drill it.

Cheers

[femurat]

Here we are, so you can see if our locks are similar...





Does anybody knows if this lock contains security pins? There aren't numbers on the lock so it's very hard to say.

Thanks

[Oliwerko]

We have pretty much the same looking padlocks here. I have recently bought a new one:



And it gives me some hard time for it's very difficult to find the binding pin (situations like "Oh, that was a binding one?" when you just push them down randomly) and makes me feel that serrated "turn back" feel on the tension wrench. So I think that although these locks are cheap and small, they probably contain some security pins. Anyway, I'm probably gonna go ask my local locksmith, he may have some further info.

For me personally, the simpler lock the harder to pick. I am able to pick standard cylinders in no time, while old cylinders and padlocks are very difficult for me.

[raimundo]

try a little oil on those old ones

[femurat]

Finally I got it open!

raimundo: I haven't tried oil with it cause I've already oiled the other "twin" lock and I wanted to try a different situation. You was right: the problem with this lock was the stiff plug. When I set all the 5 pins it's hard to turn it. A little friction between the wrench and the cylinder or some dust inside the lock is enough to block it.
Also the pins are harder than usual, but now I can say how much I need to push them to set them.

It was an interesting experience, but now that I picked it many times I can oil it. I don't want to learn bad habits from this stiff lock.

Cheers