totally new to this.

[hybridvirus]

Im really new to picking and I need to know some things, if people wouldn't mind sharing. I only started last night.
Ok, so, I'm under the impression that Schlage ( i forget the spelling) locks are hard to pick? I'm not sure. But for me being a beginner I'm sure thats probably gonna be troublesome... My back door has a deadbolt lock of that brand on it.
I Visited howstuffworks.com and soon thereafter found myself picking at the backdoor with no real results. I grabbed a flathead screwdriver and tried to use that like a torque wrench to move the shear point so when i pushed the pins up they hit the shear edge and stay up. ( i got some pins to stay up when i raked the lock, and i tried lifting the remaining pins but it was really hard trying to use that flathead screwdriver and the noobie pick i made. I used a paper clip which i bent as best i could to resemble some pick tools I saw while browsing online that night. I bent the tip with a pair of flathead screwdrivers so the head of the clip resembles a shallow V at the end.
I read the basics on how to pick.. but theres still sooo much more i dont know.
I need advice on how to macguyver some picking tools from common objects...
I need to know about things like the order of picking each pin.. if there are orders...
and strengths of pins and everything...
Could someone maybe take me under their wing? maybe?
or direct me to places...?
i need more knowledge on locks and picking, any way i can get it.

and.. please try to be nice... lol... im new.

[Wolfy]

Don't worry it will come to u eventualy.
There is lots of good information on the forum, But the main thing is to be patiant. It took me a while to first get it, but i got there.
If u go here
[url]http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=10715[/url]
U will find all the information u need in a nutshell,
The people here are great and u will soon be on your way to picking

[hybridvirus]

Alrighty.

I made pressure wrench on my own from the metal peice of a pen, and im still using a paperclip pic but its shaped differently now, more of a hook.
how much pressure do you apply when you keep the cylinder sheered?
Is pressure applied to sheer related to the pins and their tumbling?

The first pin on my backdoor has a hard time staying up, what can be the causes of this?

[Krypos]

ok as for tension, you want real light tension, like, depending on the lock you can barely even rest your finger on it and its enough, others, you need to pick it and then replace the tension wrench with a screwdriver to finish turning it. start VERY light and slowly work your way up if necessary.

also, paperclips suck. we all tried it once (or longer) and so we all know where you're coming from, but if your gonna make your own for now, then try to get going on a benchgrinder/dremel with wiper inserts or street sweeper bristles or hacksaw blades. the paperclip is not strong enough to successfully pick (95% of the time) or what i did till i got real picks, cuz i dont have a dremel/benchgrinder, i used the same pen clippy thing and a hairpin, i bent that out and around to make a double sided pick and that worked ok for a hairpin. (beware, i stabbed my thumb and puntured it deep trying to bend some hairpins, it bled like crazzzzzy)

also, make sure to go here:

viewtopic.php?t=10528

if you havent already, it will explain a lot also.

lastly, dont pick locks you rely on, and solve this problem by going to your local hardware store and pick up some cheap deadbolts, that will alow you to follow digital blues beginner exercise, this is an awesome tool. and having locks that you can disassemble will let you have a deeper understanding of the lock in itself.

good luck!

[Shrub]

You know i have never tried picking locks with anything other than lockpicks, it seems strange i know but thats the way it is i suppose its because i didnt start doing it as a fun thing and thus went and bought the right tools to begin with,

Its all been said before but click my picture if you want a reminder,

[unbreakable]

No one said "dont pick locks you rely on!"

Now that thats outta the way, like the others said try making some real picks, and get a practice lock.

Welcome to the site.

[Shrub]

Ahem,

lastly, dont pick locks you rely on,

[hybridvirus]

thanks you guys =)
i love this forum, people are so helpful. Yea i moved away from the paper clip, and i grabbed a masterlock no3 from my backyard. I'm now using a safety pin. Its more stronger than a paperclip and works way better.
I've succesfully picked the masterlock 3 times. People said its got alot to do with luck at first, and yea 2 times i can see that, but for one of the 3 times i picked it, i really had the feel going down and i was focused.. i did it in under like 4-5 mins.. which is good for me. Its weird though, cause I don't use the bent side that much to pick the no3 lock. I just use the straight needle side.
Ok.. yea.. ive been pressing pretty hard get the sheer edge... noob.. heh. thats why i'm hereeee. lol.

