by Rift » 14 Aug 2009 12:53
Good to hear your getting better. Like you said and like lock2006 said practice practice practice. Just when you think you have gotten it practice some more, and after that practice even more. Not sure if you looked at the thread digital_blue had posted but the exercises that he outlines in that thread are a great base. Learning those feelings and what is going on with pins are the most important thing you can learn.
One thing that I found that helped me a lot and also sort of forces you to feel what is going on in the lock is to cover it up with a cloth while picking it. Not sure how it is for others but I sometimes had a tendency to look down the keyway and try to see what is going on with the pins. But this often didn't help much and just prolonged the process. Covering it up eliminated that natural tendency to want to look and (at least for me) greatly helped with determining what is going on inside a lock through feel.
As far as a spool pins when your ready to move up to those I would definitely take it slow like you have been with the regular pins. Start with one regular and one spool (locks are usually keyed with at least one regular pin to prevent false sets while using a key) so you can get a better idea of how the lock behaves with a spool pin in it. To me the most important thing with these is tension. But once you start practicing with them you will get a feel for exactly how much tension you need to apply and when.
Like you said when it gets tough don't give up its all about practice, and then even more practice. If you find yourself getting frustrated sometimes its a good thing to just put the lock down and take a little break.
Rift
If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.
