Make your Medeco pins ARX pins??

[lockaholic]

Long time lurker (over a year and a half), first time poster. What if you were to use a cold weld like J-B Weld and fill in the bottom of the sidebar groove in the medeco pin? . Would this not perform the same function as a milled arx pin and keep John King out? The prices for ARX pin kits are ridiculous. I suppose you could also use an epoxy but i like cold weld for its metallic content and strength and durability.

[mitch.capper]

for one the gap is very small, so you need almost a needle gun to do it well. For another you will have to be somewhat exacting, and use primarily long (3-6) pins as otherwise the sidebar won't push in all the way. I have painted closed the grooves (for effect not for security) so its doable but it is a pain. In addition technically you should also seal off all of the groove except where the sidebar goes (otherwise one can still set the angle with a lower key in the system or a kingdom key).

[JK_the_CJer]

This a good idea; I can't see it being all that hard. I've seen something called "gel epoxy" thats apparently thicker and easier to form into the shape you want. If you try this out, please let us know how it goes

[lockaholic]

Thanks for the response.Thats what i was thinking about sealing it up as high as possible until it reaches the sidebar with the key inserted. I am getting a cutaway so i can precisely measure how high up to seal with each cut. I will have perhaps a half a cut tolerance. This would eliminate the vast majority of the vulnerabilities and make it like a medeco cam lock with a shear line. Combined with at least 1 #6 and 1 #1 cut and a nice sidebar code, this would be a very secure lock.

[tballard]

I've been playing with JB Kwik lately. This stuff is JB Weld, except with a 4-minute set time. (It's also supposed to be about half as strong when cured, cure time is four hours)

When mixed, it has the same consistency as regular JB Weld, but it rapidly thickens into something almost approaching a putty-like consistency. I have taken advantage of this property to trim the excess squeeze out from joints with a razor, and have found that the trimmings can be worked into small crevices just like putty, and they seem to bond as normal.

I don't have the luxury of extra Medeco pins to experiment with, but I suspect you would be able to get decent results by spreading a thin layer of JB Kwik on a sheet of steel, letting it get to the tacky/putty point, slicing it into tiny strips with a razor, working it into the groove, and then quickly trimming with a razor to fit.

You might have better luck with the JB Stik product (or clones) which probably cut out this middle step. (I've never used them though)

One thing to be careful of is that when the package says: "surfaces must be clean and oil-free" they really mean it. I accidentally JB welded the wrong sides of some pick handles which I hadn't prepped, and they popped right off!

[BigRob40]

I recently disassembled a new medico cash box lock and was surprised to find a style of pin that I haven't seen before. The milling's no longer travel the length of the pin. the groove for the side bar fingers are at an exact height as determined by the keys depths once rotated into position. Is this an arx pin? I can see by their design that the medico decoder will not work in decoding the sidebar in this type of lock and since their are no top pins only these style's and a spring within the pin chamber it appears once the sidebar is in its determined position the cylinder rotates opening the lock. I removed 2 of the pins replacing 3 of the originals hoping this would make it easier to pick, but I have yet to figure this one out

[femurat]

Hi BigRob40,

I think you're referring to these medeco cam locks. Good luck...

Cheers

[BigRob40]

Yep those are the pins! Tricky little buggers they are... since I'm new I have little experience with medeco locks but I'm fascinated by the knowledge you guys have and I will continue to learn all I can about em Ive been trying to figure out what the posters mean about arx pins. It gives this old man something to pass the time. I can"t wait until I have the cash to acquire a diff lock and take a shot at building a medecoder for my very own! TY for your help

[Stealthy]

Would any one happen to know where I can get ARX pins online?

[JK_the_CJer]

Would any one happen to know where I can get ARX pins online?

If you order bags of pins, the milled/closed-groove pins are mixed in with them now. The tricky part is calling whichever online store you find and asking them if all of their pins have been ordered within the last year or so. If you're feeling froggy, ask them to physically look at the pins to ensure that some of the grooves are closed off.

I don't know of any sites off-hand that sell Medeco pins, but the minimum that Medeco sells (to dealers) is bags of 100 pins of one type (no mixing and matching bittings). The next step up is giant expensive pin kits. Your best bet is to try local Medeco locksmiths and a smile or some of the folks on this forum. These pins don't seem to be floating around the community in any great number yet, though.

As for ordering actual "ARX(tm)" pins, you probably won't be able to do it because the official ARX system is supposedly restricted to government and high-value commercial applications only. However, I'm guessing that you meant milled pins rather than this real ARX stuff.