UnlockD wrote:Yeah so, I actually managed to pick this a few days ago, and to my dismay, the spring was so powerful I couldn't
open it without bending the wrench, haven't been able to pick it since.
Anyways, my question is the ammount of spools, I've looked on list on the site, only to find 6121 unlisted.
Anyhelp with picking this badboy?
Schuyler wrote:Not I, but Squelchtone may well have an answer for you. If none of us do, next time you get it picked, disassemble it and add it to the list!
Ah yes, the 6121... a royal pain for anyone just starting out. In fact, if you're moving up from the No.1, No.3, and have already picked a No.140/No.150, battled the No.532/No.576, then your next stop will be the line up of Master ProSeries padlocks. They all use the same mechanism and same keyway, and all have at least 1 spool pin. I remember when I was past my n00b stage and felt I was getting to be a decent picker, I got a friend's permission at his bbq to pick the 6121 on his shed. He took it off the shed for me, and it took me over 10 minutes to open it. These days it's more like 10 seconds, but only because I've picked so many of these locks I know exactly what to feel for.
If you've picked locks with spool pins before they you'll know that distinct feeling of counter rotation when you encounter a spool pin. The ProSeries locks (7040, 6121, etc) are very obvious when you hit the spool pin inside the lock. And as you've noticed they are difficult to turn due to the large spring inside the lock.
Sometimes you'll have this locked picked to shear line and not even realize it, which is where my next trick comes in handy. I tend to use this mostly on padlocks because normal door cylinders don't have a spring to stop rotation. While holding the padlock and applying light to medium tension, start to pick the lock, you'll feel pins setting, you may even find the spool pin or pins and get some counter rotation, which is actually a good thing, because it let's you know you're almost there. The second you feel that you are stuck on a spool, start to vary the pressure on your tension wrench from medium to heavy and wabble it like that as you pass under the pin giving you trouble or counter rotation. The goal is to rock that spool pin into place and just as it sets, you apply the heavier pressure on your tension wrench which will make the plug start to turn. Don't stop now because the spring deep inside the padlock will want to snap the lock back into a locked position. What you need to do now is press on your tension wrench about 1 inch from where it is inserted into the keyway of the padlock. If you're grabbing the tension wrench at the end, you will end up creating a big arc, and bending your wrench, and the plug may turn a little. but not all the way needed to turn the locking dog (the metal part that sits on top of the cylinder, which has the 2 cutouts that the ball bearings fall into, thus allowing the shackle to be pulled up.) That's another thing, when you pick a 6121, and manage to rotate the plug all the way and hold your wrench there while the spring is trying to rotate back and relock the lock, you have to pull up on the shackle, as this padlock does not have a shackle spring that makes it automatically pop open when the cylinder is picked or opened with a key.
So remember, while picking, wobble your tension from medium to hard and rock your hook pick under the last spool pin, when it pops into place, apply some heavy tension, hold the wrench close to the keyway so that you dont bend the wrench, and pull up on the shackle when you have rotated the plug until it physically cannot turn any more.
Happy Picking,
Squelchtone
