Tips for a Newbie from ex-Newbies

[jimmystoba]

Hi All,
After initially coming here to learn more about picking car locks for my work, I'm a breakdown patrol who frequently comes across people who lock themselves out of their cars. After reading through the wealth of info on here I find myself intrigued by the art of lock picking. I've ordered myself a small budget pick set http://www.tradelocks.co.uk/domestic-locksmith-tools/hand-picks-picking-tools/tradelocks-13-piece-pick-set.html and got a couple of budget locks (rim + euro cylinders).
I'd like to hear anything that Ex-Newbies know now, that they wish they'd known when they started out.

Many thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Jimmy.

[cjames73]

Main thing I wish i'd known sooner was how light to tension the wrench. It is literally a feather touch, barely anything at all.
And try and relax so you can get into the zone. what you want to feel from the pick is the minutest movement as you set the pins.
If you cant open the lock don't get frustrated, just put it down for 5 mins and start again.
And dont try picking anything beyond your skill level, those will come in time

[jimmystoba]

Thanks for the swift response. I'll be sure to take on all your advice. Just as soon as my picks arrive, been almost a week now! They're only coming 30miles. I should've just drove over there and picked them up.

Jimmy.

[Achyfellow]

Main thing I wish i'd known sooner was how light to tension the wrench. It is literally a feather touch, barely anything at all.

Same. When I started looking for stuff about lockpicking I heard the "About the force you use to press a key in your keyboard" a million times. I was using a model M back then and I liked to punch the keys down as hard as I can when I typed (I still do!), so that didn't really help.

[Erdnaseuk]

Mark the positions of the pin distance on your pick. Helped me alot in the beggining.
I would say progressive pin stacks but I assume everyone learns that way

[mcsteve]

Like everyone else is saying; tension. It's easy to apply too much tension without realizing it, especially when holding a lock in your hand and focusing on manipulating a pick. That also brings me to my second piece of advice:

Find a way to mount your practice locks to something rigid. Either make yourself a practice board with your locks mounted in it that can stand up on a desk, or invest in a small vice to hold them. I generally pick locks that I'm holding in my hand, and it seems much trickier than it has to be. It's harder to control your tension, and the feedback from the pins is somewhat dampened compared to a solidly mounted lock.

[KarkarnRed]

Yeah for me it was the tension things, I watched a video that said about an ounce of pressure was required but I had absolutely no idea what that meant. After alot of trial and error I got the amount of tension I put on the wrench about right.

[Erdnaseuk]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention dont practice in your hand!
At first when I was awaiting my vice I used an old wooden box - Put the lock inbetween the lid and front of the box and tighten the box with some string. A bit makeshift but defo helped me.

I didnt have trouble with the tension wrench pressure - if anything it was too light. But I think its a good idead to use a cylinder with one pin stack and get used to the pressure needed to turn it.

[FreyGrimrod]

Another vote for tension being my largest newbie mistake. You get so much feedback from the tension wrench itself not just the pick. Also something I learned much faster... the importance of a good tension wrench sized for the lock (this sizing issue led me to top of key way tension much faster than perhaps a suggested progression).

[billdeserthills]

I really hate picking open car locks, here in the states most vehicles use a serrated double sided wafer lock and the serrations
are just too much for my patience. I much prefer operating the bellcrank with a car-opening tool & most of my car opening tools come from tech-train, I believe Lockmasters sells them now, I bought most of my tools years ago.