furnaps wrote:I have My Master Lock No.3 Here But I cant pick It for The life of me, And I've seen people pick the same lock in about 2 seconds On you-tube.
I tried a Half Diamond, And A Small hook? Also a Rake Pick.
Can someone Give me pointers on what do do and how to Know if im doing things rite?
Hi Jeff, I actually watched a vid on Youtube 2 days ago that really helped me with my MasterLock #3.
What he pointed out was that it opens both ways.
I was trying to open it clockwise but the pinning made it very difficult that way. I was able to open it a few times with hack and slash raking tachniques but I never knew when or if it would open.
After watching the vid, I realized I should try opening it counter-clockwise and it worked! I am now able to open that lock, consistently, in about 3-5 seconds.
What does that mean? Nothing. Only that I can open that particular lock. But by opening it slowly and then being able to open it with SPP with my half-diamond, it taught me a lot.
Anyways, the best way to open your #3 Master (at least by my experience) is to first feel the pins. Use your diamond and (without a tension bar) slowly insert it and feel the pins clicking as your tip slides over them. Make sure you clearly feel all 4 pins.
Then look at your key and notice how much shorter it is than your pick. This seems really obvious, but it took me quite some time before I stopped ramming the pick all the way to the back of the cylinder! If your pick isn't exactly where the key cuts are, then it is doing you NO GOOD WHATSOEVER.
Reach in again with your diamond or hook and feel each pin. Feel how little force is actually needed to lift each one. Almost all of the force you feel when sliding a key in the lock comes from the fact that they keys are cut at angles and it takes more force to make the pins slide up when applying lateral pressure with a 45 degree key than it does to lift the pins from directly beneath them. Whatever, all I am suggesting is that you get to understand the "feel" of the pins first.
OK, enough of this Obi Wan Kenobi stuff
The best tool for picking the Master #3 is the Big Rake. The one that looks like a jagged lightning bolt and not the smoother s-curve/snake rake. Why? Because the Master #3's pins match the teeth of the big rake and the snake rake is too "subtle" for a #3. I have opened it with the snake rake several times, but it is no where as easy and, when it did open, I was never sure why. It was just "scrub, scrub, scrub" and then *POOF* it opened (sometimes after failing dozens of times).
Remember that the #3 opens in either direction. If what you try seems to lead nowhere after some time, then switch the tension to the other direction. I tried for ages going clockwise and only had random successes but when I switched to CCW, I could open it in a few seconds - every time.
The #3 is a simple lock to compromise with picks so make sure that you know the lock actually works before you drive yourself crazy
Tension: Use a medium-light and consistent tension. By "medium-light", I mean about as much muscle-power as you would need to use to slowly and steadily roll a tennis ball along a flat surface using only your thumb.
Have your rake or diamond ready and insert the pick parallel to the keyway and as soon as you begin to lift the first pin apply the tension.
Continue to slowly insert the pick while keeping the tension the same.
After you reach the back of the keyway, increase the tension by a tiny amount and work the pick back out (raising the parallel plane you are raking by a tiny fraction). Continue to apply slightly more tension and raising the plane of your pick's movement each time your pick reaches each end of the keyway.
Be sure to understand the feedback that your hand operating the tension wrench is giving you! It is very easy to actually open the lock but not even know it because you are not aware of what your tension-wrench hand is telling you. You must stay in constant contact with your tension-hand!
If, after several insertions and retractions of your pick you haven't opened it, release the tension and let the pins reset and withdraw your pick.
Reflect on what it was that you felt during that attempt. How many pins set? How far did the cylinder rotate (note that most cylinders will only move a very few millimeters unless they are completely open).
Continue to repeat these steps - the feedback you get will make your task easier.
