raking question

[ady1989]

ok well im just about to make my rake pics when i get home from work tomorrow. im a noob, and would someone please tell me the details in raking? i know you just jiggle the rake around and apply tension via wrench, but can you guys offer any tips? thanks in advance!

[mrdan]

ok well im just about to make my rake pics when i get home from work tomorrow. im a noob, and would someone please tell me the details in raking? i know you just jiggle the rake around and apply tension via wrench, but can you guys offer any tips? thanks in advance!

Well I usually start with the area of the yad with the most leaves and work my way to the house..


But seriously,
I find sometimes pulling and pushing the rake in and out, sometimes jiggleing and a lot of times it's kind of a combination of both. And then if that doesn't work then I switch to another pick.

[mrdan]

Doh! no edit it's YARD, not YAD. (Unless you are Norm Abrams)

[Squelchtone]

Doh! no edit it's YARD, not YAD. (Unless you are Norm Abrams)

I'm confused... I saw nothing wrong with your original spelling or use of the word YAD.

Regards,

Squelchtone
Springfield, Massachusetts

ps. I swear to god every episode of This Old House was filmed in my town.

[raimundo]

stroke the rake quickly and rock it as you stroke it, use intermittent light tension, do not try to keep tension on until all pins are set, don't think twice when you drop pins that were set and start over, raking does not work with consistant or heavy tension, a few pins set means nothing, you are trying to set them all at once. so feel free to drop all tension every few strokes of the rake. Also, rakes especially must be sanded smooth at least on the surface that contacts the pins, pick tip and shaft surfaces. this keeps it from being a file thats cutting into the softer brass. as always, if the tensor is not absolutely loose when you detente it, its stuck and has become the problem.

[raimundo]

squelchy is from mass. the houses have front yads, and back yads, I was suprised to see someone from cali fornia using the word yad though. When I was in the army one of the new englanders had "god duty"

[mrdan]

squelchy is from mass. the houses have front yads, and back yads, I was suprised to see someone from cali fornia using the word yad though. When I was in the army one of the new englanders had "god duty"

[Krypos]

another method i read about in "easy pickings" was snapping. i imagine this method to be harsh on picks and locks. but the gyst of it is this:

you use a small diamond, have it resting right behind the last pin and apply tension (light tension works best) and then quickly pull your diamond out sliding it across all the pins with a snapping action.

ive tried it before and it seems to work quite well, and i can often open a deadbolt in as few as one stroke. sometimes it takes like 5 strokes though.

anyone else ever tried that before?

[!*AMP*!]

I've had that technique work on a spring-loaded padlock before.

[p1ckf1sh]

another method i read about in "easy pickings" was snapping. i imagine this method to be harsh on picks and locks. but the gyst of it is this:[...]

I have heard this referred to as "ripping". Works nicely though, even with a shallow hook as the tool.

[ady1989]

thanks for the input guys! i just made a rake pick and tension wrench today: http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mypicknw7.jpg

quick question: does it look OK size wise? im trying to pick my front door lock, which is a weiser 5 pin tumbler. ive tried raking it with no sucess so far, but im convinced ill get it open sooner or later

[Krypos]

ive seen far worse. the pick itself is fairly nicely done, odd choice of high low peaks, but hey, your design. you may want to polish them up a bit with sand paper (if you havent already) and you will definately want to grind off the teeth of the T-wrench so it is more comfortable.

other than that they seem pretty good for beginner tools.

you may also want to look into aqcuiring some templates from the site. just do a search and ya should find something...if not pm me. templates will allow you to see what many commercial tools look like and their sizes.

good job!

[Krypos]

oh and dont pick locks you rely on! (if you are new)

many unforeseen consequences can and will occur if you continue this horrible practice. (at least until you can fix it regardless of what is wrong.)

[raimundo]

the pick looks like a good effort with perhaps a grinder or dremel, put it beside a key with a deep cut and shallow ones, the pick should have less varience than the key, because the pick works through wards, and as to the highs and lows, that is taken care of on the pick by mobility inside the keyway that the key does not have. I believe that the dimensions for a successful pick are between the extremes of key bitting.

[!*AMP*!]

BTW, I've had success with "snapping" by using a camelback pick, which looks a lot like a bogota pick. I also notice that a bit more tension is needed when snapping...at least with the locks that I experimented with.