If you fully insert a simple feeler pick (a pick with a slight hook on the end) after the lock is picked and tension is maintained on the cylinder in a fixed position, you could drag the pick across the bottom pins as you removed it. The pick would have a pin fixed through the center of the handle, allowing it to teeter up and down. The length of the pin would be equal on both sides, so that the pick handle is centered. Also, the pin would be long enough to glide into a slotted channel of two fixed brackets, one on each side of the pick handle. The slots are what allow the feeler pick to move in and out of the lock while teetering against the pins in a fixed horizontal position. On the end of the pick handle and 90 degrees to it, would be a marking tip such as a pencil or a fine tipped pen.
On the side of the pen tip, you would attach a paper card that would be also attached to one of the brackets. The card could have small lines on it, pre-callibrated for pin spacing and pin height measurement. As the feeler pick was removed, it would scribe a unique graph on the card that could be used to decode the lock for making a key.
I'm thinking of making a jig for something easy just to test the idea, say for instance, a few common lamminated M1 Master locks.
let me know if you think you have it.
