help with padlock

[madasian]

I just bought a MASTER padlock no.3. It steel color padlock with a blue stripe running across the bottom part of it. I purchased it to practice on, but i cannot seem to even be able to set the binding pin. I turned the tension tool clock wise and push up the first pin from the front. It goes up without any spring resistent and once i let go of the pin(While still maintaining pressure on the tension tool) and move on to the second pin (from the front of the lock) the first pin drops back down limpily. I tried picking this way pin by pin but the third and fourth pin don't seem to be doing anything. I can feel the spring resistant on pins #3 and #4 but when I push up on them they just seem to spring right back down. Does that mean that I did not yet pick the first two pins and that i have not yet set the binding pin? Please help.

[Wade]

when the bottom pin falls down "limpily", that means that the pin is set and the top pin is resting on the shear line, thats good

anyways, read the MIT guide if you havent already. Also, try starting out with a basic kwikset

-I tried

[digital_blue]

Yes, I think you've not got your theory worked out just yet. Click on my sig.

db

[Wade]

you talkin to me

[digital_blue]

No no, that was actually directed at the OP.

db

[Gordon Airporte]

Well a Kwikset will have five pins where the Master only has four, so take that into consideration before changing locks.
Regarding how a pin reacts when it is set - not only will it fall back limply - witout spring presure - but you won't feel the spring pressure when you lift it either. It will go up very easy then feel like it hits a hard ceiling... because that's pretty much what happens.
The pins on my #3 all set really shallow, but when they're set I can tell that they aren't pushing back and they're stopping hard before they go all the way up.

[zeke79]

when the bottom pin falls down "limpily", that means that the pin is set and the top pin is resting on the shear line, thats good

anyways, read the MIT guide if you havent already. Also, try starting out with a basic kwikset

-I tried

Not exactly!! If that is the binding pin and you have NOT set it to shearline then the bottom pin will fall back down but the top pin will not be at shearline. Therefore no other pins will bind.

[Knows-Picker]

In regards to your padlock, there are several things that could be going on here. Either a) the first pin is not even setting because the #4 pin needs to be set first.(very common on most master lock padlocks), and it being a new lock, the pin having next to no wear, may feel like it has been set, but really not.....where as you should try to pick the lock from back to front, which I find is the easiest way to approach all padlocks as a general rule of thumb....I am rambiling.....back to ...Or B) you are setting the pins like you think you are, and when you are getting to the 3 and 4 pin, you may have too much tension on the tension wrench, and when you think that they wont go anymore, they are binding, where as if you relax the pressure a little bit they should slide into place....Also as a thought, I have used the same pick for years now, and have come to think of it as my master lock master key....It is the half ball. I use the MP-08 from southord.. Simply put in the pick all the way to the back, insert your tension wrench, apply light to medium torque on the wrench, and then use the half ball to rake the pins back and forth from back to front, varriing the pressure on the wrech, and digging harder and harder into the pins, this usually opens them in less than 20 seconds. I have gotten some of them in less time than most can with a key....Give it a try, anyways, Hope this helps.

[Octillion]

madasian:
I've picked a few different Master no. 3's, and something I've noticed with them, and master locks "clones" in general, is it is often easier to pick them torquing the cylinder in one direction (usually counter clockwise). Although the key will open in either direction just fine, picking is different. I have one lock that I can rarely even pick in the clockwise direction (a Guard lock) because for some reason the second pin tends to stick to the first pin and wind up being pushed to far up and past the shear line. But picking this lock in the opposite direction is extremely easy. Although it is usually harder (and sometimes very hard) to get the torque wrench in a good position to torque it counter clockwise and still be able to fit the pick in the keyway with enough room to successfully pick the lock.

[Wade]

when the bottom pin falls down "limpily", that means that the pin is set and the top pin is resting on the shear line, thats good

anyways, read the MIT guide if you havent already. Also, try starting out with a basic kwikset

-I tried

Not exactly!! If that is the binding pin and you have NOT set it to shearline then the bottom pin will fall back down but the top pin will not be at shearline. Therefore no other pins will bind.

I hope that made you feel better

[digital_blue]

It made me feel better.

db

[madasian]

Thanks all for the advices. I'll give them all a try and keep you posted on my progress.

[madasian]

KNOWS-PICKER, I bought the SOUTHORD 14 pieces set (MPXS-14). When you said that you use the half ball, do you mean the one with one ball or which one? In my set i got the one ball, the double ball. I do not have anything resembling a half ball.

[vector40]

We should probably clarify these terms. There's picks with a HALF circle, with a FULL circle, with TWO half circles and with TWO full circles. Make sure you say what ye mean and mean what ye say...

[zeke79]

I hope that made you feel better

I was only stating that just because a pin falls back "limply" does not necessarily mean it is set.