Double tension wrench

[skylerorlando]

I've seen a few wrenches like this, with split heads:



What are the benefits/disadvantages of these over "regular" tension wrenches? I've seen them associated with automobile lock picking. Would they work for doorknob-type locks as well?

[Solomon]

They're designed for double sided wafer cams, as it frees up space in the keyway and doesn't restrict access to either side with the pick. They're nowhere near strong enough to turn an auto lock though.

They work in whatever the fit in to be honest, but the feedback isn't as good as a normal wrench and there's no point using them on standard pin tumblers cos you can just use a standard TOK wrench to much better effect. They're sort-of-ok for dimple locks but I'd still choose a normal wrench over one of these first.

[raimundo]

TOK IS BOK in north america. bottom of keyway

[Solomon]

TOK IS BOK in north america. bottom of keyway

I meant TOK as normal, ie. pins mounted at the top. But yeah, the double pronged wrench would take up a little space in the bottom aswell so it offers no advantages really.

The whole tok/bok thing can get confusing at times, cos it means different things depending on the lock. I know in the US most locks are mounted with pins up top but in the UK and europe it's pretty much 50/50. I think it'd be a good idea to come up with universal terms to avoid confusion, any ideas? Most people would go for BOK when starting out (bottom of keyway when pins are up top), so we could just call that standard tension... dunno what we could call TOK though. Maybe over-pin tension?

[Eyes_Only]

Maybe we could call TOK as "axial tensioning" and BOK as something like "fringe tensioning"?

[WolfSpring]

the only use i've found for that, which I call a "wishbone" is for file cabinet locks and such where putting any kind of normal tension wrench in there takes up way to much room.

[skylerorlando]

The reason I'm asking is because I have an idea for a circular tension wrench that would have two adjustable prongs on either end of the keyway, used in conjunction with a mechanical pick. I think it'll leave enough space for the pick to work, but I'm not sure.

[Eyes_Only]

You mean like this, http://www.lockpicks.com/ProductImages/tnt15both.jpg or something a little bit different?

[skylerorlando]

Yep! Something similar to that.

[Eyes_Only]

If you can design a better one that would be great, cos the commercially available versions doesn't work very well.

[Solomon]

If you can design a better one that would be great, cos the commercially available versions doesn't work very well.

Have you seen the ringo from zieh-fix? It looks pretty decent, haven't tried one but it looks a lot more natural to control compared to the standard circular tools (which I don't like the feel of one bit). The ringo is the same idea as the adjustable ones except the tension is controlled by a wire. Overall it looks very bulky, but it's probably quite light, so it might be worth a try.