slim line v standard southord

[blatantlydan]

Hiya all,quite confident i had a good look on this subject,but with no results.
Ive been following this site for a month or two now and have found it v.educational.My questions are this,Is there very much difference in the Southord slimline range and there standard pickset range,(from a uk point of view)Slim lines im led to believe,will cover padlocks & smaller locks.But are they suitable for your average yale,5pin tumbler locks?The other question im more concerned about is ordering these piks without fear of of a knock on the door from the local police.Im 29yrs old and have been a restoring furniture for ten yrs now(successfully),and with the bottom falling out of the furniture market here atm,im starting to consider a back up career.At 19 at the end of a particulary bad wk i ended up with a conviction for possesion of cannabis.After giving this up nearly 5 yrs ago would i be wrong in thinking
that my my conviction would seriously impair any chance of becoming a
proffesional locksmith?.Or more to the point would my ordering these picks
cause me,my daughter an missus more agro than is entirely needed?.ps strong subjects asside i find this site fascinating,but not as daunting as the site of the ingersol padlock i jus took apart(side arms?10 levers?!)hope you all help me on my way,byeee
keep upo the good work all

[Chrispy]

Slimlines can fit in locks that standards can't. Slimlines will also pick whatever lock you would've picked with standards anyway. They are definitely a better choice. Just don't be too heavy-handed with them, they'll snap easier.

And being caught with some weed will have no effect on you becoming a locksmith.

[sivlogkart]

Chrispy is right. However, many locks that people think can only be picked with slimline picks can in fact be picked with normal picks if you have a torsion tool with a small hook and place it at the other end of the keyway. So my point is which you need is also a function of your picking style too.

I do not give slimline picks to beginners, as they can break in their hands. If I can see a lock can be picked with normal picks I use them, but as Chrispy says the slimline are more general.

Trak

[blatantlydan]

Thankyou both for your advice.After waying it up i decided to go
for a standard 20 piece set from devon locks.Havent got em yet,ive
just orderd them today,friendly ppl tho.
My reasons for going for these was that i do sometimes use a tension tool
at the top of the keyway(with some luck)I can be a bit heavy handed
(This kit comes with a broken key extractor by the way)
But mainly because i do intend to build the tools up as i start(hopefully!)
to get better,so at some point i will go for the slimlines.I just put together
a practice board from a load of locks ive got from various house clearances
over time,so come saturday(post providing)il be having hrs of fun
Thanks again to both of you ,sound advice,duly noted!

[sivlogkart]

Have fun!

Trak