Making progress on Schlage

[dboeren]

Just a small personal victory I wanted to share...

I spent a couple of hours last night working on my Schlage deadbolt cylinder, using the same system as when I first learned to pick. That is, remove most of the pins and work my way back up to the full five pins. The spools are still very challenging, but I finally managed to open the lock with 3 out of 5 pins in place. Tonight I'm going to open it a few more times on 3 pins and then move up to 4.

To the guys who are even more newbie than me, one important point seems to be visualizing how wide the crossbar is on the spool pin and lifting by the right amount after you unbind it.

Making progress on this more challenging lock really makes me feel like my skills are improving!

[Kayvon]

Congratulations! How long has it taken you to get this far? And what sort of setup are you working with?

[dboeren]

I got my picks xmas night, a SouthOrd 14-piece set. I bought the Schlage on the 31st, disassembled it, and modified it so that I could add/remove pins.

I've mostly been working on other locks, so I don't have that much time actually spent on the Schlage but I've been practicing for about 3 1/2 weeks total now at maybe an hour a day average.

I'm not sure if this is what you mean by "setup", but I'm using a SouthOrd short hook pick and their slim tension wrench in the bottom of the keyway.

[poor paperclip picker]

I have a schlage deadbolt also, mine has 4 spools and 1 regular pin. I did the same thing, start with 1 or 2 pins and work up. I have picked mine with 5 pins quite a few times.

I also have a schlage KIK and I have picked that before but quit for a while. Then I got my deadbolt, once I picked that, the KIK seemed a lot easier. So I do agree that the schalge deadbolt helps improve your skills.

Good luck with your deadbolt.

[dboeren]

Yep, mine is the same. One normal pin (found in the front position) and four spool pins.

Update: I got the 3-pin Schlage open a few more times. Then after about an hour of solid picking, I finally opened the Schlage with four pins. About 20 minutes later, I did it again. I kept trying for about another 40 minutes but haven't made it a third time. My hand is getting pretty fatigued so I'll call it quits for the night and try again tomorrow. I need to get 4 pins a lot more reliable before I add in the 5th one.

It's quite a challenging lock. Once I get good at it, I've got a Brinks shrouded 6-pin lock that I'm going to try to tackle.

[raimundo]

you know exactly where the spool pins are, so it shouldn't be so hard to learn to set them, light tension is the key.

Another thing that is important for learners, watch how you put tension on, look at the cylinder wall to see if the tensor blade is cutting or eroding the wall into a groove that will ground your tension uselessly, and keep an eye on the edge of the tensor, it can become rough from use around laminated padlocks or locks such as american where hardened steel is in front of the plug. definatley try some things to shim the tensor blade so it is forced to stand vertical, but use bits of metal that are bent so that they wont fall into the key way and also smooth so that they will not cut or bind into the brass. I use L shaped bits of hairpin, with the rounded side toward the cylinder wall, this can also be the wavy side of the hairpin, the shape helps it take up room at the wide bottom of the keyway. Pay close attention to your tension, keep it loose in the keyway, binding is counterproductive. Tension has a lot to teach us all.

[csthomas]

congrats. i have yet to try a schlage is it true they are the best non-high security lock

[Trip Doctor]

Raimundo just gave some really good advice above.
It's not something you pay attention to when starting out, but it's really important. It's not fun to spend an hour frustratingly (a word?) trying to get your Schlage to pop open before realizing that only a small part of the force you're applying to the wrench is actually going into tensioning the plug and is. Subtle differences in tension wrench position, major difference in picking.