raking technique

[pinsetter]

Thanks guys!

I've been getting a lot better at raking now. I can rake most of my locks. There are a couple that don't like the technique still, and those 3 are still locked as they don't like ANY of the techniques, period. I'm still making new picks, right now I'm making some hybrids and a couple different types of rakes. I'll keep up till I get them open. It's a mission!

Oh, and wolfman, ya got any spare C4 layin around just in case I can't get them any other way?

[Wolfman]

Oh, and wolfman, ya got any spare C4 layin around just in case I can't get them any other way?

No. Sorry.

I'm shure your friendly neiborhood arms dealer can help ya out.

[pinhopper]

I have had limited sucess with raking with my Kwick pick, but i find the most successful for me so far is to use a circular kind of motion, and then pull it out fast.

Any other ways people are sucessful with a S-Type rake???

[Bahrg]

I use a homemade version of a bogata rake, but my technique is quite different from what most describe. I actually rake quite slowly so I can feel the pins set. Usually if I cant rake it in about 5 strokes by this method Im not gonna be able anyway. I can always tell when I am nearing pop because it becomes alot harder to rake as more pins set.

[datagram]

OK, I've searched the boards and still can't find the answer I'm looking for:

I can single pin pick most locks fairly easily. I have around 40 locks altogether that I practice on. Of those locks I have 3 that I cannot open.

But here's the thing:

I can't rake open ANY of them!! I have NEVER raked a lock open. I'm desperately wanting to learn how to do this, but I need someone that knows raking well to explain the technique to me. At this point I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Any help and advice greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer!

Well, if you can't open ANY of them, then you either have many high quality locks or your technique is not correct. Basically you just want to apply extremely light torque and gently slide a pick under the pins.

Raking is all about finding the correct torque, so try to concentrate on that and make sure that while raking you aren't getting bottom pins stuck up in the chamers (too much torque) or having nothing bind or set (too little).

I would suggest that you try the different styles of rakes to find what you are most comfortable with. In my personal experience, I've found the C rake (aka Snake) to be the most all-purpose rake. You can experiment with each, and find what you like. In my opinion, success with this technique is more about what you feel most comfortable with when raking, not necessarily the mechanics of each pick. I prefer the snake beacuse its compact and easy to maneuver. Compared with the L rake, you can understand why I might think so.

What type of lock are you trying to practice on? Most Masterlocks and Kwiksets are fairly straightforward to rake.

[Mollywirebandit]

I have found raking to be a very quick and easy way to open non-spool (security) pin tumblers - especially Euro-type cylinders.

My favourite pick for this is the L type pick on the page linked to by clayton1123 on the first page of this topic.

I assume the locks you are having trouble raking are spool pin tumblers, although it is possible it is much more difficult. I guess if you could rake open every type of lock no-one would bother picking!