Corbin

[Inphenity]

hello everyone .. this is my first post .. ive been lurking for a while and finally decided to join.. anyway i picked up a practice lock from a friend of mine not to long ago and this thing has been giving me a really hard time .. ive had it for about a month and ive only opened it 2 times .. (playing with it off and on) its a corbin lock and when you look into the keyway you can see what looks like round balls sitting on top of the pins (think ball bearings) im guessing this is some sort of security feature .. i also think it has spool/mushroom pins any tips on picking this beast?
i have a pic of it but i took it with my 2 year old camera phone so the quality is horrid



and while im at it here are some low quality shots of my homemade hacksaw blade pics



thanks to pyro for making the video that made those pics possible and thanks in advance for any replies[/img]

[Inphenity]

on a side note .. i do have a little experiance picking .. so far my list of picked locks includes a cheap brass 5pin padlock .. an master lock with a long shackle that i cant seem to id .. a key in knob quickset and another no name key in knob that was harder than the quickset

[skold]

Thsi lock, you say has ball bearings above the pins... this came from a ball bearing master system which are commonly found in hotels.

[Inphenity]

ah .. i was wondering what the deal with that was .. ive never seen that before ... any idea about security pins? and how to beat them? .. also how difficult would you guys rate this lock?

[skold]

Security pins can be defeated by several types of rakes or by single pin picking, i don't find security pins much of a problem, if you want to find out whats inside, take the cover of the top where the pins are loaded and check whats inside

[mikeg]

[quote="Inphenity"]ah .. i was wondering what the deal with that was .. ive never seen that before ... any idea about security pins? and how to beat them? .. also how difficult would you guys rate this lock?[/quote]





The balls were origanly used to keep the pins from wearing too quick.
They are still available from Corbin. I still use them (from an old supply) because the locks I deal with see at least 500 openings a day. You can see the wear on a pin (usually the two front pins) on a cylinde that sees a lot of use. It is still easier to cut a key than to rekey a cylinder, especially a Corbin master ring.
Mike

[Romstar]

ah .. i was wondering what the deal with that was .. ive never seen that before ... any idea about security pins? and how to beat them? .. also how difficult would you guys rate this lock?

The balls were origanly used to keep the pins from wearing too quick.
They are still available from Corbin. I still use them (from an old supply) because the locks I deal with see at least 500 openings a day. You can see the wear on a pin (usually the two front pins) on a cylinde that sees a lot of use. It is still easier to cut a key than to rekey a cylinder, especially a Corbin master ring.


Mike

Now THAT is what I call an impressive first post. Got that one nailed down in one shot.

Excellent,
Romstar

[skold]

wow...

[Cypherninja]

I just got several old Yale locks which have ball bearings in them as well. I haven't tried picking them yet, so I don't know about security pins, but the keyway is VERY paracentric. They're going to be a challenge regardless of the pins.



BTW, their labels stated them as being meant for office doors, and are the cylinder in knob type.

[Inphenity]

id like to add another wow to the list

[Jarod]

i just got 3 corbin ic locks (4 if you don't count the leverset without a core) and my problem is it won't come apart, i've heard that i need a "control key" to remove the core, but i don't even have a change key or a blank. what do you guys think i could do?

[picksmith]

Pick it to the control line (it turns to the right only for a control shear line)
Peterson makes a tension tool for this. http://www.peterson-international.com/i-CORE.htm you could also drill to the right side (no i mean the left -- thanks locksmistress for catching that) of the figure eight (be careful not to hit the cyl) if the core is the only thing you want out of the lock.

[mcm757207]

I think way back when pin-tumbler locks were fairly new, the pins were cut out of stock metal rod, and instead of filing and beveling each pin individually, they put a ball baring underneith to allow the movement of the key in and out.

[Romstar]

I think way back when pin-tumbler locks were fairly new, the pins were cut out of stock metal rod, and instead of filing and beveling each pin individually, they put a ball baring underneith to allow the movement of the key in and out.

You mean somewhere before 1850-1860 when Linus Yale Jr. pattented his improved pin-tumble design?

Or perhaps before that? Before the Corbin company was making pin-tumbler locks?

Romstar

[picksmith]

Perhaps he's talking about the ones in egypt. Actually Yale was using this design quite a long time ago. I have an ad for yale somewhere from around 1928 that shows a cutaway with ball bearings under the pins. I think it was wearing the key out too fast due to the steel bearings, but don't quote me on this. I know Mongul prison type locks are still using the ball bearings in some of their locks to improve key and pin life. Not really sure what Corbin used them for or when.