Temporary mechanical flaw induction

[SFGOON]

I've been experementing with rapidly heating/cooling precision machined locks to alter the dimensions and make them easier to pick with some limited success. I'm curious to see if anyone else has tried this and if so, what has worked and what hasn't.

[toomush2drink]

Not tried it as i would be too worried about setting light to the door its attatched to.

[SFGOON]

The amount of heat required to burn the door would melt the lock as well. Freezing has yielded the best results for me, especially if the cylinder is stainless steel. The general idea is this, high security locks owe thier reliability to the fact that they have few mechanical flaws, among other features. However, if one can "warp" thier dimensions by heating the mechanism and causing the working parts to slightly change shape, it creates a window of oppurtunity where the lock may pick easier. Again this is all hypothetical and something I am working on right now.

[locksmistress]

Can I ask if you are altering the environment for these locks in situ?

Or are you putting hardware in your freezer?

[S3rratedSp00L]

Just a thought, but does anyone from a place that snows find locks easier or harder to pick in the winter as long as they aren't completely iced up? I guess that would be similar to putting them in the freezer, except the entire environment would be cold and I assume that the entire mechanism would be affected. I've never picked a lock in the snow, fortunately. I havent even seen snow in several years.

If locks are easier to pick cold, then maybe the ultimate pickset should contain an icepick, hehe.

[Buggs41]

It boils ( lol ) down to the different expansion/contraction rates of the materials that are used in a lock.

Heat expands, and cold contracts, but with varying degrees to each metal.

[CaptHook]

I find them harder to open in the cold(blanket statement intended). I don't know how much of it is the lock, and how much is the pickers physical comfort level. Cold hands are not conducive to good picking, neither are gloves.
Chuck

[toomush2drink]

ok now i get the idea, you could use a pipe freezing kit for plumbing ,not a lot of cash either http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/cat.jsp?ts=08893&id=100130.

[randmguy]

The other thing to consider about picking cold locks is the lubricant. I'm from Minnesota and I've picked locks when its -40F and colder. At temperatures like that the lube in the lock is like axle grease. I don't have any scientific proof but cold also seems to do some funny things to the springs also.

[Varjeal]

Hehehe..doesn't take much scientific proof that locks are more difficult to pick in the cold when your fingers are turning blue/white. Hehehe..

Yeah, I've opened locks where the factory lubricating grease was so thick it was like trying to turn the plug on the trunk of an old car.

Heated picks would be nice sometimes.

[SFGOON]

Of course I'm throwing padlocks in the freezer. I haven't thought of a way to make this field expedient. The most notable change is definitely the springs, which being steel I guess change a lot with different tempatures. Generally, freezing causes a high quality pin tumbler to function like a cheap one for several minutes. Give it a whirl.

[Chucklz]

Not all springs are steel. Many are Phosphor bronze. I don't have any empirical evidence on how the Hooke's constant changes with temperature, but this is what we have engineers for......

Locks in the freezer? Have you considered frost build up/ water in and or around the plug as another possibility for your observed effects?

[Hojo]

Hey, I had this lock that I couldnt get open so I decided to try something, I heated the cylinder for 10 minutes of so over my blow torch, (Reaches 1300 degrees) and qlenched it in freezing water, effect was the springs temper was ruined making them have no "spring" in them so i lifted all the pins and it compacted all the springs, so nothing was tight, still couldn't pick it though so i filed the top off to take out then pins, springs were in little peises, almost like a dust hehe, but i got all the pins out and the cylinder was stuck, so I smashed it out with hammer...it was tight as hell, probly why I couldnt pick it, no tension..

[Mad Mick]

Not quite an NDE then?

[abrannan]

Of course I'm throwing padlocks in the freezer. I haven't thought of a way to make this field expedient.

Have you tried the coolant spray gum remover? It's an aerosol canister of what amounts so freon. You spray it on gum that's been dropped on the floor, and it hardens/cools the gum enough that you can scrape it up with a putty knife. It may or may not give you enough cooling in situ to alter a lock, but the cans usually come with a spray tube (like WD-40) that makes it easier to get into keyways.