Where can I practice?

[Annuit Coeptis]

I have been picking for some time now and I no longer consider myself a novice. I have picked every lock available to me in my house and the houses of my family but I haven't yet encountered a lock that I was not eventually able to defeat whether it be pin tumblers, warded, wafers, or tubular. I still want to improve my skill but I really don't want to spend money on practice locks (which includes the ultimate challenge practice lock) because I want to save my money for lockpicking tools instead of practice locks. I also want to pick a variety of different kinds of locks and locks with security pins. I don't want to pick locks that I find out in public because I don't want to get in trouble, so I was thinking that I might be able to go to a locksmith shop and just ask them if I can pick their locks (they have a storefront that sells locks, safes, etc). Are all locksmiths like the people on here who enjoy the hobby and enjoy other people that share their hobby or would I just annoy them? Also, how would I even approach the question? I can't imagine walking into the store and saying, "Hey, lemme pick your locks because I'm too cheap to buy my own." Any recommendations on how to practice without buying practice locks?

[Legion303]

You're not going to pick any locks that a locksmith is trying to sell, because you're going to damage them.

You could ask locksmiths if they have any castoffs or old stock they'd be willing to sell you at their scrap copper price.

-steve

[Solomon]

If you wanna pick locks, you gotta buy locks. If you take the hobby seriously then I don't see the probem... look on ebay, ask locksmiths if they have any old junk cylinders they're getting rid of, ask anyone who does any kind of work to do with doors. There are guys on the forums who will sell you lots of locks for very cheap, rickthepick used to do 10 for £10 which is really good, and there were always interesting locks in those lots. I scored more than a few MTL's from him, and for £1 each that's pretty sweet. When you have a fair amount you can also trade with other people, all it costs is postage. There are even guys who drive around and rummage in skips for them or go to the local dump and look for old doors to salvage locks from. Use your imagination.

It's not a good idea to run around picking people's locks for fun, it can make them feel uneasy and there is a small chance that you can damage the lock if you aren't 100% on what you're doing. And even then, there are things that can happen unexpectedly. Not to mention you can get in trouble. Even if none of that concerns you (although it should), do you really wanna have to go out and hunt down a lock every time you want to practice? Get yourself a desk vice and start collecting the things, it's not expensive... then you can sit at home and pick all day long without having to go out anywhere or bother anyone.

[Buzo]

I picked up my first few locks at garage sales. Even if they didn't have any out because they didn't think they could sell them, ask them if they have any old locks they would like to sell. You would be surprised at how many paople hang on to locks hoping to come across the keys someday. They usually sell them cheap because the keys are missing, and to them, they are pretty much junk so you can come away with some very interesting locks for pennies on the dollar (or euro

[cledry]

You would not find most locksmiths welcoming to being approached and asked if you can pick locks in their shop. They are not hobbyists, they are in business to provide a service and make money. Most locksmiths I know are quite surprised anyone would be interested in picking locks as a hobby.

[atticRR]

@cledry, thats cause youre probably a mean ol' grumpy locksmith, right? just kidding good sir. The only locksmith i know (we dont actually have one in my small town) was pretty excited when i approched him with questions. He suggested i take some course or other online (dont recall which) and said he would get some old locks togerther for me. Now im not sure if he will come through on the locks and its possible he was happy about my interest because he's a big time commercial-contact city locksmith, so i dont pose any threat to his business. On the other hand, he was probably just a cool guy.

@buzo, yes and YES! yard sales rock! you come up dry often, sometimes you hit gold. I paid 30 bucks for something that turned out to be pretty valuable and rare, i bought it just because it was manufactured by Yale towne & Co. The last handful of locks i bought came from a yard sale, none were out, i asked and sure enough the old guy had some he was willing to sell. he sure was surprised i wanted those locks!

Moral of the story: lockpicking is awesome, you have to have locks to pick, and there are locks everywhere that aren't in use available to collect. Get em!!!!

[Annuit Coeptis]

Thanks for all the replies! I neglected to consider that it is possible to break locks while picking them. I will definitely ask the garage sales I find for old locks, it seems to be pretty successful for the most of you. And it can't hurt to ask a lock smith for old locks that they would be willing to discard. I must say that I too have held on to locks that I was missing the keys for before I picked up this hobby and I ended up just throwing them away. There are probably a lot of others that do the same.

[MarkMcGrath]

If you can get around a place that ships storage containers, storage places, or any place where lots of people use there own padlocks go ask them for there cut off padlocks. I could in theory pick up 2-3 padlocks every week that I have to cut off myself, and god knows what this FOB cuts in a week. People loose keys on a regular basis here.

[Annuit Coeptis]

If you can get around a place that ships storage containers, storage places, or any place where lots of people use there own padlocks go ask them for there cut off padlocks. I could in theory pick up 2-3 padlocks every week that I have to cut off myself, and god knows what this FOB cuts in a week. People loose keys on a regular basis here.

Where would a place like that be? Cut locks would be perfect because they lose all practical value, but where specifically would I go to ask for that kind of thing? By storage places do you mean like self storage garages? Where else could I go in addition to self storage garages?

[MarkMcGrath]

Self storage, some gyms have personal lockers, any port areas or places that ship large items. If I were you I would go the the places ,and explain you have this as a hobby, and you are looking for old cut padlocks and the like. I am not sure if this board is specifically affiliated with one of the lockpicking groups, but getting hooked up with them, and being able to prove it might push some legitiemancy. I store a bunch of stuff while I am over here in Astan so the ladies knows who I am, and if she cuts a lock I see it she just gives it to me.... haven't done that in a long while though.

[raimundo]

scrap metal dealers buy metal by the pound and will sell pieces of it by the pound also.
locks made of brass with steel shackles are valuable for the brass but are paid for under the 'mixed metals' price because someone will have to take them apart and separate the brass and steel.
what they buy for twenty five cents a pound they will sell for fiftycents a pound.

Some of my more exotic highsecurity locks have come from a scrap metal guy who saves them for me.

[Bob Jim Bob]

Look for a place that sells used building materials and/or architectural components. They will have buckets of old locks.