american Locks

by **outlawcajin** » 23 Feb 2007 12:53

I'm prety new here and have done much reading sence i have discoverd this site.
I boght a Dyno Kwick Pick a few years ago and lost intrest because i could never gt it to work. Well digging thrue some stuff i found it a week ago and figured i would give it another try. It was in a crown royal bag along with a cuple pad locks i tried it out on. Any ways, 1 of them was a small American lock and the other was a medium sized master 140.
After a cuple of hours of trying to pick the American lock watching a That 70's show merithon to my surprize it poped open! I was so happy i finly got that thing. I played with it some more but couldnt get it again that night. But i got it a few times the next day and soon it became very easy to open. Sometimes it pops in seconds, some times longer. I switched over to the masterlock becaus i needed something difrent now, and i still havnt got that thing open. I have a smaller version of the same modle and i can open it up in a min or so.
Any way enogh babbling,
All the locks at my work are American and i cant seam to pick a single 1.
The locks are round in shape and the pins lock as soon as tention is put on the cylinder. i have takin them off the tool boxes and sat at my desk for half the night off and on trying to set a pin in theese things and it dosnt seam like they will budge with tention. Whats the deal?, they are easly broken but not easly picked.
any tips?

by **outlawcajin** » 23 Feb 2007 12:55

i forgot to add i have a 14 pick set on order and am ecspecting it soon cause this dyno just dosnt seam like it will get the job done on many locks. its to thick and the tention wrench is to wide. i already had to file down the thickness on the wrench just to get it into a few locks.

by **Wolfe** » 23 Feb 2007 13:29

I kinda started the same way you did about 3-4 years ago. I buddy locksmith of mine gave me a lockpick set . I played around with it for a while but soon lost intrest.Then i read a artical about bump keys and it kinda refueled the fire and i dove into any information i could get my hands on, plus started picking anything i could get my hands on. Its really a practice thing the more you do it the easyer it becomes. I remember when i started i used to practice on 4 pin padlocks every day i would pick about 10 of them. in the beginning i couldnt open one of them exept for luck. After about a couple of weeks of practice i could open any of them in 10 secs.Go through some of the articals here. There is a ton of good information on this board for beginners.

viewtopic.php?t=10677 beginners Exercise
viewtopic.php?t=10715 tons of tutorials

There is a great newbie manual called the LSI GUIDE TO LOCKPICKING
and also a great video called LOCK PICKING FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

I hope this is enough to get you started and good luck in your endeavors
W.

by **outlawcajin** » 23 Feb 2007 20:45

i have the basics down, i know haow a lock works, and principal behind picking. I rebuilt a ton of locks when i was younger for my dad who aquired a bunch of door knobs and didnt have the corect keys.
But he did get a bunch of keys that fit the locks from his locksmith buddy so we repinned the locks to match the keys. they were simple to tear down and do this, and i learned how tumbler locks work wile providing free labor

.
But i realy havnt come across my delima yet, I cant move the pins on the american lock if torque is aplied to the cylinder. I couldnt imagin the compony making the the lock with added security sence the hasp can be busted off with 2 wrenches in a few seconds. They seam like realy cheap locks to me cause they always break, but the military insist on useing them. but then again we do open theese things 40+ times a day and they get beat to hell and back.

I cant seam to find a picture of my lock at home or the ones we have at work on there web site. the 1 i have at home looks identical to a master 140. and the one at work has a round body with a chain atached to it. ill try to get me 1 to take home and take a picture monday so i can post it. i dont think i can recall seeing any other padlock with a round body that wasnt a tubular lock. so this may confuse some untill i can post a picture.

by **co2004** » 23 Feb 2007 20:58

I don't know about all american locks, but we use the American 1105 Series where I work. I've picked mine a couple of times. For me it's the hardest lock I've picked, and if you read this: http://www.yadtel.net/~melvin2001/amer1105.pdf
you will know why. Serrated bottom pins, 3 serrated and 2 spoorated driver pins. The best thing to do when you get your picks is get used to single pin picking with a hook pick. I would start with a Master no.3 or something that you know doesn't have security pins. The master 140 has at least one security pin, I believe. Those you can take on when you get used to picking locks with standard pins. Read everything you can get your hands on, and you can get your hands on more than enough here. This place is a treasure trove of knowledge, and remember the "search" function is your friend.

