easy and cheap plug follower

by **raimundo** » 25 Mar 2007 10:55

I have used dowel pens, all sorts of ad hoc followers when I didn't have the right diameter in my usual followers, but as I was reading the thread, I got this idea, you can put the follower in halfway and then set the springs and top pins and push it forward until the front half of the lock is filled then turn it around and work from the back in the usual way, putting things in there with the tweezer,
BUt, as I was reading the thread, i started thinking that followers are dumb, primitive tools, requireing you to work inside the cylinder with tweezers,
FOLLOWERS could and should be made into a far quicker and easier pin loading tool if all the pins and springs were set up inside the follower in interal holes before the follower is put in the lock, then when the follower is put in the lock, a tool like a comb pick could push all the springs and pins up into the cylinder then turn the follower a bit to lock them in there and you push the bottom pin loaded plug in.
this is such an obvious idea, that maybe its already been done, but I don't spend much time looking at commercial lock tool sites since I usually make my own, does anyone know if this sort of full service follower already exists? it would be easy to make one from a wooden dowel.

by **scorpiac** » 25 Mar 2007 11:50

Hey Raimundo, Not exactly as you described but HPC makes a pretty similar tool heres a link http://www.hpcworld.com/Tools/t_tpin.htm

by **Jolly Rodgers** » 25 Mar 2007 11:56

i used a aaa battery and some electrical tape last night. and i couldnt find any tweasers so i used a bobby pin. took me like an hour to get it all back together

by **JackNco** » 25 Mar 2007 12:00

Jolly Rodgers wrote:i used a aaa battery and some electrical tape last night. and i couldnt find any tweasers so i used a bobby pin. took me like an hour to get it all back together

LOL ifi cant find tweasers I just DONT repin it. it stays in a bag till i have some to hand.

by **raimundo** » 25 Mar 2007 12:24

thanks scorpiac, I figured it was too obvious to be original

by **Jolly Rodgers** » 25 Mar 2007 13:09

JackNco wrote:LOL ifi cant find tweasers I just DONT repin it. it stays in a bag till i have some to hand.

yeah i was doing db's exercise and i got to four pins then i said i didnt even want to bother with five. expecially since i had another 5 pin lock right next to me

by **JackNco** » 25 Mar 2007 13:16

Best way to do it IMMHO, u don't get to used to a single biding order then.

by **Chucklz** » 25 Mar 2007 16:31

raimundo,

I have a follower similar to the HPC one. I got it with a bunch of random lock parts on ebay. As long as the spacing on your lock is the same as on the follower it works a treat.

by **maxxed** » 26 Mar 2007 0:42

Chucklz wrote:raimundo,

I have a follower similar to the HPC one. I got it with a bunch of random lock parts on ebay. As long as the spacing on your lock is the same as on the follower it works a treat.

This should work well, virtually all NA keyways use .156 spacing with Yale being the exception @ .165

by **raimundo** » 26 Mar 2007 14:00

thanks chucklz and maxxed, you both answered my questions.

by **baseeight** » 27 Mar 2007 1:46

My dad's toolbox was out because i had just finished putting a radiotorback in my land cruiser.
The other point to this pose is that im getting a dremmel in the mail tomorrow or the next day. I think i might go to the hardware store and buy a piece of dowel the right diameter. I've looked at real plug folloers on the internet and never understood what the grove was for. i think when i make mine i will taper one side of the grove so that the pin dosent have to be bushed in all the way for me to rotate it and get it all the way in.

Thanks for the help guys!

PS that is one thing i forgot to mention about the diferent sizes of sockets, they are all different!

i learned allot thanks.

by **Chucklz** » 27 Mar 2007 23:57

My follower happens to be for Yale locks, so it doesn't get as much use as I would like.

by **assweasel** » 28 Mar 2007 8:38

Wood Dowling is my choice of follower

by **Mutzy** » 29 Mar 2007 6:21

I use brass ones. I dunno why, but i like the feel of a heavier follower than the aluminium ones the workshop has. If you find a pair of tweezers, grind/file the tips, so they wrap around the pins.

by **bulletsnz** » 2 Apr 2007 3:40

I use hot glue sticks and put the end the glue to a lamp so the light travels up the glue into the barrel,so you can see what your doing.

easy and cheap plug follower

repining follower

thanks scorpiac

thanks

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