How do you know when a pin has set

[Mathias]

I have been picking locks for a few weeks now and just the other day I found a lock with five pins when I had only been picking ones with three to four so I brought it home and started trying to pick it, I got it open after trying for about ten minutes and then I opened it a few more times but now I can't. While I was messing around picking all my other locks I noticed that I really have no idea when a pin has set, I usually just push pins up over and over until the lock opens and I thought that this is very bad because when I am picking locks with more pins it will be very hard trying to open it and not knowing what's going on. I have no idea how to tell which pin is binding and if I have found one I think might be I push the pin up but the lock never gives a bit like I have been reading about and the pin just falls back down. I have tried putting a lot of tension on the lock and I have put almost no tension and the pin always falls. Could anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[averagejoe]

You probably just need more practice.
Beginner's Lockpicking Exercise - by digital_blue.

Those will really help you get a feel for what is going on.

[deception]

Pretty much what averagejoe said, practice.

If you don't know what a set pin feels like, start with 2 pins, it's literally a 50/50 shot to which pin binds and sets, and it will give you a good idea of what a binding/set pin feels like.

[Fire Fox]

This takes a while to learn. I've been practicing for some time and I'm just now starting to get the feel for it.

What I've been doing is after working on a lock for a bit I'll go pin by pin and feel each one (not trying to set it at all) and try and feel if there is pressure pushing back, meanwhile trying to mentally map what's happened so far and what I need to do. A couple times so far I've been able to identify which pins are set and of the remaining ones which one is binding, and on one occasion I was able to identify one pin that was overset.

I'm still honing my skills, so I think this will help with eventually mentally identifying, as you go, which pins you've set.

[Daedalus Erebus]

With many locks, I also have difficulty identifying set pins. Depending on the lock, some key pins will move freely when set, but most of the time I find that the vast majority of pins will be immovable when they are set. (I believe this is because the key pin is partially binding at the shear line?) This makes it nearly impossible to tell the difference between a properly set pin and a slightly overset pin.

When it comes to some pins not setting, even under high torque, I think this is due to multiple pins being set (or overset, or binding) which create a "bridge" that makes it so other pins will be unable to set.


shear line --------------------------------------------------------------------------
\/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| <-- direction of torque ---------------------------------------------------------
|O -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|O -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| O <-- the two pins adjacent to this pin are preventing it from binding
|O -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try setting the pins in a different order.

[Locks+Picks_Happy]

shear line --------------------------------------------------------------------------
\/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| <-- direction of torque ---------------------------------------------------------
|O -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|O -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| O <-- the two pins adjacent to this pin are preventing it from binding
|O -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try setting the pins in a different order.[/quote]

Great visual, and fantastic advice. Also never forget about tension. Your tension is as important (if not more...but probably not more) than your picking. Experiment with less and more tension and that helps to trouble shoot similar problems to this.

[knowspicker537]

You will know when a pin is set by feeling it very lightly with your pick if there is no spring pressure it has been set above the shear line and it is set...Does not mean you can just forget about it, it may become unset by the manipulation of the other pins so you just need to keep going until you think and feel all pins are set. If you think all pins are set and the plug will not spin sometimes I like to put my pick all the way to the back past the furthest pin and give it a real quick fast and light rake. This tends to jump the trouble pins that may be old or worn above the shear line since they are already so close and the plug should spin.. happy pickings_ knowspicker537

[thetrh51]

When you feel the binding pin, center your pick on it then push up until you hear a click OR feel plug rotation OR out stops going up. Don't force it. Look for the next binding pin, rinse and repeate