Repetitive picking and damaged pins

[Jim Palmer]

I am wondering if there is such a thing as the laws of diminishing returns as it pertains to individual locks. Specifically, I have noticed that often I can pick a lock successfully, but it becomes harder when I try it again. Does picking a lock weaken or damage it in any way? Particularly with padlocks I have gotten the feeling that perhaps the springs could be weakened through repetition. I hope someone can shed some light....Another question I have is if a lock simply will not pick (and others like it have been successfully picked) what is generally the explanation. Damaged or stuck pins?

[Solomon]

Only if you're extremely heavy handed when it comes to pick pressure... picking a lock shouldn't cause any more wear than using the key, which is very little. Locks are designed with many years of use in mind. If you picked a lock once, and find it difficult to do it again, there can be a lot of reasons why:

- There was luck involved the first time. Keep practicing!
- Your fingers are stressed. If your fingers have been in an awkward position for a long time they will begin to shake as you try to move them tiny amounts, making it much more difficult to control tension. Take a rest and come back to it in a while. Make sure your fingers are perfectly relaxed.
- You're determined to get it open again and aren't concentrating enough, or getting impatient because it's taking longer etc. Again, take a break or just try to concentrate more.
- You could even be having a bit of an off day. This happens! Some days I pick up a lock I usually have no trouble at all with, and can't seem to open it to save my life. Don't sweat it, it happens to all of us.


If a lock just doesn't seem to pick, well, there are a lot of reasons for that too:

- Same as above in regards to impatience, frustration, or lack of proper concentration.
- It contains security pins you're not familiar with, or they are beyond your current experience (ie. serrated key pins aswell as drivers such as in American brand padlocks). Look up information on the lock you're dealing with to find out what kind of pins it has if you suspect this.
- The plug rotation is stiff. The higher the tolerances in the pin chambers, the more of an issue this becomes in terms of picking. Lubricate the plug with a silicone based spray if you feel it's necessary.
- You are rotating the plug the wrong way. This isn't an issue with picking locks in hand, although I've found that some will pick in one direction but seem impossible to set more than a couple of pins rotating the other way.
- The tension wrench isn't in the best place it could be. There are lots of positions you can have the wrench inserted in the keyway... experiment with different placements and angles to see how it affects to rotation of the plug. I have some cylinders which pick easiest when the tensioner is at the side of the keyway opposite the pins and the handle is out to the left (so the tension is upwards and to the right) - and others which need the handle to the right (so tension is applied downwards and to the right). Some locks pick pretty easily nomatter where or how you place it... just experiment if you're not getting anyhwere after a while. Try applying tension to the side of the keyway where the pins are aswell, just make sure the tensioner isn't making contact with the front pin. You'll need it here when dealing with trickier bittings.

Hope that helps a bit!

[Solomon]

Sorry for the double post, but just to clarify when I started rambling about tension types I was talking about euro cylinders (pin at the bottom). Just to clear up any confusion, after all if the pins were at the top what I was saying would be completely backwards!

Mods feel free to add this into my previous post and delete this. Hate double posting!

[JACKthePICKER]

after reading this it helped me remember alot about when i pick more people should read them to help over tensioning is a real discouragment when first picking

[NanoDuke]

Reading this helped me to remember a lot about punctuation.

[thelockpickkid]

When I can't pick something I just tell everybody the lock is broke!! Gets me off the hook!!!

[Solomon]

When I can't pick something I just tell everybody the lock is broke!! Gets me off the hook!!!

Yeah, literally.

[FarmerFreak]

When I can't pick something I just tell everybody the lock is broke!! Gets me off the hook!!!

I do the same thing, and if I happen to pick it after saying that, I continue to say that I fixed it!

[tballard]

Back somewhat on topic:

In my experience, the pins don't seem to suffer much from repeated picking. Locks do get worn from picking though. Usually the worst wear is in the keyway, where the wrench makes contact. It doesn't take much to deform the plug there. Additionally, some people use serrated wrenches, which are great for a practicing locksmith I suppose, but as a hobbyist, seem like a good way to encourage bad habits. (If the wrench slips, you're using the wrong wrench. Figure out a better way to tension, or make a new wrench)

Cheap or badly sanded picks are another culprit. Some of the scratches you put in a lock are deformations, and some are gouges. The gouges leave little bits of metal dust which can be quite abrasive to the insides of the lock.

[UEDan]

I have to agree with soloman on this, I posted a thread a while back about using a lock without a key so I had to pick it. Its a 5 pin Schlage with 2 security pins BTW

Well, lately I've been coming home very tired so SPP with feather tensioner in out of the question for me. I just grab a standard tension wrench and L rake. I'm pretty tired so I'm not as gentle as I should be everything seems to be working perfectly, the keyways isn't deformed in any way.

Seriously, how rough are you!?