Starting Lock Advice

[hbergren]

Hi,

I did a search for this and didn't find any topics, so excuse me if this has already been asked.

I just started lockpicking today, and attempted to pick a Schlage deadbolt I have lying around with very little success. Should I go out and buy a Kwikset deadbolt to practice on? And is it common to remove pins from a lock when starting out to get a better feel for lockpicking or is it better to just go for the whole lock from the start?

[MacGnG1]

get a kwikset knock off double deadbolt at home depot for 10-12$ and you can repin one side and keep the other side fully pinned. that should be good to start you off for a bit. also buy a master lock #3.

[hbergren]

Thanks for the advice and quick response.

I was planning on going to Home Depot today, but I didn't have a good idea of what to look for. Having a double deadbolt where I could keep one side fully pinned would definitely be useful.

I guess I'm going to home depot tomorrow.

[MortimerDuke]

In case it doesn't look obvious to you in the store, the Home Depot's Kwikset knockoffs are called Defiant. Might as well pick up one of the bigger Master Locks ( #5 or Magnum) while you're there, because picking the Defiant will whet your appetite for more. Good luck.

[clearmoon247]

I have to say, through personal experience, this is my attack plan. Firstly, I got a couple of different padlocks (different keyways). A great place to get padlocks to practice on is storage facilities. You can call them up, ask them to hold all of the cut locks that they have rather than throw them away. This is great because they are normally free, and have no key. They wont secure anything anymore, but, they wont need to. From there, if you have the time and patients, ebay. On ebay, I got an arrow brand cylinder for $5 bucks, its a 62 pin lock that is very well made. Then I got a modified schlage lock cylinder that uses screw caps for repinning. It also came with a number of spool pins and assorted driver and key pins. That was $22 on ebay, which is very similar to the ultimate practice cylinder, but half the cost, is 5 pin, not 6, and has roughly the same number of extra pins. After you are comfortable with full sets of spool pins, I would recommend either a medeco biaxial cylinder or schlage primus. I went with medeco, because of cost, $20 on ebay. That's where im at now. Best of luck to you and your endevors

[Darkness1569]

This is a great place to start.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10715

It helped me.

[atticRR]

definately take all the above advice. A kwikset is indeed a great starter, very easy to pick and it helps build confidence- very important. Also check out Beginner's Lockpicking Exercise - by digital_blue, the link is here:

http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10677

Read through all the stickies in the "pick-fu -do...not try" section, there is some really really great stuff in there. For me i gained a lot of skill by simply having a lock in hand, exploring. Count the pins with the pick, feel the tension, compress the springs, just feel up that lock, use the tools... Its so awesome when you have the breakthrough that allows you to know whats going on in the lock and better still when you start opening locks consistently. I hope you perservere and really get into this hobby!

Let us know how it goes!

R

[smhatter]

Another nice one is the Brinks double sided deadbolts. They are also cheap, but there are a few nice things (in my opinion) going for them. Each of the two lock cylinders comes with a couple security pins (the spindle type). Take those out, and combine all the standard pins from the two bolts into one. Now you have a great starting point, and also have 4 security pins you can practice on later when you want to.

I also like that they don't use a spring clip to hold it together (I find them kind of annoying to get on and off). Instead they use a threaded back cap with a retaining pin. I ended up buying to sets, just so I could have a few progressively pinned cylinders around. I'm not sure where all they are sold, but I got mine at Wal-Mart.