My Picks!

[Helmeester]

most annoying thing yet is, is that i can open the lock in 10 seconds with my king pick, lifting the pins up in 1 time (it ís really working!)

[Romstar]

if you find some older street sweeper bristles you can make twist flex's with them

im going crazy, i can't open my 3 pin practice lock pin for pin, because none of my picks are made (or i use them wrong) to reach over the first two pins (that have set) and press the third one down all the way. it is totally freaking me out, i know i have to be patient, but i cant solve this by practicing, because my tool just seems to be in appropriate, when i try to push down the third pin I push the second one alone with it, causing it to overset.. does anybody have any tips, or pick designs to overcome this?

Work backwards.

In a case where you have a high set pin behind two lower set pins, you have to work from back to front. The lifter is your friend here.

Romstar

[Romstar]

most annoying thing yet is, is that i can open the lock in 10 seconds with my king pick, lifting the pins up in 1 time (it ís really working!)

Funny about those picks isn't it?

If I start getting really generous, I may in the future provide the templates for our other wave picks. I think I have made a total of four of these sets, that's how rare it is for me to give them out.

And no, they aren't bent like the Majestic high tech set. Although there are two similar to that design. I just couldn't justify an entire set made that way.

Romstar

[Eagerpicker]

If you start from the back, that means that the back pin is the one that has to bind first. If usually the frontmost pin binds first, reverse the direction of your torque. That should make the back pin bind first. Of course in many locks, you do not have this luxury. A long hook may help out there, and a slight slanting of the pick.

[Helmeester]

If you start from the back, that means that the back pin is the one that has to bind first. If usually the frontmost pin binds first, reverse the direction of your torque. That should make the back pin bind first. Of course in many locks, you do not have this luxury. A long hook may help out there, and a slight slanting of the pick.

haven't even thought of that but it sounds pretty logical thanks!

[Helmeester]

most annoying thing yet is, is that i can open the lock in 10 seconds with my king pick, lifting the pins up in 1 time (it ís really working!)

Funny about those picks isn't it?

If I start getting really generous, I may in the future provide the templates for our other wave picks. I think I have made a total of four of these sets, that's how rare it is for me to give them out.

And no, they aren't bent like the Majestic high tech set. Although there are two similar to that design. I just couldn't justify an entire set made that way.

Romstar

wave picks, is that like the series the king and queen are in too? are you the author of them? neato

[Helmeester]

If you start from the back, that means that the back pin is the one that has to bind first. If usually the frontmost pin binds first, reverse the direction of your torque. That should make the back pin bind first. Of course in many locks, you do not have this luxury. A long hook may help out there, and a slight slanting of the pick.

tried it, it is not working with my current picks.have to make another hook.. do you think the falle style long hooks are the kind of picks for these jobs? or do i have to get a larger hook? the 3 hooks currently in my inventory (see picture) are the steep almost L like hook, a shallow not too deep one, and an almost feeler pick.. what model should i choose to make next?

[Romstar]

wave picks, is that like the series the king and queen are in too? are you the author of them? neato

I'm not the original designer of the king and queen. However, I am the designer of several other similar picks. I just plain have never released any of them.

Romstar

[Romstar]

tried it, it is not working with my current picks.have to make another hook.. do you think the falle style long hooks are the kind of picks for these jobs? or do i have to get a larger hook? the 3 hooks currently in my inventory (see picture) are the steep almost L like hook, a shallow not too deep one, and an almost feeler pick.. what model should i choose to make next?

The third pick in your picture should be appropriate for that lock. However, bear in mind that rakes are designed for picking a lock that you can't single pick.

That was the purpose of the things in the first palce. You may just have one of those locks.

Romstar

[Eagerpicker]

Romstar> that's interesting, what you say about rakes. But isn't it the case that a rake either depresses the pins quickly or hits them fast and hard (the pool ball effect)? In either case, I have found that a short key pin, that has to travel far in order to bind and set, will not respond to raking very well.

