Help With Bump Key

[newpicker90277]

Im sorry to be a bother but I am new to lock picking and I have recently become interested in bump keys. I tried making one of my own using a file, and although it seems like it should work, it doesnt, I have tried it dozens of times and no luck. Please give me some input, I have been watching videos and reding articles and I know im doing it right...so I figure its got to be the key.
Thanks,
newpicker

[webidiot2]

compare it with a cut key of the same type and see if the cuts match up. It also looks like you may need to file deeper. Did you file off the tip and shoulder. What are you using as a bump hammer? Keep in mind cheap locks can be harder to bump and it could have a very high pin that jumps above the shearline making it unbumpable.

[newpicker90277]

i did file off the tip and shoulder, and it matches up pretty close to the same type of key, i was using the back of the file as a bump hammer.
ill try filling deeper...by the way i am trying to bump a kwikset.
thanks webidiot for the help....
-newpicker

[mjwhit]

i think the problem is its not deep enough.
wen u put the key in a lock the pins should sit in the valleys without bring pushed up.
some people even file further than the deepest so that it doesnt touch the pin until it gets hit.
Heres a pic of a bumpkey i made compared to the key from the lock. works really well.

haah i looked on preview and realsised my sig actually has a good example of a bumpkey on it.real deep and wide valleys. you dont need much "ledge" on the key for it to work. So everyone look at my sig.

[newpicker90277]

haha, alright ya, im going to try going deeper in the morning, thanks buddy. oh and does it matter how low or high the mountains are...i assume they are better lower, but i am curious..?

[xnoobandrew]

the "size of the mountains" depend on how low u file. The deeper u get, the bigger the mountain. So yes, it does matter. You wanna get big mountains, but not to big.

[zeke79]

The problem is not that is isnt cut deep enough. The problem is that the cuts are not wide enough. Kwikset locks require a .090" flat due to their pin design. The way your key is cut, the root of the V is deep enough but that root depth is not wide enough. So what is happening is the pins do not fully seat to the deepest cut on the key and likely simply by inserting the key you have seated a pin across the sheerline.

Here is a properly cut Kwikset bumpkey.

[Wolfe]

bumb keys are tough. Ive still havnt got them down very well. as a matter of fact bumb keys are what got me started into picking. I can pick most locks but i cant bumb even 5% of the locks i can pick. i even had a locksmith friend of mine make me every 999 key availible for every lock and still cant seem to do it right. Ive seen people walk up to just about any lock n bumb it in seconds It really bothers me that i cant seem to get it right no matter how hard i try. But oh well cant have it all right.

[newpicker90277]

alright thanks zeke...i think i got it now....and ya wolfe i completley agree with you, i can pick a few locks but i can never bump them...id rather pick them anyways, i was just interested in the idea of bumping and wanted to try it out.
Thanks for everyones help!

[jzorn1]

Isn't that the truth. I can pick, but I've actually never been able to bump a lock. I'm going to try to file the valley deeper tomorrow.

[kevinH]

The apeal to bumping has just worn off recently for me, mainly because it gets boring and i've wrecked a few locks from bumping them too much. I'd rather take the challenge of picking them.

[WDPaladin]

Also, try using a rubber mallot instead of a metal file. All the --successful-- bumping I have seen is when they insist on rubber mallots or other flexible hammering devices. Good luck.

[bulletsnz]

just a quick guestion here,why is the first mountain bigger than the others?

[Wolfe]

you know thats a question ive never seen nor have i ever come across anything about that.In other owrds good question. Im going to go out on a limb here n say that most locks like schlage kwick n so forth do not use that last steeple im going to have to assume its just to push the pins up n out of the way as the key is inserted.

[mfschantz]

Wolfe is right, but misses an important point.

What you see of a bump key is what is left after the valleys have been cut/filed out (and the shoulder may be cut and the blade shortened as well). When you make five/six/seven 9 cuts in a key, it leaves more metal at the tip of blade because there isn't another cut in front of it for the foremost cut to intersect. You could remove the front peak completely and it wouldn't effect the operation of the bump key. I have never bumped, but from what I know of the concept and design, this explaination makes sense.