Hi. I'm curious about mushroom pins.

[mercurial]

feather touch tension wrench helps alot with mushroom and spool pins

Very true, I find that the weight of a finger is sufficient when picking security pins and that any more will cause you to get the false set. Also, you have to let up the slightest bit on the tension as you pick the security pins or they'll get stuck in my experience.
~Stash

Use of terminology is confusing the issue (for me at least) a little here I think.

A feather-touch tension wrench refers specifically to a tool designed to facilitate/limit the application of very light tension (and supposedly help in the picking of security pins) - as depicted here : http://www.lockpickshop.com/p-A-2.html

It seems that using feather-light tension on a conventional/'normal' (more rigid) tension wrench might be getting confused with the feather-touch wrench.

Stash - are you referring to using feather light tension - with a 'normal' wrench - or to using this 'feather-touch' tension tool? Or both?

The reason I ask, is twofold : I've read opinions regarding the feather-touch tension wrench linked to above, claiming it reduces/dampens feedback due to the spring, and it is often said to be far too large to function effectively in even relatively open keyways.

I can certainly say, from firsthand experience, that I believe the feather-touch wrenches DO dampen a great deal of the feedback one would expect whilst picking, when compared to a simple traditional tension wrench. I guess a some of this is purely a matter of personal preference though.

My personal experience is that the simple conventional wrenches, used with feather-light tension, provide the best balance between feedback and control of tension - but they require both experience and practice, when it comes to security pins.

...Mark

[Stash]

I read his post wrong apparently. I meant that I use feather light tension, as in very little force with a normal tension wrench. I usually use only the weight of my finger when picking security pins, as I've never even used a feather touch tension wrench.
~Stash

[sk337]

I'm just curious as to why using light tension (either with a feather light tension wrench, or just light tension on a standard wrench) works better. I agree that it does, from my experience, but (I'm ashamed to say) I have never been able to understand the physics behind it. Because of their shape, the security pins will cause false sets. Does light tension help to prevent these false sets? Or is it just easier to push it up all the way so that the pin is correctly set?

[mfschantz]

Using light tension on security pins helps you identify when you've encountered one because the force you're exerting on pushing the pin up is greater than the force you're applying to the tension wrench. This causes the wrench to push back against your finger as the cylinder is rotated by the passing of the bottom half of the spool/mushroom pin. If the force on the wrench is greater than the force you're exerting on the pin, you're not going to be able to push the security pin past its false set.