What did you pick today?

[l0ckcr4ck3r]

were all the springs and everything okay as well? Have any idea how long it was out there? Unless someone told you, it would be pretty tough to gauge I would imagine...

...well the pins were a little stiff to more at first and the torsion spring in the padlock body binds a bit but otherwise in not bad shape!! The code on the rear is WEN which i think means it was manufactured in April 01.. possibly been out in the elements for 10 years
They actually had quite a few old locks there maybe 80-100 of them, some with keys some without. Corbins mainly but i had the lil lady in tow, so couldn't spend a lot of time checking them all out.

[teranaut]

Still playing with my Ultimate Challenge Lock this week; and decided to do some spool work. I took it down to four stacks with a spool in stack three and all standard bottoms. It wasn't particularly difficult as I found that stack three was the first binding pin. D'OH! Opened up the stacks and moved the spool to stack one, and that changed things up a bit. Quite a bit actually as stack one was the final binding stack. Once that was open a few times I added another standard stack to bring the total to five. Then, threw another stack in to bring the lock to full again. Picked that a few times and put another spool in stack five. So, as of this moment I have spool, standard, spool, standard, spool, standard. It's safe to say that it has thrown me off a little with three spool stacks. Based on how much I have done already today on this lock, I'm a little surprised; then again, not so much as I'm still pretty low on the security pin skill level. ::ETA:: OPEN!

Happy picking!

[Hachronn]

Today I picked my American Series 1305 Padlock. Considering how discouraged I felt when I started working on this one yesterday, I'm really proud of this particular milestone. The funny thing is that, without realizing it, I may have picked this one two or three times yesterday. I almost mistook the successful pick for a false set today, and I'm pretty sure I did the same a couple of times yesterday.

[phrygianradar]

Today I picked my American Series 1305 Padlock. Considering how discouraged I felt when I started working on this one yesterday, I'm really proud of this particular milestone. The funny thing is that, without realizing it, I may have picked this one two or three times yesterday. I almost mistook the successful pick for a false set today, and I'm pretty sure I did the same a couple of times yesterday.

I have done the same thing. Kind of made me feel stupid, but at the same time, proud?!... Good work though, American locks can be tough as all get-out sometimes! I hope I didn't miss you already saying this, but what was it pinned with? I assume spools, serrated drivers, etc.?

[Hachronn]

Good work though, American locks can be tough as all get-out sometimes! I hope I didn't miss you already saying this, but what was it pinned with? I assume spools, serrated drivers, etc.?

Thanks phyrgianradar.

All key and driver pins are serrated. It is keyed 57638 with a manufacture date of 6/87.

[fgarci03]

So, as of this moment I have spool, standard, spool, standard, spool, standard. It's safe to say that it has thrown me off a little with three spool stacks. Based on how much I have done already today on this lock, I'm a little surprised; then again, not so much as I'm still pretty low on the security pin skill level. ::ETA:: OPEN!

Congrats on that! You will find that spools can make the lock easier to pick sometimes
A good practice would be to make an extreme hi-low configuration! I have a lot of trouble with those. Just don't forget that on the small key pins, use a regular driver pin and not a spool, as on the Ultimate Practice lock the spool will be bellow the sheerline if used with a small pin (at least it does on my lock)...

Good work though, American locks can be tough as all get-out sometimes! I hope I didn't miss you already saying this, but what was it pinned with? I assume spools, serrated drivers, etc.?

Thanks phyrgianradar.

All key and driver pins are serrated. It is keyed 57638 with a manufacture date of 6/87.

87? COOL!
Only serrated? No hybrid serrated spools? I don't know the 1305 series so I wanna learn

[Hachronn]

87? COOL!
Only serrated? No hybrid serrated spools? I don't know the 1305 series so I wanna learn

Yes sir, at least that's how this one is pinned. two serrations at the top of each key pin, and each driver pin is ringed by serrations from top to bottom. No spools or hybrids.

Also, it looks like the plug can accommodate a sixth pair of pins. at least it looks that way to my untrained eye.

