Which pick to use?

[TruLuV305]

I got my southord pick set yesterday and have been picking a bit,

however i only really feel comfortable with the small hook and the little teeny triangle one, the rest are incredibly awkward or to big and clumsy, when would all these picks come to use?

Oh and theres this one pick with a big ass metal ball at the end, i would like to know what this is for if someone can enlighten me.

[Shrub]

You will find that you will only use a select few of your picks until you become stuck then everything and its mate will be shoved in the lock to see if it works lol

The big arse ball pick is a ball pick, its VERY effective used as a rake on wafer locks,

Stick with what you like, your style will change but you may find the only two tools you will ever use may be those two but you may buy differant makes or make some of the same style,

Some locks will require you to use a bigger hook for example,

[wr3cktangle]

Those sound to be the two I use most also. I also will give the snake or W rake a try if i can't get a lock and restart.

Another thing i've done is gone through all my picks and picked the locks i can consistently get (the whole two of 'em) and repicked using the others that still fit. The ball pick and the longer hook don't fit into my padlock and the long hook doesn't work too well on my kwikset.

[pauly003]

Hook and small diamond are the only ones i use, but rakes are quickly becoming my new best friend. The snake being my favourite. I start with the snake and if i can't get all the pins to set i will use a deeper rake to finish it off.

[raimundo]

you can shape and skeletonize commercial picks if you have some experience with a grinder, but if you don't, probably make some hacksaw picks until you get good at grinding them out without destroying the temper, (dip very frequently in a coolant dish or have a running drip over the grind wheel, you can make that with a dishsoap bottle with the drip dispenser head) if you do any work on shaping your picks, remember to sand it smooth before using them.

[Pic_monkey]

I can remember my first night with my picks. I spent tell 2:00 AM picking on my used dead bolt. I was told to start out with the rake and the small diamond, took me a hour to pick my first lock, then I started to use all the picks, they all work good, it just depends on the lock. Just keep on practicing and one more thing, on a new or dirty lock clean it with wd-40 use the rake to do this, by rakeing it and I find that depending on the lock light pressure works well. Above all dont stop Practicing.

[ObiWonShinobi]

Dif locks work better with dif picks.
I usualy start out lightly raking with a half diamond.

Some locks can be opened pretty fast with a lifter (hook/finger)
and once you are familiar with it, you wont EVER use anything
else on that type of lock....

Sometimes though a random snake rake will become your best friend,
and will open some locks without any tension at all..... I always laugh.

[taracor]

I really only use my small diamond pick. I've used a ball pick a few times, but that was because I was just messing around. I've never actually opened a lock with a snake. Not a real snake at least. I made a crappy one out of a safety pin or something and that worked until it snapped but now that I have a pick set, i really only use my diamond.

[11mike11]

I was so excited when i got my first lock pick set its like wow look at all these picks i can pick anything now and then i realize i only really use the one hook pick atleast having all those picks makes me look like a pro

[Shrub]

i can pick anything now

Just be careful making these statements on here, you will be challenged one day and found that you cant pick everything,

[11mike11]

Just be careful making these statements on here, you will be challenged one day and found that you cant pick everything,

i was just joking around it just felt like i could when i got all those picks even before i started trying to pick anything

[samfishers]

hey guys, wanted to know if im a genius or im just a retarded one??

i was thinking of doing something like a half diamond, but twice on the same pick like a half diamond, followed by ... A HALF DIAMOND

for those that dont understands, like a snowman but whit half diamonds!

[Chucklz]

samfishers

It's been done. Check out this

http://www.lockpicks.com/index.asp?Page ... ProdID=217

[Kaellman]

Congrats to ur first pickset mate! The way i see it, using rakes is a waste of time. When i get a new lock i wanna be able to feel it, get to know it, smell it, taste it, basically get to know it as good as possible. And since (if) i get to know them so good, i end up having different relations with different locks. This is something i could never have done with simply raking. Mostly i use all kinds of different hooks and one i would recommend is the peterson gem that allows raking technique to some extent and can be used as a hook aswell.

But then again, some do it just for the fun of poppin those locks as quick as possible. Find your way and the picks that suit your needs. Thats my advice.

[Jaakko]

Congrats to ur first pickset mate! The way i see it, using rakes is a waste of time. When i get a new lock i wanna be able to feel it, get to know it, smell it, taste it, basically get to know it as good as possible. And since (if) i get to know them so good, i end up having different relations with different locks. This is something i could never have done with simply raking. Mostly i use all kinds of different hooks and one i would recommend is the peterson gem that allows raking technique to some extent and can be used as a hook aswell.

But then again, some do it just for the fun of poppin those locks as quick as possible. Find your way and the picks that suit your needs. Thats my advice.

Is it just me or does this sound like he is talking about a woman? ...yeah, poppin those "locks", ehh? Naah, just kidding

To samfishers: The double diamond tool is pretty good for various locks. It reminds me from raimundos Bogota-picks, their shape is almost like a half-diamond