Penetrating oil?

by **vector40** » 23 Feb 2005 21:21

Picked up a copy (second edition) of The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing from the library (hooray for free things) and have been flipping through it... I noticed this passage, from the section on dealing with padlocks (rekeying and such):

When picking fails (and even the best of locksmiths may occasionally have this problem), use penetrating oil. Yale, Corbin, and ILCO pin-tumbler locks are especially susceptible to penetrating oil.

? Huh?

Any ideas how penetrating oil might serve to open a padlock?

by **WhiteHat** » 23 Feb 2005 21:44

penetrating oil seems to be (google search) a general rust remover and cleaner....

weird that they use the word "suceptable" in that context.

oooo, that rusty metal pipe is suceptable to a penetrating oil attack!!!

anyway - I'm sure chucklz-the-chemistry-dude will pipe up with something about it

by **CaptHook** » 23 Feb 2005 22:07

Wont magically pick the lock...... but will help free any stuck pins due to corrossion, weather etc.
Chuck

by **digital_blue** » 23 Feb 2005 22:39

You mean this isn't a thread about Mazola? Never mind then, I'm in the wrong place.

by **DeadlyHunter** » 23 Feb 2005 23:41

Was it just me or did anyone else think this post was going to be related to ky jelly?

-okay bad joke, i'll go back to picking now...

by **MrB** » 24 Feb 2005 0:16

Godwin's law strikes again...

However, penetrating oil is special because it gets sucked into all the nooks and crannies. This is important because the farthest recesses of a lock are hard to reach from the keyway, so penetrating oil has the best chance of getting right up into the pin chambers.

What all this has to do with the subject is that filling a lock up with penetrating oil is reported to reduce the effect of serrated pins, thus making the lock easier to pick.

by **Chucklz** » 24 Feb 2005 0:17

I had the original idea of replying with some smart a-- comment regarding well, the usual topic anytime an oil in mentioned here. But I think this may be in the same general field as spraying WD40 into locks with serrated pins.

by **DeadlyHunter** » 25 Feb 2005 1:12

Godwin's law strikes again...

did nazis really invent penetrating oil?

by **The Wanderer** » 25 Feb 2005 2:02

The following blurb was made possible because trivia buffs like me, read weird and wonderful books like, The Bathroom Readers' Institute, volume #15. The Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader.

Norm Larsen, a chemist working for the Rocket Chemical Company, had unsuccessfully tested 39 componds that would prevent corrosion and eliminate water from electrical circuitry. In 1953 at number 40 he finally got it right and labeled the compound Water Displacement Formula. Some of the employees pilfered some of the stuff and found it was great for stopping squeaks and UNSTICKING LOCKS. So the Rocket Chemical company decided to market it for home use. The product now called WD-40 hit the shelves in 1958. Today more than a million cans are sold every week.

by **WhiteHat** » 25 Feb 2005 2:11

y'know - for some reasons - locks on chastity belts popped into my head.....

dunno...

by **MrB** » 25 Feb 2005 3:20

DeadlyHunter wrote:
Godwin's law strikes again...

did nazis really invent penetrating oil?

In another thread, we find:

WhiteHat's Revamped Restatement of Godwin's Law of Nazi analogies:
(aka WH's theory of thread degeneration)
As a lp101 discussion thread on any topic grows longer, the probability of degeneration into a discussion about guns, knives, Mazola or Women approaches one.

Demonstrated in this thread when someone mentioned the M word.

Penetrating oil?

Penetrating oil?

WD40

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