Repinnable Cylinder w/ Grub Screws

[loogums]

My apologies to anyone who thought this was instructions, but I'm looking for a tutorial on how to repin a cylinder with grub screws in lieu of caps for pin chambers. I've recently attempted to resurrect my picking skills, and bought an "EZ repin lock" off of ebay which had such a system as aforementioned. Rather than repin with a plug follower (in which you'd need a key or the ability to pick the lock open), in this lock you simply just unscrew the grub screws and add or remove pins as you'd wish. I've seen several types of repinnable cores, but this seems like the easiest and most durable.

Here is a picture of the lock I recently purchased:



I currently have a BEST core that I am looking to repin, so any insight into how I would do this would be greatly appreciated!

[jeffmoss26]

Myself and another guy thought about doing this on Best cores a while back. I found the right diameter setscrew, 5/40, and it does work. You of course need the correct tap as well.

[averagejoe]

Best cores use special sizes of pins and springs that are different in both length and diameter from your standard pins. You have to use a ejector pin to push from the holes in the bottom of the core to eject the pins from the top where they are all held in place by little caps. Then you need a special capping block and pin to recap all of the chambers. If you want to put grub screws in them you will have to thread the chamber yourself.

[GWiens2001]

Pinning a Best core is not nearly as easy as a normal lock core. Also, you will not be able to easily tap and thread the barrels and put in a grub screw on a Best core. There is not enough space!

There is a fair bit of math involved (not saying you can't do math, just that it is not as simple as a normal lock). The pin stacks need to be balanced - the total length of all the pins in each stack need to be equal, and total a certain 'number'. In most Best locks (A2 pinning system), that total is 23.

For example, here are the pins punched out of a core.



Here is the chart of pins from a Best core I was combinating. There are no master pins in this chart.



That chart works out to this combination...



That is for this control and change key:



So a quick and dirty post on how to pin a SFIC probably will not be found. You can, however, search here on LP101, and there are a number of threads on combinating a Best core.

Also, you will need to be precise when you punch or cut the keys, as the tolerances are quite tight.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Gordon