European hardware -lever locks, profile cylinders specific for European locks. European lock picks and European locks.
by mh » 15 May 2006 6:29
greyman wrote:What's interesting is there's a little ring made of steel (I think) in the bottom of the housing for each rotor. The magnet is attracted to this ring and this keeps the rotors from popping out of their holes to grab the rotor next to them. Because it's a ring, I guess it doesn't affect the rotation that you need for the key to work. Without these little rings, it would be a nightmare to assemble the plug - the magnets are so strong that you can't bring them within 2 cm of each other or they stick together.
I don't have these rings in my lock (shown at the top of this thread), I guess it's an older version. Somehow it's still possible to insert the rotors without them, but I would assume that EVVA has special grabbing tools in their factory.
What I would like to know is whether they always use only 8 different magnet positions, or if there are locks with different key/magnet angles. (Which would be of course difficult to check, as I would need many keys for that...)
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mh
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by mh » 14 Jun 2006 18:41
eric343 wrote:I have two MCS locks in front of me (keyed differently) that have both sliders and balls. I'll post pictures when I have time to shoot some...
That would indeed be excellent 
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by eric343 » 19 Jun 2006 17:46
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by mh » 19 Jun 2006 18:00
Wow, great!
Thanks a lot for that picture!
But am I right to assume that there is only 1 ball in there, one that keeps the key in while the plug is turned? I.e. if you detect the ball in the lock, you would know where to make a notch in the key, and there is no doubt about the shape & size of that notch?
Maybe the ball is always in the same position anyway?
BTW, are the sliders blocking if there's no key in the lock?
Or would they move to the right position automatically?
I'm asking because I can't see a stop at which they could block in the picture.
Thanks,
mh
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by eric343 » 20 Jun 2006 14:29
There are 2 balls; the second is smaller and near the tip of the key (almost impossible to see).
The sliders definitely block when there is no key in the lock. They can be picked, however -- they're rather like a wafer lock design.
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by greyman » 26 Jun 2006 7:00
Eric343, thanks for the photo. Fabulous lock. Can you tell us a bit more about the internal consctruction viz, the sliders, as you refer to them. How many sliders are there and where are they located? Are there only 2 depths of cut or is it more? Where on earth did you get this lock from (and what's it called?). So many questions...
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by mh » 26 Jun 2006 7:51
The sliders are a part of the current version of this lock; personally, I find the magnetic rotors even more interesting. More about this (incl. name of the lock = "EVVA MCS" etc.) can be found at the top of this thread.
mh
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mh
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by mh » 20 May 2007 1:44
Here's another cutaway for sale on ebay -
not the EVVA MCS, but the similar Zeiss Ikon M = Magnetsystem:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0115506260
Look at the list of bidders, obviously, it will go to one of the usual suspects
Cheers,
mh
"The techs discovered that German locks were particularly difficult" - Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton w. Henry R. Schlesinger, Spycraft: The secret history of the CIA's spytechs from communism to Al-Qaeda (New York: Dutton, 2008), p. 210
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by n2oah » 20 May 2007 10:23
Is that a factory cutaway?
"Lockpicking is what robbing is all about!" says Jim King.
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by mh » 20 May 2007 10:49
n2oah wrote:Is that a factory cutaway?
The text doesn't state that. mh
"The techs discovered that German locks were particularly difficult" - Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton w. Henry R. Schlesinger, Spycraft: The secret history of the CIA's spytechs from communism to Al-Qaeda (New York: Dutton, 2008), p. 210
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by n2oah » 27 May 2007 14:13
mh wrote:n2oah wrote:Is that a factory cutaway?
The text doesn't state that. mh
Its a nice lock nonetheless!
"Lockpicking is what robbing is all about!" says Jim King.
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by mh » 1 Mar 2008 5:00
I can't believe it, some !@%#%$# puts spam into my very first lp101 post 
"The techs discovered that German locks were particularly difficult" - Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton w. Henry R. Schlesinger, Spycraft: The secret history of the CIA's spytechs from communism to Al-Qaeda (New York: Dutton, 2008), p. 210
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by Rickthepick » 23 Mar 2010 8:05
i got to play with a factory cutaway at the last lockshow
These locks are truly awesome and id love to get my hands on a secondhand one to have a play.
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by huxleypig » 7 Mar 2011 14:34
Hey Rick. Ur close to me I think, Mids, UK? We shud meet up sometime dude.
Anyway, the MCS, I got to have a play with one at the weekend. It was a cutaway and it was poetry in motion to watch the little discs rotating round to the real gates when you put the real key in. What a beautiful lock! Apparently the discs scramble to random places when you take the key out. Sorta pickled my head. I cud understand if the magnets turned the discs thru the same number of degrees each time but this aint the case.
Having a lock that is supposedly unpickable give a tantalising challenge but where to start with this beast! The technology behind it is 30 odd years old supposedly! Incredible to think it's still unpicked.
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by brand33 » 20 Mar 2013 6:08
I'm impressed... the photos are good, and it's well explained.
A wondeful post, and a great lock.
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