Best SFIC Strangeness

[Octillion]

Before I say anything, I should mention that I am a beginner (<2 months), so I am naive and my ignorance will show below. So please don't be afraid to be very descriptive in any helpful post you may have...

Here is the deal; I've got a 7-pin I-core Best lock that I need some help figuring out. I'm usually able to pick the lock using a paper clip as a torque wrench, where I bend the tip of the paper clip and stick the bent end into one of the re-keying holes on the bottom of the inner cylinder. Depending on how good I make the paper clip torque wrench, I can pick it in about 10 seconds... The first time I tried this, I saw a picture of an I-core tension tool on Peterson's website (http://peterson-international.com/i-CORE.htm). I thought, "hey, I see how that works, I bet I can just do the same thing with a bent paper clip shoved in there," and sure enough it worked in the first 45 seconds I tried it. But I had some trouble making other paper clip wrenches work. Strangely it often takes a few tries at making a paper clip wrench to get one that actually works, and I've yet to find a method for consistently getting a good wrench. But a good wrench will only last about 5 tries before it craps out. I just got real lucky on my first try, otherwise I would have figured that special tool was required. But despite this, I bought all three i-core wrenches from Peterson, figuring that they would work all the time, rather than me having to go through 5 or 10 paper clips to get one to work.

As it turns out, I have yet to get any of the Peterson wrenches to work on any best locks, but paper clips still work OK. Anyone have a clue why? The Peterson wrenches are significantly more expensive than a few paper clips, I was hoping that would convert to ease of use. Nope, I'm an ignorant newbie.

The other thing I have noticed is the paper clip always picks the operation shear line, never the control shear line. I originally expected to pick the control shear line, but I have no clue how I am managing to pick only the operation shear line without the control shear line interfearing (so long as it is a "good" wrench).

(By the way, is torque wrench proper terminology, or is it strictly tension wrench? I prefer torque wrench, because that is what it is actually doing, but I wouldn't want to offend anyone if tension wrench is firmly accepted as the correct word to use)

Thanks

[vector40]

You're picking the control line because that's what those specialized tension tools apply pressure to. That's the whole point -- rather than giving it indiscriminate tension and maybe getting one shearline, maybe the other, and most likely getting a mix, you're focusing it on only the control shearline. I don't know of a trick to focus on operating, although some people say it tends to come up more (when using an ordinary wrench) anyway.

Both terminologies are fine, by the way.

[Omikron]

You're picking the control line because that's what those specialized tension tools apply pressure to. That's the whole point -- rather than giving it indiscriminate tension and maybe getting one shearline, maybe the other, and most likely getting a mix, you're focusing it on only the control shearline. I don't know of a trick to focus on operating, although some people say it tends to come up more (when using an ordinary wrench) anyway.

Both terminologies are fine, by the way.

Actually vector40, you've got it backwards.

He's saying that much to his dismay, he's only able to pick the OPERATING shear line, and never the control.

Perhaps the paperclip tensioner is somehow putting more pressure on the plug than on the housing?

[vector40]

Er. Hmm.

Then I can only assume your paper clips are working as ordinary tensors.

[grit1]

Can you by any chance post a picture of one of your paper-clip tensors? I will have to try your method on some cores and see what happens. Depending on the keyway of the core you're working with, by anchoring the end of your paper clip in a control-sleeve hole you may be putting a great deal of tension on the bottom warding of the regular plug, therefore putting tension on the operating and control shear lines since they can't be seperated when applying torque in this fashion. It could be that you're getting lucky with your core, and that it's "personality" allows it to be picked easily from the operating shear line. ~Grit.

[Octillion]

I should also mention that regular torque wrenches also don’t work. I can feel all the pins set, but they never do so at the same shear line.

Here is a picture of the lock:


Here is a picture of the worthless Peterson tools (3 sizes):


Here is a picture of my fancy home made wrenches:


They look so pathetic I'm surprised they work.

[grit1]

Just out of curiosity, when you pick your lock, which way does it turn [clockwise or counter-clockwise]? ~Grit.

[Octillion]

Clockwise.

Also, I forgot to mention, sometimes I'll stick both ends of the paperclip in, with both ends bent down and shoved into a hole in the sleeve. I had attempted to solder two ends of a paperclip together to try and make a permanent wrench before buying the peterson tools, but it was not successful.