Spool Pins, Brinks

[TruLuV305]

Well i have become sufficiently skilled to open a standard lock or padlock without security pins within a reasonable time, now i bought this new brinks 101-4001 padlock and it says on the back that it has spool pins.

now the problem is probly psychological and im thinking im freaking out over the security pins, but i cant seem to pop it,

i have searched and searched but there doesnt seem to be a "tutorial" on how to approach spool pins, i have the main concept of picking more than down, now what knowledge do i need to defeat the spools? some say they are easy once you know they are there, what technique should i use to approach them , or what should i feel for?

any help would be appreciated.
win.

[helloman]

ill be waiting to i just bought one a cant get it

[freakparade3]

when a spool pin catches you will feel the plug turn slightly. Ease off the tension a little bit and go over the pins again. It's easy after you get the feel of them.

[JackNco]

I haven't tried this lock in particular but seeing as no one else has advised yet ill chuck in what i can to help.

Spool pins are an odd one, if there to subtle they can be a pain to find and if there to easy to find you will notice when u set them you will end up un setting a few pins. Have a look at a spool pin, think about it, when it false sets it sets on an angle, so when you push it up it will push the plug in the opposite direction.

After you have opened it a few times you will earn to recognize the lock pushing back as you lift these pins. this is where balancing the tension comes in really. you need to ease off the tension so you can set the spools but not to much or your back at square one.

Some times you will open a lock with them in and not notice them, some times you will have 2 spools setting against each one so when u pick one pin the other drops down, and vice versa. but thats what this is all about if your in it for the hobby, its a nice challenge.

Keep at it and you will crack it soon enough.

Good luck, and remember, if u get frustrated, put it down and pick up one of you confidence locks. open that a few times and remind ur self that you can pick locks and its not all in your head.

All the best

[TruLuV305]

nice advise, thanks..

and what about this supposed "mushy" feeling that there is, like you it is certainly binding but i never get the ::click:: it just mushes to the floor. probly to little tension?

[JackNco]

erm.... im not sure ive never noticed that, well that i can remember. possibly the spring tension on the lock? but thats just a guess.

[SmokieD]

Light tension always with spools pins, but just enough to control it. Takes practice learning the exact amount.

Mushy feeling. Im not so sure thats because your lock has spools. I have played around with an old brass lock which was partially rusted and there was a mushy kinda feeling.

Is the lock your picking rusted and old?

[mercurial]

JackNCO summed up the way spool pins respond very well above.

One small tip - you can take a few steps back from the brinks, and repin a cylinder that you find easy. Start with just one normal pin stack, and a pin-stack with a spool pin.

You will be able to see and feel everything John explained above.

You can then just follow the principle of digital_blue's pyrimid learning exercise - but adding progressively more pinstacks & spool pins.

Work your way up and I am sure you'll have that Brinks popped in no time!

...Mark

[jay----]

Some where around here I read --


---once you have identified which pins are the spool pins then the best way to pick them is to over set them and let them fall to the shear line rather then trying to slide them up to the line (reverse picking).


It help me out!

[mercurial]

Reverse picking refers to overlifting a pinstack or pinstacks - in this case the ones in which you have identified spools - whilst applying enough tension to keep these pins overlifted.

Then, by gently manipulating these pins, and gradually reducing the tension, the key-pin can drop back below the shear line, whilst keeping the spool pin trapped in the bible. It is called reverse picking because you are lifting the pinstack as high as possible, and manipulating it down again to hit the shear line, as opposed to lifting a pin stack when picking conventionally.

Reverse picking avoids dealing with the interaction of the spool pin's shape with the shear line as you lift a false-set spool. Learning to properly set a false-set spool requires learning fine control of your tension, but reverse picking certainly requires very good tension control too - it certainly isn't a shortcut in my opinion. Reverse picking will still force you to deal with serrations or other security key-pins, too.

I guess it is a matter of personal preferance as to whether reverse picking is the 'best' way to pick spool pins, and it would also vary from lock to lock.

I would suggest learning to pick spools the more conventional way already described above, and many many times elsewhere onsite.

As I said above, getting the 'feel' of spool pins in order to pick them this way will be very easy if you use a repinnable cylinder and start with a couple of pin stacks.

I'd leave reverse-picking until after you have mastered the more conventional means of picking spools & learning to identify a false set, finding the spools, and then good control of the tension to allow you to set them.

Practice is the only other suggestion I can offer. Some hands on practice, starting from basics should have you picking spools in no time.

...Mark

[SmokieD]

Light tension always with spools pins, but just enough to control it. Takes practice learning the exact amount.

Mushy feeling. Im not so sure thats because your lock has spools. I have played around with an old brass lock which was partially rusted and there was a mushy kinda feeling.

Is the lock your picking rusted and old?

Forget the last sentence I typed, I didnt catch the part about you buying a brand new brinks lock. So obviously it isnt rusted.


I have a spool pin lock that does have a mushy feeling at a point. It is when a spool is jammed up inside, will just stick your pick inside and feel which pin isnt moving, which pin is stuck, and push up hard on that while letting your tension wrench go backwards just a bit.. Its all in the feel..Youll get used to it with time..

My kwikset Ultramax does that when I pick it.

[TruLuV305]

okay firstly thanks to everyone who has offered their help,

i can now open the lock within 10 seconds or so.. i was trying the lock like every other so i finally decided to use EXTREMELY light tension ( just rest my thumb on it) and it popped right open...

so i used hard tension to find the binder then light tension to get it to the sheer and viola the lock opened itself, so i guess the lesson is light tension for spools. im going to devote my time to deadbolts for a while but i guess theres really no diff from spool to a normal one, i guess you just have to learn how much tension to use and the space between each pins differ for each padlock.

again thank you to everyone and i love this forum!