Torque collides with pick - what am I doing wrong?

[patrickson]

You must forgive me, for I am not a mechanic expert, neither someone with those skills. I am but a mere linguist, therefore you can imagine my poor dexterity and mech skills. But I practise picking 1-2 hours every day for the last 2 months with picks I made myself (thanks for the info on that!)

I have a problem, but I am sure it is my mistake.
I made this poor picture as well to demonstrate my problem.

- the black circles are obviously the lock (pin tumbler)
- the green rectangular supposed to be the torque wrench
- the red is the pick (I could only make a hook and a half diamond)
- the blue circle is where I stuck---

So the thing is:
1. I insert the torque into the lock
2. I insert the pick and try to reach the last pin deep inside
3. I push the pin back and apply slight tension to the torque
4. the pin stays down (probably because it s set, but probably because the torque tension is too big, but that s not my question now)
5. I try to move to the next pin and THAT IS WHERE I STUCK

Becasue as you can see, the torque wrench collides with the pick and it presses it to the side of the hull. I cannot move the pick, coz the torque presses it! I can only move the pick if I release some torque tension, but then, the pin jumps back

My questions is:
- what am I doing wrong? (maybe the torque wrench itself is too big?)
- where does the torque supposed to touch the hull?
- how deep should the torque go in?

(yes, I read MIT guide and I watched countless of videos on youtube, but I can never catch a glimpse of the CORRECT way of inserting the torque into the lock.)

thank you for your patience!

[Oliwerko]

Hello there, patrickson.

There is no "correct" way of inserting the torqe wrench into the keyhole, you can insert it practically anywhere you want as far as these two conditions are fulfilled:

a) be careful not to insert it too deep, because it could collide with the first pin and cause troubles there. For this reason, if I insert the wrench in front of the place, where the first pin is, I usually push it as far as it goes (and collides with first pin), and then pull it out some 2 milimeters to be sure that it is deep enough to do some torque, but shallow enough not to collide with the first pin.

b) when deciding where to put the wrench, don't put it in the way of the pick. This is probably your problem.

You have said that you have home-made tools. I bet that that's the problem, since even with narrow-keyhole pin tumblers, I have never had troubles with pick/wrench collisions.
I suggest you buy some pickset. I don't say that home made tools are bad, they can be better than bought ones sometimes, but I would totally suggest everyone to get some pickset first, get a feel of lockpicking with it (so you know that the problem is not within your tools) and only then move to home made stuff.

Anyway, try another torqe wrench, or put the wrench in some other part of the keyhole. There's not much you can do about this kind of difficulty.

[smttyxc92]

It might also be too big what did u make yours from?

[patrickson]

Thank you for your suggestions!
I will try to make a smaller torque and try that.

I made my picks from saw blade, which is about 1mm thick, so it can
easily fit into the keyhole. The torque is from another metal, but it is thicker.
(acutually, I will write about this in the proper part of the forum, cause I had some questions about training steel)

I know I should purchase a starter kit and it s not very expensive either.
But I decided that I will buy it only when I could pick at least 2 locks : )
If I cannot open at least two, probably I don t have what it takes to be a lockpicker, so it would be a waste of money. Besides, I know that I press my picks too hard, so they often bend and get damaged. I wouldn t want to damage a good pick only because I m clumsy.

Actually, I successfully picked 3 locks since then, so maybe I should ask Santa to deliver a nice set?

Thank you again, I will try your suggestions!

[apb]

My suggestion is just what was said and that it to place the tension wrench in a different position. My recommendation is to use what we refer to as top tension. The wrench is placed in the keyway in front of the first pin. Aside from getting the wrench out of the pick's way, you have more room to work on the pins. This also gives a balanced rotation on the plug, so you aren't pulling it in a certain direction when its placed in the bottom of key way.

Here's a pic of top tension using a bobby pin to give you an idea.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm26 ... C01134.jpg

[patrickson]

ugh I was doing it wrong all the time

I thought that you put the torque on the upper side of the hull
(over the pins) and I pushed it in good 1 cm deep!
No wonder I couldn t work on the pins----

thanks apb, that photo helped me a lot!

[Olson Burry]

"Top" tension is excellent all round and especially in small keyways.

However you were not wrong using your original placement, I think the problem is simply that the wrench is too wide.

In the EU we would say you have the lock upside down - with the pins pointing up from the lower part of the lock so top tension in this case means simply in front of where the pins are.

A shortened wrench is useful in this case so you don't interfere with the first pin when you put it in.

Here are a couple more examples:

Top tension (anticlockwise)


Bottom Tension (clockwise)


All the best

[patrickson]

thanks Olson!

Actually, since I first received good advices, I ve been experimenting
with both upper and lower tension and I think both can be used in different situations.

In Europe, most of our locks have their pins on the lower side,
so it s the opposite of what you have in America.

...that Yale looks so cool