Unpickable Antique Yale & Towne padlock

[Doctor Hexagon]

I got this old thing for Christmas last year and recently decided to try picking it. Unfortunately, it's giving me far more trouble
than I could possibly have imagined. Imagine my surprise.

I have a very good variety of tools, and several years of picking experience, but none of that is helping me with this lock.
I'm trying my standard go-to tools, Peterson slender gem, and my SouthOrd slimline picks. I've tried bottom tension, top
tension, light tension, heavy tension...you name it. I'm getting no feedback from this lock. The pins can bind at the
shearline when I lift them and apply torque, but I cannot get them to do -anything- but spring up and down as if my methods
were ineffectual when I attempt to pick it normally.

As far as I can tell, it's a 5 pin pin tumbler lock with a rotating plug. The keyway is tightly warded to the point some of the warding
has been drilled to allow the pins to drop low enough in the keyway. The pins themselves appear dull gray, with a lathed/serrated
texture. Some of the very little feedback I'm able to get from the lock suggests that the top pins may be serrated, but I'm really unsure.
As I mentioned before, I'm not getting hardly any feedback from this lock while I lift the pin stacks. Every one of them seems to just drop
back down regardless of the level of tension I use.

Here's some pictures, because pictures are always fun:


First side.


Opposite side


And the keyway.

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, or what I'm not doing right, so if anyone has any insight on this it would be appreciated.

[Theist17]

I've also run into the same kind of problem with what appears to be the same lock. Zero feedback. It's like these things are ghosts.

[Raymond]

The numbers stamped onto the front of the plug were the direct cuts of the key. BUT, from the appearance of the two pins holding the lock together, it has probably been rekeyed.

Check to see if the plug does turn at all. Some old brass locks that have been hammered, twisted, run-over, etc., may be deformed to the extent that the plug cannot turn past the shear line.

Good luck. They are such pretty old locks.

[Rickthepick]

Dont underestimate the oldskool locks. Iv got one thats very hard to pick for whatever reason, they do however impression quite well which is the only way i managed to get in mine without damaging.

[Doctor Hexagon]

@Theist17,
No kidding. I haven't tried doing anything with it for a few days but I may try again today. It really is like a ghost, and I'm not used to dealing with a lock that I can't get any discernible feedback from which is quite frustrating.

@Raymond,
I'm not sure about it being rekeyed or not but considering its age it certainly a possibility. The plug turns a little bit. I can over lift the pins and intentionally pinch and hold them up past the shear line but haven't been able to get any of them to set during SPP, or at least not give any kind of indication that they set, bind, false set, overlift, or otherwise.

@Rickthepick,
Yea I learned real quick that it wasn't going to be an easy open, although it is very easy to bypass. I was thinking about impressioning it also and went down to the local Ace hardware for some blank keys. They were closing as soon as I walked in, and in my haste I bought the wrong key blanks which seem to be inadequate for this. The blade appears to be too shallow, and too short. I haven't had any lock identifying any marks on the edge while attempting to impression. To make it worse Ace hardware charges about $2.19 USD per blank. I bought 8 blanks for nearly 18 bucks. >_<

I think I'll have another go with this lock today and see if I can get anywhere with it. In this case, no news is -not- good news.

[Raymond]

Using a straight piece of steel, like the bottom of a small diamond pick, rais all pins and withdraw the pick slowly to count how many pins there are. This can also help determine if one is stuck up. The lock might be a six pin lock. The key blank you will use is a common Yale #8 or Y-1, Y-2 if 6-pin.
Good luck.

[SALocksmith]

strange, it's just a common Y1 as previously stated, i've picked several of these in Mortise cylender form.. i'd try lubricating it, and also insert a blank in and work it back and forth several times, there may be a stuck spring or something else wrong with the lock. They are not too hard to pick normally. Though i've never picked them in padlock form before, they are somewhat paracentric, and the pick does insert in an odd way.

[Rickthepick]

I noticed the other day our local electricity board still uses these on all its sites, i bet they are all keyed alike too

[peterwn]

Electricity board ones are definitely keyed alike, otherwise staff would either have to carry thousands of keys or uplift a key from a central location, both being untenable if urgent access is required to a substation if the power fails. Amazing that these Willenhall products all over the place - power utilities in NZ and Australia also used them (many have been retired in recent times eg in Auckland NZ). Many used the old H&TV keyway - Yale purchased H&TV many decades ago.