Let me start off with saying that I know I post too much but i was just too curious on this one.
A key extractor is used for removing broken keys, that i know. However, it has a little triangular head. This is almost exactly what a half diamond pick looks like. So would there be any problem using a key extractor in lieu of a half-diamond pick? Do you guys think this would work?
Also, let me take advantage of this opportunity to ease my curiosity. How is it that a key piece could get broken, and stuck in a lock? I think it would be really hard to break a key with your bare hands ... Bumping a lock is the only situation where i could see this possible
Thanks PK
"Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it" - Winston Churchhill
Let me start off with saying that I know I post too much but i was just too curious on this one.
A key extractor is used for removing broken keys, that i know. However, it has a little triangular head. This is almost exactly what a half diamond pick looks like. So would there be any problem using a key extractor in lieu of a half-diamond pick? Do you guys think this would work?
Also, let me take advantage of this opportunity to ease my curiosity. How is it that a key piece could get broken, and stuck in a lock? I think it would be really hard to break a key with your bare hands ... Bumping a lock is the only situation where i could see this possible
Thanks PK
Keys wear over time and eventually develop cracks. If the first cut next to the bow is really deep, it will weaken the key and make it more likely to break.
Anything small enough to fit in a keyway, and stong enough to lift the pin stacks can be made to work to when picking locks. I wouldn't recommend it, but if it was the only pick I had, I'd give it a try. I usually like to pick from back to front, and the ledge on a key extractor would make it more difficult to pull the lockpick out of the lock.
parkourer wrote:Thanks a lot!! . Has your key ever been broken? Did you ever have to use one?
Some of my drivers have broken their keys off in our padlocks. I'm assuming it's from the locks falling on the ground with the key in it.
They do work, but I've had issues getting it over the first hump to get a hold of the key. This was with the standard kind of extractor. I have a Peterson extractor that has a few jagged teeth which I haven't gotten to try yet. I've found it easier to pop the cylinder out of the lock and push the broken key out from the back side. That options isn't always possible, but I haven't had many opportunities to remove broken keys.
But there's the risk that it gets stuck inside the lock and you can't remove it. If you look at it, it kinda looks like a fishing hook, so there's a chance it gets stuck on a pin...
If it works for ya, go with it, but be careful!
Go ahead, keep plugging away, picking on me! You will end up on bypass or with rigor mortise. - GWiens2001
parkourer wrote:A key extractor is used for removing broken keys, that i know. However, it has a little triangular head. This is almost exactly what a half diamond pick looks like. So would there be any problem using a key extractor in lieu of a half-diamond pick? Do you guys think this would work?
It would work, but then again, one can use a paper clip as a makeshift pick when necessary (I have never done this). It would be hard to move back and forth through the lock, as it would catch on the pins.
It however can be used to open some padlocks very well using a non-picking technique.
The key extractor is not supposed to go in front of the key. The two kinds I have used either to up on top enough to hook one of the peaks and use that to pull out the key remnant or slide alongside the blade of the key and use friction to pull out the key remnant.
Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.