Basic Practice with an Old Gummed up Lock

[Fire Fox]

I have a couple of VERY old Defiant locks that I'm practicing with. The pins and plugs have quite a bit of gunk on them which causes the pins to stick and mess up feedback. I've added these to the locks I'm working on to give me a taste of working on old worn locks instead of the pristine locks I've bought

Currently, it seems to me that by using a lot of pressure I'm able to get feedback and feel when the pin sets. When I use light pressure I'm unable to get a feel for anything, but with a lot of pressure I hear more than feel the click of the pin. How should I go about picking locks in this condition? I'm able to pick the locks but it seems that I'm doing it by brute force than using any type of finesse.

[femurat]

You'll learn bad habits by picking gummed up locks. I'd try a little WD40 on these to remove some junk before picking them.

Cheers

[raimundo]

+1 What femurat said !

[gibson]

try contact cleaner (radio shack) and pipe cleaners (tobacconist).

[unjust]

i recently had luck in cleaning out a lock with pb blaster followed by ether (to degrease as i didn't have any contact cleaner handy) wd-40 wasn't penetrating or working things as loose as i'd hoped, and the blaster was conveniently located (in the trunk next to the jack). worked like a charm. use outdoors on a windy day and don't smoke. really, enough ether to flush it was kinda absurd.

i seem to recall a lengthy thread on here some years back about cleaning out locks that had folks arguing back and forth on wd-40 and kerosene and a few other things on getting graphite and grease out of locks, but a quick search wasn't popping it up for me (or i'm blind). my takeaway on the entire thing was this:

most locks are not designed to operate with grease in them as the grease collects junk which makes the lock less reliable and can damage it if the stuff can't fall out. however you want to get the garbage out is fine as long as you're not going to be leaving a sticky residue in there, damaging parts, or making a mess you can't tidy. wd-40 is convenient, cheap and pressurized, which makes it awesome for flushing stuff out. some machinists claim that its residue is actually hygroscopic (or at least sticky), which leads to gumming up, and therefore should be degreased after use for operational use locks. it may stain certain surfaces, which is why some folks swore by contact cleaner, or brake cleaner, which didn't stain, but might damage paint, and didn't need degreasing.

(n.b. there were a LOT of opinions, this is what i recall learning from it other than a lot of folks have conflicting "best practices" some of which may be best for the worker not the end user)

[Fire Fox]

Thanks for the responses. I'll put them aside and clean them later. Right now I'm really getting the hang of using light pressure and I don't want to screw that up with these old locks.

[femurat]

You have great summarizing skills unjust Here is the thread you're referring to, but reading it is confusing and useless.

Cheers

[3-in-1]

When I worked on the road, I kept a little can of cigarette lighter fluid to clean out the cylinders once they were removed from the door. It was very effective at cleaning gummed up and over graphited locks.

[unjust]

that was it. and it was as arcane as i recall.

from a design perspective, i'm reasonably certain that if locks were designed to be lubed, they'd come lubed (like the glop on the bearings in padlocks) from the factory. after cleaning, it makes sense to restore everything to it's intended condition UNLESS you want to do something non-standard with it.

[3-in-1]

It's not quite that simple. Generally speaking, most mechanical devices should work properly prior to any lubrication. Locks fall into this category. Proper cleaning and application of a lubricant can greatly extend the working life of a lock. A lock that is already worn and not working well is very often improved by proper cleaning and lubrication. My favorite in pin tumbler locks is super fine powdered graphite, not the kind sold in hardware stores. Yes, it is easy to over apply and the lock should be clean and dry before applying The trick there is just a tiny mist is all that's needed. Run the key in and out, then blow or tap out the excess. Special environmental concerns may dictate other choices.

[unjust]

while i don't disagree that lube can make things last longer, i have to believe that manufacturers would ship product in their intended service condition, or include that notice in the installation instructions. some products do suggest lubricants, many do not, and some explicitly warn against it.

depending on the metals used they can wear to be self lubricating, or have that compromised by application of something that will interfere with their intended function, intentional or not.

it's all really not that simple, as you said. for locks, certain environments and uses will do things that require different treatment, be it dry or humid, salt spray, dust, pollen, or chemical aerosols. if sussing out how metals interacted were easy the machinist's handbook wouldn't be as cavernous as it is, and the wd-40 thread would've been all agreement.

i'll stand by my above summary in that cleaning is good, but understanding residue and it's impact in a specific environment is important.

[3-in-1]

When I started in locksmithing, graphite was the the only lube that was used in our shop for pin tumbler locks. At least one maker specified "Lubricate with graphite" on a padlock box. However, I don't remember that most makers specified anything at all. I get the impression that the major makers in the industry, Corbin, Yale, Sargent, etc. would expect their locks to perform just fine without any added lube, but were well aware of the benefit of the "proper" application of graphite in their locks. And well aware that lock shops that sold their products were regularly using it. True apprenticeships had long disappeared when I started, but there was still a transfer of accepted practices in the older shops. This was before the "throw away and replace" mentality that pervades the industry today. Locksmiths were no longer actually making the locks but they were regularly repairing and rebuilding them. Anyway, this was the situation in the lock industry before any of the hi tech lubes were invented. The first time I used WD-40, was to spray the points and spark plug wires on a car to dry them off. And IIRC, that was the big selling point for the product, water displacement. At some point, people started using it in locks. Probably in areas of freezing weather, in the hope that it would help protect the lock from freezing up.

[femurat]

I see good info here, but don't forget the OP question... I wouldn't over complicate it.
Wanna pick a gummed up lock? Use wd40 or whatever you want to clean it a little before playing.
Wanna maintain in good working order your "in use" locks? Don't put in anything at all: neither picks no oil, graphite, grease or whatever.

My 2 cents

[Fire Fox]

Thanks for the information everyone!

femurat: I'm going to completely clean the locks and not worry about adding that bit of trouble to my practice. Recently I've realized that I was using quite a bit of pressure. I read everyone saying to use light pressure and it really is "light" pressure! I'd rather forget about practicing on the gummed up lock and instead learn good habits. I know, from other hobbies, how hard it is to unlearn bad habits!