Could once pick this Master no 3 no problem and now I can't

[Pink Floyd13]

Hey folks, really hoping you guys can help me here. So I locked myself out of my tools cabinet in my garage about 4 months ago and I've been picking the lock to get back in ever since, due to the fact that it's a great healthy little habit. It's a very old Master lock no 3 so I think there may be an issue with the pins. Basically they all seem to set just fine (there's 4 pins in a no 3 master lock, I believe) but the tension wont give and it simply wont turn. I hear all four pins 'click' when I let off the tension. I'm wondering what I could be doing wrong? I didn't used to have this problem.


Here's a few pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/4wIhB.jpg

^ just showing the lock, it's a bit old

http://i.imgur.com/iT8BC.jpg

^ showing the number

http://i.imgur.com/XsiGC.jpg

^ I tried using a bit of this to no avail

http://i.imgur.com/uMhyr.jpg

^ just showing how my tension wrench is inserted. I don't hold the pick with one hand, just doing so for photogenic reasons.

http://i.imgur.com/inLwn.jpg

^ my tools

[Josh66]

Have you tried raking it?

I have a few Master Locks that are hard to SPP, but rake open instantly.
Really, if it's been keeping you locked out of your tools for that long though, I would just cut it.
Unless your cutting tools are on the other side of it, lol.

[Josh66]

I just read that again - I thought that it had been 4 months since you've had it open. Now I see that you have been picking it open for 4 months. That makes more sense. I couldn't go 4 months without access to my tools - haha.

[Pink Floyd13]

I have, and I find that to work just fine on my practice lock I bought a few months ago. (It's a no 5 I believe, can't remember since I lost the bugger). Yeah, everything I would need to cut it is on the other side. Cutting it IS an option but I really would like to get to the bottom of why it's no longer allowing me to pick the lock. I'd hate to resort to an expensive (or any expense for that matter). Raking doesn't seem to work at all on this, it does the same thing. Seemingly sets all the pins but doesn't give.

And yeah, for a good few months it's just been a quick insert wiggle *pop*. Dunno what has happened, maybe a pin is offset or something?

[Squelchtone]

Insert the wrench in the keyway with the handle at 9 oclock instead of 3 oclock like normal, and turn the plug counter clockwise while you rake out 4 or 5 times quickly using a half diamond.

Sometimes when those locks stop picking easily in one direction, they pick well in the other.

Squelchtone

[GWiens2001]

Picking is much more fun, but you have the code for the key right on the bottom of the lock. Take the code to a lock shop and have a key cut. Then get another (unpicked) lock to secure your tools, and don't pick a lock you are using. Just my 2 cents. Either way, good luck.

Gordon

[clayton0705]

Insert the wrench in the keyway with the handle at 9 oclock instead of 3 oclock like normal, and turn the plug counter clockwise while you rake out 4 or 5 times quickly using a half diamond.

Sometimes when those locks stop picking easily in one direction, they pick well in the other.

Squelchtone

I had the same problem with a master number 3. I tried what Squelchtone said and I picked it within 10 seconds everytime.
Thanks for the help.

[dhoelzer]

Especially if you've been picking it open for such a long time, you might be looking at a buildup of filings in the keyway and possibly around the pins. Consider blowing out the keyway with some compressed air and give it a light tap or two with a light weight hammer on the side of the lock that matches the bottom of the keyway. It may jar some stuck pins loose.