"don't pick locks you rely on"

Do you wear down your locks or something when you pick them?

[UWSDWF]

there is a disgustingly long list of things that can (and as most of us know will) go wrong

Anything from your "pick" breaking to over turning the cylinder and hearing the weird noise of the top pins falling in to the keyway or jamming a spring or...or... or....ect

The thing is nothing may go wrong but since you NEED the lock if something happens you're screwed and have to go buy a new one while (insert lock area) is unsecure or worse not able to be opened.




The moral of the story is I have a realitivly new deadbolt on my house dorr and the GF was none too impressed either

[Squelchtone]

"don't pick locks you rely on"

Do you wear down your locks or something when you pick them?

I have to say that you are possibly the smartest noobie I've seen here in a while. That's an excellent question for you to ask, and it shows that you're actually thinking and not just gung-ho on learning mad l33t ninja picking skills in 1 hour or less.

I know a lot of us who have been here a while shout out "don't pick locks you rely on" but what we don't do is add a simple line that says "since you're new to picking, something you haven't learned about yet may go wrong inside the lock, the lock pins might jam, your pick might break off inside, and now you're either in trouble with your parents, or paying your landlord or a locksmith lots of money to install a new lock or fix the broken one.

I noticed you got your Master No.3 from the back yard. I think it would be good to put it back on the gate or the shed you got it from, go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart and gaze in wonder at the wall of padlocks. They're like $5 dollars each and now you'll have your very own lock you can keep in your room and not worry that someone's stealing your lawnmower at night because you're using your shed's lock to practice with.

As for your original question. I'm not sure wear down is the right wording, but when you are new and learning to pick, I see a lot of people enter the keyway at the wierdest angles, way too much tension, and they jab around inside hoping something will make the lock open.

I know when I used to rake really hard in the beginning, I would see little metal flakes on my finger tips and on the keyway. This metal dust could potentially fill the lock, and one day your own keys don't even work as well as they use to, and you can end up breaking a key.

Sometimes the springs above the pins get screwed up, sometimes a pin drops into the lock wards, sometimes your pick goes too deep and the latch mechanism or cam can get moved out of place.. All sorts of bad things can happen. Then you're sitting there locked out of your house thinking.. .. that wasn't a great idea, I'll just practice on my padlocks from now on, or door locks that aren't mounted in a door that I need to use.

I hope this explains where we're coming from when we tell n00bs not to pick locks they rely on.

Squelchtone

[Krypos]

case and point:

Hi,

So, I fell in love with lockpicking during the HOPE conference. I arrived home about an hour ago and thought "I should pick the door to my apartment, what a clever thing to tell my friends who have just dropped me off when we are all talking about the conference later on"

Let me be clear:
I didn't try to pick the street door (not looking to cause myself or anyone else trouble) and my apartment is one of 2 in this building, the other being my landlords. I just don't want anyone to think the ignorant part of this post is that I'm opening picking locks in public, or something of the like.

The ignorant part is this:
I got in! Sort of...the lock (deadbolt, nothing special, not sure of the brand) spun freely, halfway around, then stuck again. Seemed odd and wasn't something I had heard of (but I assume there is a TON I've never even imagined about locks) so I spun it back around, grabbed my key and went to enter my apartment, seemingly defeated.

Well, I sure was defeated, not only didn't I get in with the picks, but now the key will not work in the lock. It simply won't spin. My hope is that this is some weird fluke and something to do with...well, with something I'm hoping is benign.

Happily, I had another place to crash and I have a roomate (didn't want to wake him, so I went elsewhere). I also have another way in, but it would have woken said roomate, so I didn't bother.

I just want to know: Have I broken this lock? Or is it a fluke?

Any opinions would be appreciated! (Even if they are simply opinions on my behavior...)

