Positioning your tension wrench

[Blitzkrieg]

When positioning your tension wrench into a lock, where do you usally place it?

I've found that the obvious placement of the opposite side of the cylinder from the pins doens't work very well, because force ends up getting applied to the side wall of the outer cylinder and not in a direction to smoothly turn the tumbler, allthough with some wiggling it will sometimes turn, but usually the pins will un-set. So when I finally realised this was happening I tried a number of positions, but while most of them work, there is still a good chance that the wrench will slip and all tenision is lost.

Is there a good rule of thumb for placing a tension tool or is the occasional slippage an acceptable thing?

[CitySpider]

I usually put it on the bottom of the cylinder, assuming the pins are on top. I wish I usually put it on the top of the cylinder. Also, I try to make my wrenches as stubby as possible.

And, yeah, depending on the lock, the wrench will occasionally slip. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's very rare.

[rakemaster]

I put mine in the top (pin side) of the cylinder almost always.
I use a peterson torque tool with a 90 degree bend in the blade
so the handle is directly above the pins. That works wll for me..

I also agree with making the blade as short as possible.

Rakemaster

[Mad Mick]

A lot of the more accomplished lock pickers tend to use the top of the keyway as the ideal place to use a tension wrench. This can, however, obstruct a high setting No1 pin - which is normally bypassed with a deep hook. Placing the wrench in the top of the keyway does give more room to pick, but at a slight loss of feedback to the new picker. Placing the wrench in the bottom of the keyway gives better feedback, since the wrench is further from the axis of rotation and movements are more likely to be felt, but the chances of applying too much tension are a lot greater. The supporters of using the top of the keyway are a lot more sensitive to adjusting the amount of tension they apply, and this comes from many months/years of practice.

If you can get used to using the top of the keyway pretty early in your picking career/hobby, you will save yourself from having a transition period, where you have to learn all over again.

I'm somewhat in-between top and bottom, and still on a steep learning curve.

[i_want_to_pick]

If your wrench is slipping out of the top, i've found it sometimes helps to rough up the end that goes in the lock just a little. This helps with grip alot with the locks i've tried.

If you make a wrench out of hacksaw blades just dont quite sand/grind the teeth down all the way on the end that goes in the lock, just so its a little bumpy not sharp.

Matt

[SwitchBladeComb]

Another thing you might want to try is the forked tension wrench that comes in some sets. You can stick one piece of the fork at the upper extreme of the keyway and one at the lower extreme and let its spring force hold it in. It gives you really good access to the keyhole and doesn't interfere with high setting pins. Its spring force also tends to keep it in place. It is, however, rather ineffective when the lock is recessed into the keyway a bit. They do make one for recessed keyways but its generally meant for auto usage and sold on lockpicks.com somewhere.