OH WHAT A NIGHT

[0161 locksmiths]

i was tucked up in bed fast asleep in bed at 2 oclock this morning when the phone rung aguy had lost his keys while he was out and needed to get in his house in didsbury i arrived at about 2.45ish and hed told me only the yale lock was on,me with a smug smirk on my face thought this will be easymoney and should be back in my bed fairly soon i pulled out my mica and tried slipping the lock 10 minutes later i gave up the frame was so close to the door i had no chance still half asleep i started trying to pick it using my trusty hpc gun and even tried manual picking this lock would not pick the customer was starting to wonder who the hell hed called out and i was getting more and more wound up i went back to the van and found my letter box tool i quickly put it together and placed it through the letter box trying to pull down the latch after a minute or so of franticly pulling down there was a thud behind the door i pulled out the lbt id obviously not pushed together the extensions properly and the top half had fallen off behind the door by now i was embarrased to be there and resorted to drilling out the pins which i hate doing just as id drilled the last pin my head torch started dimming the batteries were flat.i quickly opened the door grabbed my lbt extension,replaced the cylinder gave the guy his bill chucked my tools in the back of the van and hurried home to bed embarrased and very pi..ed off i knew i shouldnt of answered that bloody phone

[ThE_MasteR]

How long is it your picking > Or are you a locksmith since that's your name

[toomush2drink]

You say you were trying to pull down the latch, wernt you using the wire and loop provided to prevent the problem you had ? Get yourself a camera and mini tv for your letterbox tool and things like this have less chance of happening.

[0161 locksmiths]

no i wasnt i think by then id got to wound up it was one of those jobs where anything i tried seem to go wrong.pinky also mentioned getting a mini camera i think that will be next priority any place you could recommend me trying many thanks

[pinky]

you get them off of ebay, type in wire free mini cctv camera, make sure you get the one with LED, and it will cost about £20 for camera and reciever.

pick gun and hand picks wernt mentioned ?? i can advise the wendt gun for these troublesome ones.

[0161 locksmiths]

i heard alot about this wendt pick gun i think it will be a must for my toolbox sometimes i struggle with the hpc gun.i will go on ebay later and get one thanks pinky i also need to chill out i think once i get wound up on a job like that it makes it worse

[toomush2drink]

One tip i have on the camera and that is to just use a lead straight into the tv. It saves on batteries and time setting up and also sometimes the recievers can be affected by intereference meaning you spend ages trying to tune it in.

[haribo]

When i use mica on a tight fitting door i spray a little wd40 on the front half it gives it that little help it needs sometimes. Also holding the door by the letterbox and moving it back and forth can produce results. If you are going to use the letterbox tool definately get cctv and chuck away the mirror you get if you haven't lost it all ready. I have found an old timing belt works better than the kit you are provided with gives you more control when using on knob type nightlatches.

[vector40]

If I can momentarily hijack this thread, I have a question for the Briton lockies... I always hear about mica being used on euro-cylinder mechanisms. Are these never deadlatched or something?

[pinky]

many are deadlatched, but the great british public being as they are, buy a really good cylinder and fit it with their old non deadlatching nightlatch, that or they cut costs and buy cheap, god bless them all.

[panalman]

i heard alot about this wendt pick gun i think it will be a must for my toolbox sometimes i struggle with the hpc gun.i will go on ebay later and get one thanks pinky i also need to chill out i think once i get wound up on a job like that it makes it worse

I once struggled with the HPC but after watching a demo on a very expensive alternative I picked up a few tips on tension and I duplicated this with the HPC and Yales are no longer a problem and to convince myself I bought a Yale X5 6 pin high security anti pick/anti drill high performance cylinder with a 100,000 key combinations to-day and opened it in around 60 seconds!!!!! I am very pleased with myself to say the least.

Before you blow your money on the Wendt get yourself some more practise on the HPC you may surprise yourself as I did it can open a lot more than you think and to be quite frank if it wasn't for the fact that I saw a certain person defeat 2 decent locks with one whilst on warrents with him I would have thrown the HPC in the bin but it just goe's to show how wrong one can be.
No disrepect to the Wendt its a very good tool as we all know but like any thing its only as good as the person who is useing it.

[nhughz]

Hi All

I agree with the above post to a degree but many people will say they open the same cylinders alot quicker with the Wendt gun as well as opening cylinders they could not open with the HPC gun. But don't write off the HPC gun, it is a good tool.

nathan.

[panalman]

Hi All

I agree with the above post to a degree but many people will say they open the same cylinders alot quicker with the Wendt gun as well as opening cylinders they could not open with the HPC gun. But don't write off the HPC gun, it is a good tool.

nathan.

Hi Nathan,
I was not suggesting the HPC was equal to the Wendt as judging by the amount of posts on this forum on the Wendt pick. It is superior to the HPC.

I was just making a point that with practise the HPC can open locks that were perhaps not thought possible and some people will just give up and go out and spend money on a tool that is better but without putting in the time it takes to develop a reliable technique they will never really benefit from the full potential of that tool.

Another thing worth mentioning is with all cordless tools it’s a must to have the batteries fully charged at all times to get the best performance. Especially from a tool as the electric pick, as it needs the maximum power to separate those pins rapidly to get any chance of hitting the shear line especially on the more secure locks which will put up a fight and take a bit more from your power reserve.

[capt.dunc]

panalman you said,

I once struggled with the HPC but after watching a demo on a very expensive alternative I picked up a few tips on tension and I duplicated this with the HPC

care to share these tips with the group? here, or put them in the auto/mech tool section.

i agree with you the hpc does work, but like all tools and techniques it requires practice.

[acl]

I for one havent used a hpc for many years,i have used an Orion gun for the last 4 years and its done me proud(not entirely cordless as the gun runs of a 12v battery) i must admit i thought this gun couldnt be beaten as it did "most " cylinders
I (like a few notable others) am a sucker for a new toy so when the Wendt gun became available i was having it whatever,and i can honestly say it was the best investment ive made.A few good lockies on this site have said they used to feel a little nervous when they saw a GeGe or Corbin cylinder or the like but now with the Wendt they are not bothered in the slightest and i agree ,no normal 5 or 6 pin cylinder gives me any worries any more i KNOW itll be open in under 5 mins.
Andy