Yeah, there are only a few main types of lock... all of which easily identifiable by the keyway and/or type of key. You have:
- Pin tumblers, which are obvious
- Dimple locks, same as pin tumbler but with horizontal keyways (except Kaba)
- Cruciform, a type of pin tumbler lock with 4 sides... they have a keyway shaped like a cross or plus sign
- Wafer locks are easily spotted because of their
keyway. For some applications though, ie. car locks, they have a spring loaded dust cover.
- Warded are easy, you have one right in front of you... although this type of mechanism isn't limited to padlocks; you may see them on very old doors or cabinets where they'll look more like the stereotypical old "peep through" keyholes. These can be simple or complicated, there is a great article on them around the forums here somewhere.
- Disc detainers have a very distinct
keyway. These have a series of rotating discs which interact with a sidebar, when all the gates in each disc line up correctly the sidebar retracts into the groove and allows the sleeve to rotate and operate the cam. Although the cheaper ones are very easy to pick, we can't tell you how because then you would also be able to pick abloy and steal lots of gold.
- Lever locks are first identified by the keyway. Again, they resemble the "peep-through" keyhole but instead of a warding + bolt mechanism they use spring loaded levers with gates cut out of them. When the key is turned, all the gates align and a stump on the bolt is allowed to pass through. If any of the levers are raised incorrectly, the stump is blocked and the bolt can't move.
Single bitted lever locks typically contain between 2 and 5 levers. These can have false gates, and higher security models also incorporate a curtain, which is a rotating metal sleeve at the top of the keyway which fits snug around the key post and is intended to block picks from getting at the levers. There are special tools for these, however.
- Tubular locks, everyone has seen these on vending machines and require no explanation.
So there ya go, that covers the main ones. Hope this helps... I would have included more pictures but I'm too hungry for that right now.