[Romstar]

Romstar> that's interesting, what you say about rakes. But isn't it the case that a rake either depresses the pins quickly or hits them fast and hard (the pool ball effect)? In either case, I have found that a short key pin, that has to travel far in order to bind and set, will not respond to raking very well.

Technically, you are correct. It is harder to get short pins to bounce a driver up that high. However, as you have discovered, when you have such a high setting pin behind one or two low setting pins, you create a problem where your pick could actually be lifting the front pins higher than they need to go.

This can be countered with other sorts of rakes. Take a look at the various designs, and you will find a type for just this sort of situation.

Romstar

[Eagerpicker]

I have set up my cut-away practice cylinder with only two pin columns, the rearmost two. The back one is a very high setting pin, the one in front a very low setting one (the biggest difference I could arrange in key pin height with my spare pins; if the short one is a no. 1, the tall one is a 5 or 6). I've tried all my rakes, seven or eight different designs, but none of them is able to even affect the high setting key pin in such a way that it comes near the shear line. So now I am curious, Romstar, what type of rake design you have in mind for this kind of job. None of my hooks, by the way, not even the steepest, longest ones, is able to push the high setting pin far enough.

What's more, due to the paracentric keyway, it is impossible to push both pins down to the bottom in order to try reverse picking. The lock brand is BKS. Take a look at http://www.g-u.de/Tueren/Schliesszylinder.php, the lock front with "Serie 8800" next to it. The keyway on my lock resembles that one. Click that image and you'll be taken to http://www.g-u.de/Tueren/Schliesszylinder/Serie8800.php, a sizeable picture of the inside of the lock. The pin set-up in the picture differs, of course, from the one I have described above.

Now how to overcome the keyway AND key pin obstacles? Any other suggestions?

[Helmeester]

I have set up my cut-away practice cylinder with only two pin columns, the rearmost two. The back one is a very high setting pin, the one in front a very low setting one (the biggest difference I could arrange in key pin height with my spare pins; if the short one is a no. 1, the tall one is a 5 or 6). I've tried all my rakes, seven or eight different designs, but none of them is able to even affect the high setting key pin in such a way that it comes near the shear line. So now I am curious, Romstar, what type of rake design you have in mind for this kind of job. None of my hooks, by the way, not even the steepest, longest ones, is able to push the high setting pin far enough.

What's more, due to the paracentric keyway, it is impossible to push both pins down to the bottom in order to try reverse picking. The lock brand is BKS. Take a look at http://www.g-u.de/Tueren/Schliesszylinder.php, the lock front with "Serie 8800" next to it. The keyway on my lock resembles that one. Click that image and you'll be taken to http://www.g-u.de/Tueren/Schliesszylinder/Serie8800.php, a sizeable picture of the inside of the lock. The pin set-up in the picture differs, of course, from the one I have described above.

Now how to overcome the keyway AND key pin obstacles? Any other suggestions?

my problem is EXACTLY the same, also the furthest two pins, just can't do them! (glad you can't as well )

by the way, got a new padlock today! first Yale :D haven't picked it yet, its a
yale p110 or something, dont know if its got a codename..

very curious what this baby can do

[Helmeester]

wow ive found a nice way to learn! (thanks to ep partly) picking upside down (pins on top) really helps feelin when the pins have set or not.. unbelievable, very nice! would recommend it to anyone stuck on picking a particular lock

[Eagerpicker]

Good for you, Helmeester! Problem is, almost all locks in our country -- and most of Europe in general, as I understand it -- have the pins and spring at the bottom of the lock...

Should you therefore want to pick a lock in a door for some reason, you'll be stuck once again with topsy-turvy gravity. In a way, the same goes for the bit of advice Romstar gave you earlier on about starting at the back of the lock: this reverses the picking direction, but consequently the plug turning too, so you may end up trying to lock a locked door, as it were.