Opening a best padlock

[ButteryLlama]

About a week ago we had a customer bring in a Best brand padlock (the ZZ). We have been unable to get it open (no core keys). Any advice?

[Squelchtone]

About a week ago we had a customer bring in a Best brand padlock (the ZZ). We have been unable to get it open (no core keys). Any advice?

look at Matt Blaze's site Crypto.com for photos of the special wrench you should make. is the core in your BEST padlock a BEST core? a Peaks core? a Keymark core?

If it's a BEST, Arrow, or Falcon core, you can use this tool to pick it to the control lug shear line:
http://www.crypto.com/photos/misc/sfic/

Squelchtone

[2octops]

Customer brought it into your shop?

Are you a locksmith shop?

What are you going to do with it once you have it open?

What keyway?

[ButteryLlama]

About a week ago we had a customer bring in a Best brand padlock (the ZZ). We have been unable to get it open (no core keys). Any advice?

look at Matt Blaze's site Crypto.com for photos of the special wrench you should make. is the core in your BEST padlock a BEST core? a Peaks core? a Keymark core?

If it's a BEST, Arrow, or Falcon core, you can use this tool to pick it to the control lug shear line:
http://www.crypto.com/photos/misc/sfic/

Squelchtone

It is a BEST core (#5196) and has a BEST keyway. Ill check out the link! Thanks brotha! And were just trying to get it open to see what it's pinned up to so we can make keys; they have a set of five KA

[2octops]

My opinion only...

It it is a brass body lock, drill perp to the retainer lug, apply pressure, pick control shear, remove, decode, fill in hole with brass pin and polish until it disappears.

Better option is just drill off retaining lug, pull core and decode. You can buy new standard Best keyway cores for less than $10 and it's a heck of a lot quicker.

Time is money.

[cledry]

About a week ago we had a customer bring in a Best brand padlock (the ZZ). We have been unable to get it open (no core keys). Any advice?

Drill for face removal on core, shim open, decode and pop a new core in when finished, or drill control lug which is faster and repeat the steps previously mentioned.

I wouldn't waste more than 15 minutes on something like this.

[2octops]

I wouldn't waste more than 15 minutes on something like this.

I agree. At $125 per hour most padlocks are not worth spending more than a few minutes on before going on to something else.

[Evan]

It is a BEST core (#5196) and has a BEST keyway. Ill check out the link! Thanks brotha! And were just trying to get it open to see what it's pinned up to so we can make keys; they have a set of five KA

@ButteryLlama:

Recommendations:

1. Have customer bring ALL FIVE locks into the shop for you...

2. Drill through core face destroying retention lug on one core...

3. Decode control key and see if all five cores are actually keyed alike...

4. Use decoded key to remove cores on all padlocks...

5. Recombinate/Replace cores as needed...

6. Supply customer with new control and operating keys which have different bittings than what the locks are currently keyed to in order to properly ensure the customer's security...

Decoding and cutting new keys is nice to do and all but since you are not sure of the origin of these padlocks to decode and originate a key for the locks in question is not the most professional procedure... Nor does it prevent persons whom may possess the missing keys from using them when the locks are put back into service after you originate replacement keys, so doing that would not ensure the customer's security remains intact...

~~ Evan

[i_b_larry]

I was in a similar situation. I had five Best padlocks, 41B's and no keys. I carried the things around for five years knowing that they could be rekeyed but not knowing how to remove the cores. After several attempts at picking I discovered I could purchase cores with operating keys and control keys on eBay for next to nothing.

I know this will break a lot of hearts, but I drilled out all five cores. I drilled the lobe where the pins and springs are. I made no attempt at saving anything from the old cores and made no attempt at decoding. My drill press made a mess of the pins and springs, so decoding was not really an option. The lock bodies came through with flying colors and I had no problem getting the locks to work with the replacemet cores I purchased on eBay.

This is a very crude way of handling the problem but it was cheap and efficient.

Picking the locks is an option and if you do manage to pick one to the control line you still have the expense of unpinning the core, decoding it, making a control key and an operating key, and then repinning it. If your locks are not all keyed alike, you may have to decode all the cores to get operating keys.

The last time I bought cores on eBay, I got 10 6-pin cores keyed alike, a control key, one operating key, and ten key blanks for $45. Compare that to the price of decoding even a single core and the drill press wins.

[i_b_larry]

To follow up on my previous post and a few others, I obtained my five Best padlocks when I managed a self-storage in West Sacramento. Our "buildings" were old 40-foot cargo containers and each container had four or five doors along the sides. One of our tenants was a grocery store chain whose home office was nearby; they rented an entire 40-foot unit with five doors. They later concluded they no longer needed the contents and sent us a letter authorizing us to remove their locks and give the contents (store fixtures) to the local food bank.

There was no way I was going to cut those beautiful Best padlocks, so I cut the hasps off the door. (We had lots of hasps.) That was how I acquired the locks. I am sure that whoever authorized cutting the locks had no idea of their value.

One thing that bothered me from day one was that if I had keys to the five locks that I had, how many other locks could I open at this grocery? If I had a control key, how many locks could I open then? If I sought the assistance of a locksmith, would he be willing to make keys if he knew where the locks came from? (All five cores were stamped with a code number and in theory are traceable back to the grocery chain.) I did not want to take a chance of encountering a super-honest locksmith who would return the locks to the grocery chain, even though I did acquire them legitimately.

As others in this thread have pointed out, if I had somehow found a locksmith who could have made keys for me with the original pinning, then there would be a whole bunch of others out there who could open my locks just as I could open theirs. While it is not likely, it could happen.

Drilling out the cores as I did solved all the problems. I am not a threat to the original owner of the locks and they are not a threat to me. No locksmiths lost their integrity in making this movie.