Wafer Tumblers---Disk Tumblers Whats the difference!?!

[csthomas]

Ok, now I've been lockpicking for about 2 and a half months. Some say that Wafers and Disk tumblers are the same, Others say that they are VERY different. My question is relatively simple...Which one is true??? Iwould perfer the more experienced people who are 100% sure of this answer to "answer" this only. Thank you in advance.

[csthomas]

When I say "to "answer" this only." I mean that only these people should ANSWER the question any informatin would of course be greatly appreciated. (I was looking at my post and seen how it might be misinterpreted)

[le.nutzman]

Depending on who you ask and what brand of lock you're referencing, you're going to get a different answer. So here's a guide:

Desk Drawers, 3 and 5 drawer file cabinets, some locks on glass display cases, things of that nature..........wafer lock. Very easy to pick, almost a waste of time, just use a snake rake, apply light tension and literally move the rake out of the lock in an upward/outward motion, kinda resembles your index finger moving as you say "come here". Most of these locks that I have more or less toyed with, I've raked open in one or two strokes of the rake, my fav that works the smoothest is the modified rake from LN21 that he made as part of my set. Very very smooth action.

Disc locks, aka I don't mess with, aka I know enough about them to know that if you're going to pick them, I hope you have alot of time on your hands and either the right tool or a whole bunch of luck. From what I do know, these types of locks generally seen like Abloy Protec (I own one and it's no joke) and some others in this range. What I can tell you from my own experience, is these do NOT have pins/springs to actuate the locking mechanism, so traditional picking techniques WILL NOT WORK. As previously stated, if you're going up against a lock in this catagory, I hope you have alot of time on your hands, the right tool and a decent amount of luck. It's not impossible from what I've read, but it does take a great deal of time.

Hope this helps shed some light on your question.

[csthomas]

This absolutely helps, I have picked many wafers and I do exactly what you described ( I posted a forum on Help with wafer tumblers.) but yes thank you for post. Please keep advice coming.

[mh]

people with a very good knowledge about locks have told me that wafers and discs are by most people considered to be the same things in the context of locks.

However, wafers usually only move up and down.

Discs can also move up and down (then they are just another word for wafers),
but there is also the rotating disc tumbler lock, that's the Abloy style that's rather difficult to pick.

Cheers,
mh

[Abus]

I kind of dislike the use of "tumbler" to describe lock parts, since popular culture assigns it to everything from mechanical safe locks to warded padlocks.

But, that aside, I think there's a strong consensus that in locks that use thin plates of metal moved by a key, rotation based lock designs, ala abloy are disk, and vertically traveling designs (ala cheap file cabinet) are wafer.

Even more confusing is that some "disk" padlocks (ABUS Diskcus style) have a rotating disk mechanism, and some are pin-tumbler.

[mh]

BTW, when is it a disk and when a disc?

Cheers,
mh

[bumber]

BTW, when is it a disk and when a disc?

Cheers,
mh

disk is floppy and disc is cd....wait what

[zikmik]

BTW, when is it a disk and when a disc?

If you look in english vocabulary you will see that these two word have almoust the same meaning.
It only depends in which part of planet you live.

[Safety0ff]

If you look in english vocabulary you will see that these two word have almoust the same meaning.

http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=disk
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=disc
Precisely.