Shims (padlock)

by **heli** » 4 May 2007 23:52

Is there anything better than the aluminum can? Ive seen the printer cartridge and the floppy disk. Is there anything better? Can you somehow strengthen the aluminum from a can? Thanks

by **Shark500** » 5 May 2007 0:16

You should try feeler gauges form sears or home depot.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Mechanics+Tools&pid=00999008000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Automotive+Specialty+Tools&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

i use em for everything. i'm making a jiggler woth one of the thicker ones. i'll make a shim with one of the thin ones and tell you how it goes.

by **Shark500** » 5 May 2007 1:04

just tried. i wasn't duccessful but then again i wasn't sucessful with an aluminium shim either. the feeler gauges i used didn't break. i pretty much put that peice of metal through hell.

it's deffinatly stronger than a aluminium can and more flexable.

by **Marco** » 5 May 2007 1:56

Has anybody owned a commercial set of padlock shims? How much better are they when comparing them to aluminium cans?

by **freakparade3** » 5 May 2007 6:15

Marco wrote:Has anybody owned a commercial set of padlock shims? How much better are they when comparing them to aluminium cans?

I own a set of commercial shims. For $25 I got 5 each of 4 sizes of shims. As seldom as I need them, and the fact they are reusable, made it worth it to me buying them instead of sitting around cutting up cans.

by **hiaxis** » 5 May 2007 10:09

I too have a set like freakparade3 described made by Southord. I personally think they're a little too thick but because they are thicker, they can take more abuse. BUT, because they're thicker, they actually see more abuse. A catch 22 I guess...

Picking is a lot more fun anyway so I rarely use them.

by **Shrub** » 5 May 2007 12:29

by **Eyes_Only** » 5 May 2007 18:51

Shims are a really cheesy way to open locks. It's like bumping, shimming is a technique for the mentally impaired (if you're a hobbyist). I've only used shim for the MasterLock 1500 combo locks and nothing else. Haven't even touched them in the past two years come to think it.

by **grim** » 5 May 2007 22:47

Eyes_Only wrote:Shims are a really cheesy way to open locks.

when you do it for a living and time = money, i like my cheese.

by **Shark500** » 6 May 2007 11:08

Picking is a lot more fun anyway so I rarely use them. Smile

deffinatly agree

by **Death007666** » 28 Jun 2007 15:00

I have made padlock shims and been succesful with the soda can ones... but i just recently purchased padlock shims from lockpicktools.com (awsome website)(but southord is good to).. these padlock shims are awsome and work very well if you know how to use them I suggest that you look on youtube.com for help on this one to save you time here are some links.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ouqKFqHDdqw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NQgTX-K0zpk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kBFTWRrMy7E

(Props to Tyler DeSchryver a.k.a Tempature1) for the awsome vids and you kind find the rest yourself

by **RangerF150** » 28 Jun 2007 16:52

OK, so I a bit confused here !
Unless I'm mistaken shimming a lock is a "bypass" as I know it ( yes / no ??)
So a new poster wanders in and asks about how to shim a lock and it's not locked ????

Instead it's treated as a trivial question and given all the help he/ she requires.
Same seems to apply to bumping, a "bypass" of sorts, and it's treated with with the same lack of concern.

My point is , both methods ( and in particular, shimming) requires no skill, and is well open to abuse , but seem to draw no ire form the mods.

Some dude arrives and asks how to open a car lock and it's locked down real tight ( and rightly so) but I ask the question...

Teaching people how to "bypass" a car lock is considered restricted, but how to open a padlock is open season, and a house door lock is treated with the same lack of concern ????

So it's cool to bypass padlocks and all that they protect, same for house door locks, but it's out of bounds to steal a car !!!!

What's with cars !!!

by **freakparade3** » 28 Jun 2007 18:10

This is a thread asking about shim making materials. Not a thread asking how to break anything.

by **Schuyler** » 28 Jun 2007 18:26

RangerF150 wrote:OK, so I a bit confused here !
Unless I'm mistaken shimming a lock is a "bypass" as I know it ( yes / no ??)
So a new poster wanders in and asks about how to shim a lock and it's not locked ????

Instead it's treated as a trivial question and given all the help he/ she requires.
Same seems to apply to bumping, a "bypass" of sorts, and it's treated with with the same lack of concern.

My point is , both methods ( and in particular, shimming) requires no skill, and is well open to abuse , but seem to draw no ire form the mods.

Some dude arrives and asks how to open a car lock and it's locked down real tight ( and rightly so) but I ask the question...

Teaching people how to "bypass" a car lock is considered restricted, but how to open a padlock is open season, and a house door lock is treated with the same lack of concern ????

So it's cool to bypass padlocks and all that they protect, same for house door locks, but it's out of bounds to steal a car !!!!

What's with cars !!!

That's actually an extraordinarily interesting point. It's one of the most accessible homebrew aspects of this hobby, and we have a very well written sticky on padlock shims, written by unbreakable.

But your point is an entirely valid one. And suddenly, I'm not sure what my personal stance is on the matter. There is something to be said for it's limited effectiveness, I mean, any padlock worth it's mustard has a double ball mechanism, which as we know is not susceptible to shimming, but I'm really not sure.

Hopefully some folks who've had opportunity to mull this one over for the past however long will offer better informed opinions than my own.

by **davou** » 28 Jun 2007 19:34

maybe muffler tape (the metal kind) has enough strength when you fold it over so that the glued ends are together and dont gum up the works?

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