BTW: I think '87 is pretty cool also. That's the year I got out of the Marine Corps.

[phrygianradar]

87? COOL!
Only serrated? No hybrid serrated spools? I don't know the 1305 series so I wanna learn

Yes sir, at least that's how this one is pinned. two serrations at the top of each key pin, and each driver pin is ringed by serrations from top to bottom. No spools or hybrids.

Also, it looks like the plug can accommodate a sixth pair of pins. at least it looks that way to my untrained eye.

BTW: I think '87 is pretty cool also. That's the year I got out of the Marine Corps.

The funny part is that without any spooled pins in it, there couldn't be a false set! I did the exact same thing with my first American padlock. It didn't have any spools in it and it felt like it was picked (because it was...), but I didn't put enough pressure on the tension wrench after picking to release the shackle! I just reset it and tried again. Funny stuff. Live and learn!

Again, good picking! Those serrated pins are really tough to get a feel for.

[phrygianradar]

Okay, I picked another, different, Gemini tonight. I got it off the internet for a good price and it arrived earlier this morning. Got it picked after a little bit; this time I used an allen wrench for tensioning at the top of the keyway. So this is the third Gemini that I have, but only the second that I have been able to pick. The other one is way older, I think, but I need to take them apart to see why the two newer ones I can pick but the older one I cannot? I have spent hours on the old one, but still haven't gotten it open. The others were not so hard. Any ideas why? Could it just be that it is pinned in a particularly hard way, like other pin tumble locks? I guess the only way to know for sure is to take them apart...

Anyway, here it is picked if anyone is interested in seeing it:

http://s1358.photobucket.com/user/Natha ... 9.jpg.html

Cheers, happy picking!

[fgarci03]

Darn it!
Your skills are getting better each day! I still see the day where I'm able to pick one of those very far from me!

Yes, maybe it's pinned in a particularly hard configuration, or it might be that the quality parameters have changed on the newer ones (I don't really believe it, but everything is possible).

Congrats on the picking!

[phrygianradar]

Darn it!
Your skills are getting better each day! I still see the day where I'm able to pick one of those very far from me!

Yes, maybe it's pinned in a particularly hard configuration, or it might be that the quality parameters have changed on the newer ones (I don't really believe it, but everything is possible).

Congrats on the picking!

Thank you, but if it makes you feel any better; without the key as a guide, I don't think I would be able to pick these kind of locks. They are very difficult even when I know exactly which pins need to be pushed where! Without a key, I doubt it would be something I could do. Perhaps in the future I will learn, but that feels very far from where I am, too! But a nice comment, so thank you! And don't feel bad about your KABA 8, I will leave you alone about it.

[mrskittles]

I found an old lock laying in the gutter today. I brought it home oiled it and picked it. It looks like a pretty generic lock that you could find at a hardware store. I had never encountered so much rust before...

[phrygianradar]

I found an old lock laying in the gutter today. I brought it home oiled it and picked it. It looks like a pretty generic lock that you could find at a hardware store. I had never encountered so much rust before...

Cool, I love finding locks. Almost never happens, and when you do, they are covered with rust and filth, like you found! What did you use to clean it, just oil? Do you know what type of lock it is? You said it's generic looking; is it a pin and tumbler, a warded lock...

I have a little section of my lock collection that is just locks I have found or people have given me because they have no keys or they didn't want them (been hanging on the back of a truck or a shed for a few seasons...).

[teranaut]

I think I see what you mean with the spools making things easy, fgarci. The Defiant mortice I have feels like one only has to pick the third pin to get it open. On the other hand, I pinned an 'EZSET' mortice with a spool in stacks 1 and 5 and that thing doesn't seem to want to open yet. It's a Kwikset keyway that I keyed to a random key I found in a junk drawer; but man, is it giving me a run for my money. All's good though. I now have mortices with 1, 2, and 3 spool stacks to work with; all with keys so I can prove I'm not using the oversized music wire joke on people.

[phrygianradar]

...all with keys so I can prove I'm not using the oversized music wire joke on people.

Classic Gordon, I love it!