Thanks

less than a month ago we had a new user post this, adn we tried what we could to help him fix it, eventually i think he got it to work, but had to get a new lock.

[VashTSPD]

I have to say that you are possibly the smartest noobie I've seen here in a while.

I second that

[hybridvirus]

=) haha thanks you guys.

Yea i notice flaking and thought " ok that can't be good."
It's just a spare masterlock in the backyard, we don't use it.
I don't use locks I rely on ever since i heard you guys mentioned it.
Lol, theres veterans of picking here and they know what they're doing,
I take their words seriously.
I'm here to soak up all the knowledge I can, and make some friends.
You can get way more from human interaction, then just reading text.. Least it's like that for me. Im just gonna keep picking, and every time I get a new question I'm going to come back to this post. Don't wanna clog the forums lol.
People say theres no better way to learn then to go out there and do it, and I think that the combo of field experience, and you guys helping me with questions I have when they arise will be good.

I have some issues to work out with right now though:
My safety pin pick isn't really hard enough. What worries me when I pick is that I'm really new, so the I can't distinguish well enough between the pressure of the pins and springs and the normal flexing of the safety pin when i put pressure on it. I'm going to have to go to the shop grind down one of those hacksaw blades into a pick. Any suggestions on that?

As for the flaking, I thank you for mentioning the problems that occur from this. I never thought of that. *Slaps head* That kinda stuff is the bits of smarts I wanna get, and I think I can get them here, you guys are really helpful.

Lets see what else am I having probs with...
I've never worked with an exposed lock, so I have probs visualising.

see a lot of people enter the keyway at the wierdest angles, way too much tension, and they jab around inside hoping something will make the lock open.

My technique is to run my pick along the surface where the pins come out from, when I hit a pin, I follow the pin down until I feel where it stops, and I put my pick up under it and try to work it up past the shear. Then I do the same thing, and slide my pick along the surface until I hit the next pin, and do the same process. It helps also to catch if a previous pin fell back down, or isn't all the way up.
What angles and techniques should I know about?
How should I begin my approach?

My tension wrench is from a pen clip, i took it off and bent it and I stick it in and give tension with my thumb, or index finger. The plate that goes in interferes with my picking because I try to use the outside edge of the lock as a fulcrum, to push the pins up, and wind up hitting my tension tool.
This is probably a very stupid way of doing it, but my pick is hard to work with because it flexes when I try to just lift the pins, and I think the spring strength gets absorbed by the flex in the safety pin, so I cant press it up into the shear part....

I've done these things, but I try to avoid. heheh.. lol.
I don't give it too much tension now, but I still don't know exactly what's good and what's not. Sometimes i put too much and its hard to get the pins up.. but if i don't some pins fall back down. Whats up with that?


um.. I lost my train of thought. Do you guys wan't a picture of my tools?
I'm really sorry for the length... But I have a lot to write, and alot of questions. I hope you guys can be patient with me.

[hybridvirus]

I've done these things, but I try to avoid. heheh.. lol.
I don't give it too much tension now, but I still don't know exactly what's good and what's not. Sometimes i put too much and its hard to get the pins up.. but if i don't some pins fall back down. Whats up with that?

I'm sorry I meant this paragraph to go in directly after the quote.
It's out of place where it is now.

[Krypos]

i know ya said ya been to howstuffworks, but have ya seen these:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/lock.htm

http://home.howstuffworks.com/lock-picking.htm


assuming you have, then they should help you visualize.

not sure what you're doing with your tension wrench, but i am thinking this is what it should look like, as i did the same:









there are a coupla shots of what i used for a while when i started. that and a hairpin pick. but thats how ya should be using it (i think...feel free to make your own style, but thats how it works best IMO)

also, heres a video on photobucket, youll need media/flash/java/video thingy 8 or something to view i dunno, but i can watch them so it works, if it doesnt work for ya, let me know, ill see what i can do.

and oh- i think you're still using a padlock to learn, go and buy a cheap deadbolt- really. it is so much easier to learn on that, and if you disassemble it, it requires VERY little tension. so learning light tension on a deadbolt is much better. (IMO) so go get a deadbolt and take it apart!