Testing of Magnetic Pins - Added Pick Resistance??

[n2oah]

Raymond, which Miwa lock are you talking about?

[Raymond]

I wish I knew the correct answer to your question but I have no idea what year or model I was working with. It had no regular pins on the center web. It was magnets only. The normal pinning was with only seven magnets, three on one side and four on the other. The key had all seven pins with inert plugs in the other seven holes. I devised a swivling decoder to make a key from a lock that would decode the lock way faster than picking it. I thought I could open one by shear force but was surprised. This was about 1985. We never really sold many MIWAs. Some of the best features were restricted key duplication and the feature that a person just couldn't easily jam up the keyway so it could not be easily cleaned out. The large, thick cross section of the key made them difficult to break. I haven't worked with them for about that many years.

[Raccoon]

If only you europeans would realize that the spring should be ON TOP like in american mounted locks... then you wouldn't have the problem of heavy pins and weak springs.

+1 for the US

[n2oah]

Raymond, was it the EC?

[Shrub]

Arbus,

Your ignoreing my pm,

Please remove the link from your signiture, it is not allowed.

[greyman]

I have never researched this topic directly but would like to offer some observations.

MIWA has used only 7 pins (smaller than 115 diameter) in their locks since they were first available. I tried to open a MIWA padlock by force. I thought the pins would snap. I held the padlock in a vise and used an inpact driver to try to turn the cylinder. I could not shear the pins! I then used a large flat impact driver tip and turned it with an adjustable wrench. The flat driver tip distorted and broke. Tough magnets!
[...]

Raymond

The Miwa EC, which is what I think you are talking about, has magnets that are set inside an alloy tube (not sure what it's made of, but probably an aluminium alloy). Without this, it might be possible to shear the magnets by impact, since they are brittle. On the other hand, with 7 magnets, it might require huge amounts of torque. I'm sure that Miwa tested their EC cylinders against this type of destructive opening technique before releasing the product.

greyman

[Raymond]

Negatory, The MIWA I was testing for fun was before the EC model. My lock had ONLY the seven magnetic pins and no pins or millings on the center of the key. The plug was brass and I don't remember what the case was made of.

[greyman]

I think the pictured Miwa is a new version. These come with pin tumblers now, but the old EC had no pins - only a retaining dimple. There was provision for 14 tumblers but usually 7 installed.

[n2oah]

I think the pictured Miwa is a new version. These come with pin tumblers now, but the old EC had no pins - only a retaining dimple. There was provision for 14 tumblers but usually 7 installed.

I've seen as little as 4 installed!

[greyman]

n2oah, I guess the lower limit would be 1 installed magnetic pin! But that would be scraping the bottom of the barrel (no pun intended)

[Raymond]

It was explained to me once that most lock systems use dumb keys and smart locks. But, MIWA uses a dumb lock and smart keys. When masterkeying a Miwa you can load a certain set of pins and then allow or disallow a key by putting in a magnetic pin or a dummy plug.

I will accept the designation of EC for that lock as it had only the seven magnetic pins and the steel ball key retainer.

The decoder worked well. I glued a magnetic pin to a brass rod. The brass rod would pivot on one side in a very small brass channel. The complete channel went into the lock step by step and you watched whether the pin moved to the side. If it looked nervous and wavered in the middle, there was a pin on both sides. Then you reversed the channel and tested the other side. This was not a completely detailed example and I left out a few points due to the level of security of the lock. Again this was a relatively long time ago.

Did you hear about the Aggie that locked his keys in his car? He had to break a window to get out.

[n2oah]

Well, the EC is a poorly designed lock. There is a very simple way to open it in a few seconds.