Question on Bump Keys?

[beginerlockpicker]

Hello fellow lockpickers,

I just finished learning basic lockpicking and would like to try to practice bumping locks with a bump key.
I'm thinking of practicing on the front door of my house, but do not want to damage the lock. Do bump keys damage locks?

Edit: Also, does putting an o-ring on the key help?

Thanks

[zeke79]

O ring or not, it will damage your lock.

[MBI]

What zeke said, and also whether you are picking or bumping, it is just a bad idea to practice on any lock that you actually rely on for security. Read around the forum, there are many threads of people asking for help because they were trying to pick and just broke their front door, back door, dorm door... take your pick.

It's good that you're only trying to practice on your own locks (never on someone else's) but if you keep an eye on the BST forum here or on ebay, you can usually pick up a few inexpensive locks to practice on without breaking the bank. That way if you do end up breaking the lock, you're not out much, and you haven't left your property vulnerable to theft.

Welcome to the forum. Keep reading, there is a wealth of information here.

[bjornnrojb]

Bumpkeying will damage a few different things in your lock. The O ring will protect the lock face, which will lose its lustre where the shoulder of the key comes into contact with the lock face directly above the keyway without using an O ring. Additionally, the bumpkey will wear down the bottom pins. If you use the wrong bumpkey, you can damage the tail piece of the lock by actually knocking it off the back of the plug. Looking at some of my practice cylinders laying about, some of the plugs get stretched out a bit too though this may be from using the wrong bumpkey for the keyway.
Using a minimal movement bumpkey shouldn't leave very much forensic evidence, but to use it properly you have to know how to use it so when starting out don't use it on your favorite locks. Also be aware that you might shear the key off inside the lock so be prepared to do a key extraction by taking the lock apart and sticking a lockpick through the back of the lock to push the broken key out, though you shouldn't encounter this if you are using a bumpkey lightly.