Recommendations for training locks?

[midget]

Hi all, new poster here but I've been following/reading/learning from these forums for quite some time.

I'm not quite sure I get lockpicking, but am practicing and learning what I can. I can pick sometimes, but the problem is I am not consistent. Sometimes it works, most of the time it's just luck.


I am considering buying some of those progressing training lock sets -- the the ones that either are cutaways so i can view the pins and learn how to "feel" like that, or the kinds that are progressive and start with one pin, two pin, three pins, etc etc.


Would you guys recommend this as a smart way to learn? If so, any particular theory as to which kind of training lock is better? Any particular model that you'd recommend?


Thanks so much!

[spooky]

Cut-away locks are good if you don't understand how a lock works. Once you figure that out, you'll be bored with one.

There are lots of cheap locks you can buy to learn on. I learned on just about every lock in my house. I found old padlocks, I went through junk drawers and the garage. I bought cheap ones at the local department store.

That all worked well and I learned how to pick locks.

I have recently gotten a lock I think is the perfect training lock (well as close as I've seen so far) (info here)

But you don't need one of these, there are lots of inexpensive and free locks around that will keep you entertained.

[midget]

thanks for the suggestion and link spooky! that practice lock looks awesome. and congrats on your win!

[3-in-1]

Cut away locks are a good way to see what picks will work with various pin binding sequences in the different keyways found in one lock to another. Knowing the limitations of each pick style and how they are able to move in each keyway can be very helpful.

[Bladen]

I picked up a set of practice locks on youtube that were pinned 2 through 6.
The 6 pin was a cutaway.

Those helped me a TON at first.
The 2,3, and 4 pinned locks got old pretty fast but taught me a thing or two about feel.

I'd love to have the lock that spooky linked. That thing looks AMAZING!
I don't want to jack the thread but if anybody knows where to buy one please P.M. me.

[midget]

i picked up the ultimate lockpick practice thing that spooky had posted -- it is really cool. it's really helping me learn. i feel like the keyway is wider than most locks/padlocks though? maybe this is on purpose just for practice. it's a great tool though!

[Jonbluegrass1]

I started out with a set of practice locks I won on ebay and a cheap set of lock picks also purchased on the internet and they got me started. The locks are US locks pinned from 2 to 6. I can pick them all and still mess with them. Now I pick at anything else I can get my hands on and read everything I can about locks and lock picking. You can also find technical manuals on schlage kwikset etc online that really help understand these locks.

[GWiens2001]

Sometimes I can get lucky and go into a lock shop and ask if they have any old locks I can have/purchase cheap to play around with.

TIP: If you tell them that you want them for picking, good luck. If you tell them that you want them for IMPRESSIONING practice, you will likely have their interest, and have much better results getting locks.

[In.Xanadu]

I've had great luck with thrift shops, apparently locks without keys don't have much demand, and I've found about a half dozen Schlage and Kwikset door locks for 50 cents apiece. After pulling out the cylinders, I was able to get a decent collection of pins, and start building up practice locks.

I spend about an afternoon going from three pins to four, and then five. From then, I've been playing with different combinations of security pins. It's been a good learning exercise, and a lot cheaper than those practice lock sets/

[jfw]

I hear good things about this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/321238929958?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649

Gordon also posted his good experience with that practice lock. Good luck.

[xylac]

Sometimes I can get lucky and go into a lock shop and ask if they have any old locks I can have/purchase cheap to play around with.

TIP: If you tell them that you want them for picking, good luck. If you tell them that you want them for IMPRESSIONING practice, you will likely have their interest, and have much better results getting locks.

Why is that? I've been considering getting training locks at a lock shop, and I've heard that locksmiths' opinions of hobby lock pickers can vary wildly. Are you really that much more likely to have luck if you say it's for something other than picking?

[Drifty Flintlock]

The way I did my practice lock was to just buy a cheap Kwikset and learned to take it apart. If you have a Habitat for Humanity or something like that nearby, you might find one that's mostly already stripped and will only be a few dollars without a key. If you buy a full one, you'll need a special tool called a Kwiket cylinder removal tool to take it apart, but they're fairly cheap on Amazon. At that point you can remove some of the pin stacks and pick it, then add, remove, and reorder as need. You can also scavenge other pins from other old Kwiskets.

I do have a see through lock, but I didn't find it very useful.

[JT156]

I started with a basic 5 pin cutaway like you can find on ebay. It helped me learn the principle and what exactly I was feeling. I still use it as a training example when I am showing someone else how locks work. I then bought a 6 pin easy repin training lock. It came with a ton of extra pins, including spool and serrated. It has been my go to training lock for years. It was great at first for 2-4 pin learning, and then on to security pins. I now use it to set up challenging pinnings for fun. I also highly recommend picking up cheap locks from thrift shops. I have found some of my most difficult locks in the bins there. They are usually extremely cheap, especially if there are no keys. One other thing you can do is get o know your local locksmith. I would not start out with "hey im trying to learn to pick locks, do you have any I can have for free?" This will most likely get you shunned. Start by asking to buy used locks, and explain what features you are looking for. The more you show that you understand pins and security and lock types, the more willing they will be to work with you. Also...spend money in their business. Even if it is $5-$20 every now and then, if you are spending money consistently and not looking for handouts they will work with you. My locksmith now saves me locks which would have been thrown away, as well as some he thinks I would find a challenge with.

[Luissen]

While I was considering which training lock (if any) to get, after finally abusing my 'redneck' repinnable kwikset to the point where the holes I drilled were too stripped for set screws to stay in properly (seriously, what crap do they make that stuff out of?) a friend bought me an 'ultimate practice lock'

It's a good lock, with up to 6 pins, and a lot of choices, but with the wide variety of stuff it came with, came a wide variety of questions:

If the pinstack doesn't even reach the shearline, under normal use it will not bind, and the spring is in no danger, but when picking, I found that I tore or stretched a good many springs. Is this intended, or are low cut depths (these were the '4' and smaller cuts on the key which had depths up to 7) just something to work with keys and generally unfriendly with picking?

Should I be matching the spring length with the remaining space in the bible? there were some reallllllllly long springs in the baggie of 'stuff' for the lock, both 'stretched' ones with lots of space between the spirals, and really compact ones that were just really long, and really short ones too. I found that using just the short, compact ones as it had come pinned was really easy, but didn't provide much sensation, while using the long stretched ones led to breaking the springs. The long compact ones gave me trouble picking, often 'trapping' my pick as the stem went by them.

Which way does the spool go into the lock? There were spools with 2 thick ends, one longer thick end, one shorter thick end, two shorter thick ends, and a few 'mushrooms' with only one end that was slightly thicker. the picture on the instruction sheet was less than helpful, and left me feeling like I was either stupid, missed something, or wasn't let in on some secret.

In any case, I think I want to buy another practice lock, since some of my friends have begun to get interested, and I've taught them what I'm confident with, since I don't want to teach things that are wrong. Sometimes, I want to just sit down and pick locks with friends, rather than alternating between the same one.

[skeleton_keys]

Every time I teach someone new, I start them on the Easiest Lock in the World:



It's just coincidence, but this bike chain's key has a three-pin stairstep cut, rising outward. I think I got it at Walmart years ago. You can apply tension and literally just tilt a pick upward inside it and it'll open. I use it as a first-time confidence builder to show how easy the principle is, and to get their physical memory tuned to how smoothly the cylinder will let go when the shear line is good.

Sorry it's so cheap I can't even find a brand name on it. But maybe you can find something similar?