HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRACTICE PICKING

[prag]

My question is to expierenced and novice locksmiths. How often and how long do you practice your lock picking skill. The reason I ask is that the picking "bug" has caught me and I practice on an average 2 hours a day picking the different locks I have.

Infact, the other day I was "playing" with my pick gun and my significant other came in the garage, where I was working, and asked what I was up to now again

This question, although particially in jest, is just to see if I'm not being to obsess with picking. Also I want to perfect a skill I feel I'm lacking.

Second question is if you experience cramping in the palm of your hand. Please don't laugh too loudly. Is there some hand training that can be done to prevent this.

[l618]

Well, I'm not a locksmith, I just pick locks for the fun of it, and there are days I easily reach 2 hours. But I don't think that's "excessive" for a hobby. After all lockpicking is a very difficult skill to master and must be honed if you want to get it right. So no, I don't think 2 hours a day is too obsessive.

About the cramps thing, I have it too mate . Only I get them in the muscles of my thumb that I hold my pick with, but I guess everyone has his style of holding his pick. Only solution I came up so far is giving my hand a 5 minute break and continue, and all worries gone

[n2oah]

Second question is if you experience cramping in the palm of your hand. Please don't laugh too loudly. Is there some hand training that can be done to prevent this.

Is said cramping from doing too much of a task that is unrelated to lockpicking?
I practice once a week for about 30 minutes. That's why I suck.

[Legacy712]

Cramping tends to happen with any repetitious movements done over a long period of time, whether it be your hands, arms, or legs. When you sit too long, you should get up periodically and stretch your legs. When you experience cramping in your hand, you should limit your activity to 60 minutes or less, then open and close your hand repeatedly to stretch it for a few minutes. Or, get up and walk around for awhile, doing something else. Get a cup of coffee and relax a bit, then continue.

Sometimes, it's beneficial to take a break from something you've been working on for awhile, just to clear your head. You may find that, after a break, you can attempt it with a renewed enthusiasm. Give yourself a chance to analyze what you've been doing, and how you've been doing it. Think about it for awhile, then continue. You may decide to try a different way.

If you get hand cramps a lot, you may also want to determine if you are putting too much pressure on your tension wrench. The more tension you apply, the more your pick hand has to overcome when pushing the pins. This is particularly true if you find you've been bending your picks.

[lock2006]

I just pick locks for the fun i try doing differents locks like masters,i have american 10 and 1105 series and some abus 83/50 series and 83/45 series some kwikset and Schlage i got really good at picking the masters padlocks the 1,3,15 and 140 series but i am having problem pick the best lock 6 and 7 pins i am working on it before i jump into Medeco lock i have a couple of this Biaxial Medeco 6 cylinder any info about picking this lock would help the best lock and Medeco thanks

[ToolyMcgee]

I'm not a locksmith, but as a picker I say two hours a day is not an obsession. It's a hobby. Once you start choosing tools, locks, and picking over food, women, and sleep then you have an serious problem.

I experience cramping usually in my tension hand when I am doing extended picking in hand with padlocks or cylinders. I found a small vice helps. If you are talking about cramping in your pick hand then maybe try to get bigger handles, change grips, change hands, or simply take a break. I've found some pilates finger stretches to be of some relief for hand cramps. Stretching each finger individually twice a day, but don't get carried away with it when your hand is cramping or you could seriously strain something. It does not however help any joint inflamation. If you have trouble with that try not crack your knuckles so much. Find something else to nervously fiddle with like a piece of jewlry or a rubber band. I've heard doctors say to keep it around your wrist and every time you go to crack them snap the rubber band for negative reinforcement. I think this is a little extreme, and you don't really wanna go three stooges on yourself in public unless you want a white jacket "vacation".

I can't remember any direct quotes at the moment, but many great men have said you can never truly be good at anything without being a little obsessed. It's if it starts to take over other important parts of your life that it becomes problematic. I'm just glad to find out someone is having a good time picking.

I just pick locks for the fun i try doing differents locks like masters,i have american 10 and 1105 series and some abus 83/50 series and 83/45 series some kwikset and Schlage i got really good at picking the masters padlocks the 1,3,15 and 140 series but i am having problem pick the best lock 6 and 7 pins i am working on it before i jump into Medeco lock i have a couple of this Biaxial Medeco 6 cylinder any info about picking this lock would help the best lock and Medeco thanks

Your post is off topic almost entirely. You should start a thread on the Medeco if you decide to tackle it. It's open forum material now. As for the best lock peterson has a special tension tool that helps picking them. You could buy one or try to make your own. Maybe revive a thread that discusses picking method for these little devils as many already exist.

[mtt.tr]

I have not got my set yet but when i do im going to try 1 hour a night on mon to fri and on sat and sun when i have free time.

[MacGnG1]

i havent in prolly 2 weeks. but when i get back into it its prolly 3-5 times a week for up to an hour

[LearningTheArt]

Do it for about an hour on week days and do it as much as I can on the weekends.

[Lockopener]

ill put in a hour a day
no, you are not obsessive, and, i too, have gotten cramps so i strech before by making and undoing fists

[Engineer]

I never know how much spare time I get, so have no set ammount. I once went a month without picking, but when I did, I didn't seem to have lost the touch.

I can't really pick for much more than three hours, my hand cramps too much and I loose the sensitivity I need for setting the pins.

I usually just clench and unclench my hand to ease the cramp off, but that is not the proper way. You need to concentrate on tensing the cramped muscles and then concentrate on relaxing them. Repeat until the cramp has gone.

I suppose professional piano players would know a lot about exercises to prevent it happening in the first place? I can't really say about them as I'm not musical.

[Challenger909]

u guys all can pick pretty long after 30 minutes on the same lock i'll abandon it for the next day

[Eyes_Only]

Before I started to work as a locksmith I used to go maybe 3 to 5 hours picking locks non-stop everyday with no hand cramping. The only reason I would stop is if I get sleepy and tired mentally from picking too long or if my friends call me to go out.

But now that I am a locksmith I find myself spending more time studying and practicing on how to generate keys for cars with decoding tools like the Determinator more than picking. I can still pick and am still better at it than anyone else at the shop I work at but to be honest I don't think I have really sat down and really practiced picking a lock for fun in the past couple weeks.

But today is my day off so I suppose I can try to spend a couple hours picking some of my practice locks.

[sammyBoy]

My first post. Hello everyone.

I've just started picking and I am hooked. At the mo I spend more than 2 hours a day but I think that will reduce. No real cramps to speak of but give it time.

Just to add to the thread slightly:- what do you practice on the most?

I'm working my way through my varied collection of old eurocylinders and loving it.

[kakoshi]

I probably try to pick one of my locks for about 10-15 min a day. I'm using some spare locks from my house. It's scary how easy it gets sometimes. Probably should change locks to an Abloy or something.