Tension wrench slipping

[pickit_77]

How many of you have constant trouble with tension wrenches slipping? Sometimes I swear its just as the plug begins to turn! Which of course resets all the pins. Or it slips up in the middle of the plug just underneath the pins making it impossible to reach them until I reposition it. It usually happens as im picking, as if my pick upsets the wrench somehow and it slips. Maybe its because I lever my pick instead of lifting it straight up (someone please tell me if im supposed to keep the pick horizontal and lift it up or if it is good/bad practice to lever, I do this because its easier for me to know where my pick is inside the plug)

I'm using a wiper blade insert approximately a bit less than 5mm wide. Is there a way to remedy this problem? Of course it depends on the locks, some just slip more than others. Is the answer a thicker or wider wrench? Any ideas are appreciated. Thank you.

[Jaakko]

You can file a small teeth to the side of the tension wrench, so that it grips the plug better.

[moocow]

I only have 2 locks to work with right now, so I just cut more tension wrenches to fit the keyway in different styles until I find a tip that works well for me

[Urbex]

I've run into that problem a few times, especially with "American" locks. I simply insert my "twist-flex", and then insert my "thin-line" next to it to better grip the warding.

It's a little hard to picture using my description, but theres essentially two wrenches back to back.

[pickit_77]

I like the teeth idea... but I dont know what you mean. I'm using wiper blade inserts so I don't know how I'd attach "teeth" to it. Unless you mean grooves.

[ToolyMcgee]

If you scroll down to the second wrench in this tutorial you will see how to make the teeth on your wrench.

[Eyes_Only]

I use the Peterson Flat Five wrenches and they work well in these situations. The Pry Bar tends to slip out of the older Kwiksets if you place it at the top but you can remedy that by using the other Flat Five wrenches or placing the Pry Bar at the bottom of the keyway.

[MacGnG1]

i found that some of my wrenches are just minutely smaller than some of the others and it slips. seems that it happens when i put too much force on it. so i stop picking, relax for a second and then go back to picking and then its all good

[StabbyJoe]

basically the teeth in a tension wrench are filed in using a triangle file... usually people take a bit out of the rest of the width of the wrench so the teeth seem to come outward rather than sinking in...


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Horribly done... the pic ref is a better indication lol
Oh, well, I tried

[ToolyMcgee]

This
http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=17220
is the thread that covers how to put teeth in your wrench tip. Scroll down to the second wrench he makes.

Sorry for the dead link before. Hope this one works better for ya.

[BraveHeart.]

i believe you could just make the shorter end thicker
am i right?

[pickit_77]

I'm using a wiper blade insert. I don't know where to get street sweeper bristles. I'm in New Zealand so I don't know if we even have them. What are they exactly.

I guess I could just make notches in my wiper blades.

[Ibn]

I'm using a wiper blade insert. I don't know where to get street sweeper bristles. I'm in New Zealand so I don't know if we even have them. What are they exactly.

I guess I could just make notches in my wiper blades.

Yes it doesn't matter, you can make the teeth on wiper blades. I don't know street sweeper bristles, but i think that wiper inserts are the best material for making tension wrenches - at least in Czech.

[criminalhate]

A lot of people have been saying street sweeper bristles are more of an American thing and the majority of other countries are using nylon bristles. What they are is steel strips a street cleaner uses to scrape the cement and remove the garbage and grime from the street.


And yes you can make notches in your wiper blade. It will help a bunch but also keep your eyes open for different sized wiper blade inserts. I have come a crossed 3 or 4 different sized ones. Some are great tension wrenches others are to thick and need to be filed down.

[Ibn]

Yes in Czech republic the street cleaners use synthetic fibres.
I have seen much more different sizes of wiper inserts, because I pick it directly from an automobile service. And I think that is really good for making a lot of different tension wrenches.
I have a micrometer for measuration of thickness and it differs from about 1mm (maybe more) to about 0,6mm and the width is also highly various.
The material usually doesn't brake so you can make tension wrenches quite easily. But sometimes it is flexible but brittle so when you want to make a tension wrench it cracks.
That's my "research" about wiper blade inserts