Strange Lock - Best brand

[spamonkey8]

I have a Best brand lock I'm toying with. It's got 7 tumblers I can feel and it's a bit tough, but that's not the issue. When I put the key in part-way and put a little torque on it, then push it the rest of the way in, the key won't turn until I let the pressure off, then try again. Is this some sort of pressure-sensitive pin? The very front-most pin is shorter than the rest, if that matters. I don't know how I can pick it without first putting some torque on the cylindar.

Thanks for the help and consideration!

[pickin]

sounds like a spool in a very loose cylinder to me

[spamonkey8]

Any hints as to what I can do to counteract this?

[Dartan]

Like pickin said, it's most likely a spool pin. The way I get around those when picking a lock is to set those first. To pick those I usually push up with light tension and after I feel it click into place, I keep every so slight pressure on the pin and release some pressure from the tension wrench and feel it click up again (past the spool). Some people even overset the spool pins and while holding the pick under the pin release pressuer to let it fall down to the shear line.

I'm sure there are other ways to do it, but that's what works for me.

Dave

[spamonkey8]

Is there any pattern? As in, am I more likely to find them at the front or back? Is there usually only one or might they all be spools?

[pickin]

From what I have read on this forum it seems you can find as many spool pins in your lock as there are pins minus 1. As for their location well it could be anywhere from what I have seen.

To find out more on spool pins do a search on this site for them lots of info out there.

[mcm757207]

Any lock will do this, your just raising the pins past the shear line with the key and because of the pressure the spring force won't push it down to the key again. Nothing to do with spool pins.

[zeke79]

Any lock will do this, your just raising the pins past the shear line with the key and because of the pressure the spring force won't push it down to the key again. Nothing to do with spool pins.

MCM is right. Any lock will do this.

[Dartan]

I stand corrected...try picking the lock normally and if you run into problems with that you can follow the advice on spool pins.

Hey lockpicking elders, do you pick mushroom and serrated pins the same way as spool pins?

Dave

[spamonkey8]

Serrated pins (esp. in combination with serrated cylindars) are quite difficult and resistant to conventional methodology. Bump keys are a good idea. Mushroom pins are dealt with the same way as spools because they're virtually the same thing.

[pizarro]

From what I have read on this forum it seems you can find as many spool pins in your lock as there are pins minus 1.

If you didn't have at least 1 normal pin (you might be able to use a serated pin, but safer not to) the lock barrel could rotate a fraction, binding all the pins (binding them falsly set), and you would not be able to insert you key. Having at least 1 normal pin means that you can't rotate the plug without the key being inserted first, so the spool pins can be lifted straight up and down by the key.

Because of this, the safest spot for the normal driver pin to enable the use of spool pins would be the one at the back of the lock. Although you may have more than 1 normal pin. The reason for this is that it is the last pin top be lifted. If the first pin was the only normal pin, then when you have not fully inserted the key, the first pin could be at the shear line (i.e. as if it was set), thre barrel could turn and falsly set / bind the remaining pins, thus stoppipng you inserting the rest of the key.

[Keyring]

If you didn't have at least 1 normal pin (you might be able to use a serated pin, but safer not to) the lock barrel could rotate a fraction, binding all the pins (binding them falsly set), and you would not be able to insert you key. Having at least 1 normal pin means that you can't rotate the plug without the key being inserted first, so the spool pins can be lifted straight up and down by the key.

I have posted this before but it seems worth mentioning at this point. It is possible to use all spools pins provided the lock mechanism includes a fairly strong spring to return the plug to the position for key insertion. As an example the Abus 85/50 padlock has all five pins as spools. If you force the plug to turn with the tip of the key, the key won't go in. But usually a user will not tend to apply such force. Most cheaper Abus locks however (including the Euro profiles) have one straight pin.

Because of this, the safest spot for the normal driver pin to enable the use of spool pins would be the one at the back of the lock. Although you may have more than 1 normal pin. The reason for this is that it is the last pin top be lifted. If the first pin was the only normal pin, then when you have not fully inserted the key, the first pin could be at the shear line (i.e. as if it was set), thre barrel could turn and falsly set / bind the remaining pins, thus stoppipng you inserting the rest of the key.

Although I completely agree with your reasoning on this, almost every lock I have encountered which has just one straight pin, has it at the front position. I don't really know why; it's just what I've observed.