by **outlawcajin** » 23 Feb 2007 21:58

thanks for the info, if the locks i am trying to pick has pins like that im in for a treat. I have been able to pick the small version of the 140, it has a vinal coating around it and i belive it has a security pin in it also because it is very easy to set the wrong pin and then you have to start over. But i havnt been able to get the larger 1 yet, hopefully like you said i should have the right tool when i get my new set in.
As for the american i still cant find a picture of it any were. once i get 1 home ill post a pic and if not to many have worked with it i may take it apart and post the insides. It looks as if the botome of the lock was screwed on and then the botome rim pressed during manufaturuting making it to were you cant unscrew it, so ill dremal it if need be. then ill get another to pick sometime if suply has any.
I am still sifting thrue the my search on this site, there are alot of results for american locks

by **Wolfe** » 23 Feb 2007 22:13

There are a few round bodied padlocks american lock makes a few of them. So its really hard to say with out a picture. Most of amreican locks are 5-6 pin tumbler so they are not very beginner friendly.

Like i said its really not the amount of information you know its practice, practice, practice.Theres no magic here just ability. It took me about a half a year to walk up to any 5-6 pin lock w/o security pins and comfortably open it. the roughest thing about learning to pick is the amount of veriety when it comes to locks. every lock is a little different and some are the same. so what you know about picking a certain lock might not and almost always doesnt aply to the next lock you go to pick.
good luck bud
W.

by **outlawcajin** » 26 Feb 2007 22:18

well i wasnt able to get 1 of those round american locks because we are runing short on them, so i'll have to wait on that 1.
I stoped by my local locksmith and he hooked me up with 3 kwikset door knobs and 3 Schlage dead bolts. So far i have picked 1 of the knobs and 1 of the bolts. Still working with the dyno Kwick Pick cause i havnt recieved my new set of picks yet. I think ill Mount thees locks to a 12x12 and start up a training station adding locks as i get them.
This is a real fun hobby for me as i have always loved puzzles. I have tons all difrent types of puzzles and locks are probly on the top of my list so far.

1 question for you folks out there, Most every1 i talk to about this hobby that shows interest i think, has bad intentions, or thinks that lockpicking itself is for the not so honest. Do you guys run into this alot?
I try to explain that lockpicking is not the best way to gain acces to somthing, lockpicking is puzle work and from what i have read, an actual sport. If you need acces to something there are way better ways, like boltcutters, a crowbar, a blow torch ect ect. I dont think they understand, And i am starting to think this strerio typing is more common than none.

by **outlawcajin** » 27 Feb 2007 0:13

well those locks were a joke, done picked them all.
well at least i can practice all i want on them

by **Isakill** » 27 Feb 2007 9:29

You still having trouble with that american lock?
if so I suggest using LIGHT tension on it. and to show you it can be done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNyeELeh_kI

That's me picking my american 1105 and if you pay attention I pick it in about 30 seconds AFTER resetting it 3 times (with that lock I don't bother trying to find the binding pin I just reset) your lock should be almost exactly like my 1105 internally.

i have takin them off the tool boxes and sat at my desk for half the night off and on trying to set a pin in theese things and it dosnt seam like they will budge with tention.

I repeat LIGHT tension will help you

by **outlawcajin** » 27 Feb 2007 20:32

i'm not gona give the american lock another try untill i get my picks in, if they ever get here. and when my suply get more in because there still runing short, at least i can pick my small 1 at home easily.

1 question, i noticed your lock does not require the key to stay in it wile the shackle is open, the ones at my work do, would there be a difrence in the insides along with that difrence?

by **Isakill** » 28 Feb 2007 9:31

my lock doesn't have a key so I wouldn't know... but in all honesty I think the key does stay in until the shackle is closed again.... if I find all the parts to it i'll check to see.

by **outlawcajin** » 28 Feb 2007 9:57

its prety easy to figure out on theese, if you have to turn the keyway back the other way when you close the shackle then you have to put the key in

i think the only difrence would be just having to put alot less tention on that type then the others cause the cork(i guess thats what its called) dosnt realy have a spring action to bring it back in the the starting position like some padlocks.

by **outlawcajin** » 2 Mar 2007 20:57

ok, i got 1 of the locks today, the picks below.
the pins seam to completly bind as soon as i set 1 pin. and i cant let off tention, if you set a pin, to release tention you have to move the plug back counter clock wise because it is not spring loaded. and sence there is a wall in the way thats hard to do. Does any 1 know the trick to this lock that has personal experiance with it? I dont think its a high security because the shackle can be broken off easly with a cuple of prying objects. and im prety sure its a cheap lock.
heres the pics:

by **Phoeny** » 3 Mar 2007 5:50

i tried to pick one but i couldnt cuz my picks didn't fit in

american Locks

american Locks

Who is online