same series kicking me, Master #575

[d0ugernaut]

so recently (as in yesterday) I pick up a nasty addiction....lock picking.
I said to myselg "hey! I got more time than money, why not use it!" so I finally recieved my lock pick set, a Brockhage 8 piece. grabbed the first lock i could find, American Lock 5200 and well...was quickly discouraged. boom, hit google, why did i pick this lock?? But! thanks to LP101 I have quickly acquired golden info, dont start on a 5200! so I ran to the shop and grabbed myself a cheap camo Master Lock, 4 standard pins. got back put a little torque on 'er jabbed a pick in and the dang thing popped right open. (not gunna lie, made me feel AWESOME!) so, too easy, right private? I spent an hour or two just practicing feeling for pins and tension and all the tiny nueances I read about. felt good so I picked up the 5200...why do i do this to myself? put 'er down Doug, put 'er down.

anxious for more i went back to the shop, this is worse than Breaking Bad... what do i see? Master Lock #575, look at that brass.... so, get back sit down and 2 hours later i realize this thing is kickin me. Back to LP101, spools, spool this and spool that. after a few minutes of reading i realized what the "false set" is. your lug turns, you hear a pop but everything stops. finally understanding, I picked the lock up again, played around until i got another false set. this time, i grabbed a short hook and started feeling around, all that playing with the camo lock really helped. pin 1, lifted. pin 2, lifted. pin 3...stuck, I found you. slowly let of tension while applying upward preasure, POP! the gate falls. Im a hero, in my own mind atleast! day one and I defeated a spool! sat there for a few more minutes and poped 'er succesfully, over and over.

so, here I am, lock pick master (not ever close) just opened a spooled lock for the first time. now i want more! ran to my room and rummaged for some more locks, low and behold, another 575! i think to myself, too easy, done the first the second could be too hard. get back, and start pickin away, after about 10 mintues of raking and realizing im not gunna get a false set that easy on this one I start to SPP. set pin one, but the lug rotated a lot more than i would expect. another spool, thats cute, i shall conquer you! using the same technique, i properly set the first pin. on to the second (i work the order front to back as i cant quite feel the back pins as well as the front, and i still need a bit of hand-eye coord). set it, but it felt the same as the first...another spool?? sure is, so i back up the tension and set the second. 3 pin, same thing. 3 spools...why u no easy? now i start to work back to front, thank god 4 and 5 are standard!

now im starting to get a bit frustrated though, i can properly set the three spools, but fail to set the back. if i set the back i can only get two of the spools. i figure i need to work on the binding order, fact. however this lock does seem a little weird. to even start lifting a pin i have to put reverse tension on the lug. this makes it a little difficult when trying to start a new pin, 9 times out of 10 i just reset the pins i already have up. how many times does one encouter a need for reverse tension to lift a pin? back to more reading, but please! reply with your experiences with this as i have not found much out about it!

[Squelchtone]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Even if you get the same model lock, it will usually pick differently than the last one because of different key bitting and different binding order. Some locks are pinned up low low low hi hi, some are low hi low hi low and so on, where one rakes open with a half diamond in 3 seconds, and the other takes 2 hours with a hook pick. I think you'll find it is just a matter of practice and building up your confidence.

You can use the blue Search button on the left to find what others have said about the 575 over the last few years, here's such a thread that may give you some useful info: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9465

keep practicing!
Squelchtone

[fgarci03]

Welcome to LP101.

I gotta say, this was a killer first post! Congratulations on your achievements
Don't be hard on yourself. You did in one day what I took months to do (on and off picking, but even so...). And I'm still here!

I always get amazed how you guys manage to conquer your first few locks with just little practice. I really do. I speak for myself, I look myself as a fast(ish) learner at many things (not all though ) but with locks I took a fair bit of time to get things going at first.
For me the hardest are the tolerences in the lock. Security pins rarely give me real trouble.
You will pick that 5200 in no time. Just practice a little more picking untill you feel confortable with biding order, false sets, etc. Then search for guides of how to pick serrated pins. It will be a glimpse and you'll pick those. I guarantee you

Looking forward to see future posts!