Indoor House Door Locks

[Greg]

I'm interested in picking the locks inside my house, but they are the ones with the big sideways handle that you push down on to release a separate piece of tongue metal (separate from the flat deadbolt tongue)

You know, the ones with the long keys on your toilet door

They dont seem to work on a pin or wafer system, so I have no idea of how the mechanics work. The key seems to connect something on the side of the key after turning it a couple of degrees.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[Greg]

Okay, right.
So a looked around a while and figured out that its probably a mortice lever lock.
And depending on the number of levers, CAN be a bastard to pick.
Its usually easier to impression or just take the opposite bolts off the door

It also seems that a lot of the experienced guys on this forum are still figuring it out too.
Perhaps I should wait a while and see what comes out of it
Especially since Im such a beginner

Any corrections?

[Varjeal]

Yeah, if this is on an interior bathroom door, most likely it is a warded lock, which is very easy to pick since it only has "one lever" which is really the bolt. If possible, shine a light in there and see if you can tell. Btw. What does the key look like exactly?

[Greg]

Approximately:

Its about 10 cm (maybe less) in length
On the end it has a base piece for the teeth that sticks out about 1.5 cm and is a little rounded.
The teeth themselves are attached to that piece of metal and have 2 protusions, and 2 trenches - evenly along. Looks like a square wave where the high parts are a bit less than the low parts (if you are looking at the key with the teeth pointing upwards)

Something like this:
(Except the teeth are slightly narrower than shown and I've increased the size of the key bit on the end a little - ASCII art is hard! )

....|-----|
....|-------|
....|-----|
....|-------|
....|-----|
....||
....||
....||
....||
....||
....||
....||
....||
./-----\
.|------|
.\-----/

[Varjeal]

Try a large hook pick (or make one) and reach wayyyyy into the back, and try feeling around for a single "lever" and try moving it. You'll need something rather stiff and strong like a double-ended allen wrench ground down or something similar.

[Greg]

Thanks for the advice

My father has an un-installed lock of the same sort
I'll dismantle it and practice like that

[illusion]

Thanks for the advice

My father has an un-installed lock of the same sort
I'll dismantle it and practice like that

I have advice if u wish 2 hear it.... if u unscrew the cover off of the lock u can see all the mechanisms

problem is when u try and manipulate it the levers will pop out cos part of the casing is gone.... if u take the original piece of casing and use it as a template on a sheet of plexi-glass u can make a see-through cover which is perfect!

i would post some pics of mine but i dnt know how..... hope th@ helped

illusion

[digital_blue]

Illusion, man. I just gotta point something out. Greg's last post was in June of 2004. Most of the people in this thread don't even come here anymore. I'm pretty certain Greg will not be getting your advice.

I do have to compliment you for taking the time to read the old thread tho. You'll learn a lot doing that.

db

[Chrispy]

Wow, another resurrection.

[Shrub]

And i cant beleive no one told him off for picking a lock that is in use and one that isnt his, perhaps the note that he had a simular one in a draw somewhere saved him that

Illusion, to post pics on site you have to get an account at somwhere like photobucket and upload a pic there, you then either post a link to it or use the img links to post it on site so it can be seen

[Shrub]

Also Db is 100% correct, when i fisrt came to site i read the entire thing, ALL posts, i assure you, yes some were boring the hell out of me but i read them none the less,

I cant even begin to state just how much i learnt from that but it was loads and loads, you get to have a feel for the various members as well (not literary of course )

[Greg]

Illusion, man. I just gotta point something out. Greg's last post was in June of 2004. Most of the people in this thread don't even come here anymore. I'm pretty certain Greg will not be getting your advice.

I do have to compliment you for taking the time to read the old thread tho. You'll learn a lot doing that.

db

Well, lucky for him (or me?) I get thread notifications
Thanks for the advice - I've already become pretty good with lockpicking the bunch of locks I have though (but not these wafer locks I was asking about)
I seriously need to find a new challenge without too much cost

And i cant beleive no one told him off for picking a lock that is in use and one that isnt his, perhaps the note that he had a simular one in a draw somewhere saved him that

First of all, where did I say that the installed locks were not my own?
I was interested in taking on the locks in my own house, however my father had a lock similar to my installed ones lying around loose at his place.

Nevertheless, I find it increasingly irritating being accused of illegal activity on this site. It is largely one of the reasons I got bored of coming here.
I simply mention that my father lent me his gate lock to practice on, and he puts it back on his gate.... and I'm suddenly a criminal?

I assure you I only enjoy lockpicking for that challenge and feeling. I'm sure you all know what feeling I'm talking about. It's a hobby, nothing more.

[Shrub]

Get off your high horse,

No one called you a crinimal (or at least i certainly didnt), the lock you initially spoke about WAS in use and the other one WASNT, re-read the part of my post you have quoted you will notice that i said the fact that you suggested playing with a unused lock saved you any flaming as such begineers usually get when posting things like that,

But hey as they say if you cant stand the heat, get out the kitchen.

[Greg]

But hey as they say if you cant stand the heat, get out the kitchen.

I did. And I have nothing to prove by arguing with you. Have fun

[Chrispy]

Shrub was referring to the fact that you were picking a lock that was in use, not that you were picking a lock that you didn't own. Your post insinuated that the lock was installed in your house, and that after receiving advice from Varjeal, you would instead practice on a loose lock that was at your fathers house. No-one said you were a criminal.

Bottom line is illegal behaviour is not tolerated on this site. If you do mention it, you will be reprimanded. In this case, it was simply mis-communication. Now, everybody over it? Good.