cant pick schlages to save the business

[victorylocksmith]

as a locksmith, there is nothing more embarrassing than going to a lockout and being unable to pick open a lock. ive been there quite a few times, and usually after a good 20-30 minutes in, i just bust out the drill, drill out the pins, make a huge mess, and finally crank it open with a screwdriver.

one time, i had to rekey a property for wells fargo, for the life of me i couldnt pick open the crappiest looking kwikset deadbolt and knobs on a security door. so i bust out my rubber duckies and use the black and decker 20v drill i got at wall mart and drill the hell out of the locks. i eventually get the first lock done with but about halfway through the second lock, my battery dies. i then bust out the other rubber ducky, 12v hitachi drill and go through 2 batteries and still dont get the second lock open. so as a result i decide to go home about 20 minutes away and recharge the batteries.

so i go home, set the batteries on the charger, and go to lunch. then i come back, get the batteries and go back to the property, which happens to also be in the ghetto. all the meanwhile, im trying not to crap my pants because, im worried some gangbanger is going to come up on me and get all suspicious. i go back and bust out the 20v black and decker drill and 5 minutes into drilling, the batter dies. i go back and the look at the manual, it says that the battery takes 6-8 hours to fully charge! at this point, im about to just give up. so then i bust out the toy 12v hitachi and somehow get the second lock open. boom, the security door goes open!

guess what?! past the security door is another door with 2 locks that just happen to ALSO BE LOCKED. Guess again? I can't pick either of them open... and i only have one charged battery left on a 12v toy drill. so i go knocking on doors, lucky for me there is a mexican worker next door and he lets me use the power outlet at the place to charge my drill for an hour. somehow, i am just barely able to have enough power to bust in the other two locks. the whole entire process probably took about 6 hours.

anyways, this is just one of the sadly depressing TRUE stories, that i face as a very entry level technician. i believe, this actually happened late last year. since then, i have improved my lockpicking skills but, i am still faced with the ever expanding dread of being called up again and unable to get locks open. it plagues me day and night! since then, i have been proactive and purchased a legit used 18v dewalt tool set off craigslist and a few extra 18v batteries. i will never run out of batteries EVER AGAIN.

currently the big issue is with security pins. i am aware of the principles of how to pick open spool pins and have actually picked a few locks using the feather tension and pulsing of pressure. however, i am unable to do it consistently. i also understand, in order to up my lockpick game, it will take a LONG TIME. in the meanwhile as i work on SPP skills, i have attempted to take other steps in order to compensate for my lack of SPP skill. the first was attempting to snap open schlages, this did not work because, i just cant get a feel for how much tension to put with the tension wrench and with the tight gap of the pins i cant get a good handle on the snap gun. my next attempt was using a bump key. i have been able to bump open most kwiksets with ease and have a code cutter. i attempted the same strategy with schlages but, have been unable to replicate the same success. i believe it is due to the security pins and the springs are stronger. so i went and bought a bump hammer, it helped a bit with the kwikset locks but i am still unable to bump open schlages. the other options, i have looked into pursuing are making foil keys and possibly looking into getting a circular tension wrench so that i can see exactly how much tension i am using and so that i can pick more easily without the normal tension wrench getting in the way. lastly, i tried impressioning but, that ended in a huge failure because i was unable to see the markings and do not have ultra thin files.

if anyone has any advice on which path would be the best to take, i am all ears. i recently purchased a dremel but, do not trust the steadiness of my hands or my eyes to make a foil key from it. if i go full into the foil key route, i will cut the depths with a very thin file that i will purchase at the store. i would like to get the bump keys working but, i just dont understand what i am doing wrong, i can get kwikset locks open with one hit of the hammer but can't get schlages open after roughly 50 whacks. i am trying this with both the legacy edition where i have filed the tip of the key, the teeth, and the shoulder back, as well as just the normal version cut on a code cutter with no alterations. impressioning seems like a far cry considering my current skills are far from advanced so i dont even really consider it an option at this point. the other more reasonable option would be to pony up the $$$ and buy a circular tension wrench. pay once and cry one i suppose would be the case here. it certainly could help my SPP game.

[Squelchtone]

This is just my observation, but it sounds like you may have jumped into being a locksmith before actually learning how to be a locksmith. I see a lot of handy men in my area who can put in a new sink or clean our your garage clutter, and mow the lawn, who while the economy is bad, think they are also locksmiths because they own a tool box and a cordless drill. That can lead to trouble. Are you using a 1/8 inch drill bit to drill the Schlage shearline? or are you blowing through the entire plug with a 1/2 inch bit? I'm sure the 'smiths here can give you some great basic advice on the bare minimum knowledge you have acquire before you actually go to a house call.

I think some basic training would go a long way and keep you from becoming a Dewalt Cowboy. We see these reports on TV of phony locksmiths coming to lockouts in their personal car with a trunk full of tools in the back of their 1992 Buick and they're drilling simple Kwiksets, and charging $200 bucks to do it. Work hard to not let your self get pulled down into that group of people.

Only quality work will save your business.. get a reputation for not being able to pick or drill a lock without looking like amateur hour, and customers will stop calling, that's just how it is. At least you notice that you currently have limits and want to learn to make it better, and that's a good thing.

just my 2 cents,
Squelchtone

[cuttinedge1]

For security pins just try lightening the tension a bit but just push on the pin hard with your pick. This will reduce the life of yor pick but it will help you get started.

[victorylocksmith]

This is just my observation, but it sounds like you may have jumped into being a locksmith before actually learning how to be a locksmith. I see a lot of handy men in my area who can put in a new sink or clean our your garage clutter, and mow the lawn, who while the economy is bad, think they are also locksmiths because they own a tool box and a cordless drill. That can lead to trouble. Are you using a 1/8 inch drill bit to drill the Schlage shearline? or are you blowing through the entire plug with a 1/2 inch bit? I'm sure the 'smiths here can give you some great basic advice on the bare minimum knowledge you have acquire before you actually go to a house call.

I think some basic training would go a long way and keep you from becoming a Dewalt Cowboy. We see these reports on TV of phony locksmiths coming to lockouts in their personal car with a trunk full of tools in the back of their 1992 Buick and they're drilling simple Kwiksets, and charging $200 bucks to do it. Work hard to not let your self get pulled down into that group of people.

Only quality work will save your business.. get a reputation for not being able to pick or drill a lock without looking like amateur hour, and customers will stop calling, that's just how it is. At least you notice that you currently have limits and want to learn to make it better, and that's a good thing.

just my 2 cents,
Squelchtone

currently i use a 1/8 but back when this occured, all my 1/8 drill bits broke and i was forced to bust out nothing else but the 1/2 bit. it was a terrible time. i am aware of the improvements that i must make and will keep working hard to improve. there is nothing i hate more than drilling locks! thanks again sir, i will take what you have said into account and keep improving.

[Squelchtone]

This is just my observation, but it sounds like you may have jumped into being a locksmith before actually learning how to be a locksmith. I see a lot of handy men in my area who can put in a new sink or clean our your garage clutter, and mow the lawn, who while the economy is bad, think they are also locksmiths because they own a tool box and a cordless drill. That can lead to trouble. Are you using a 1/8 inch drill bit to drill the Schlage shearline? or are you blowing through the entire plug with a 1/2 inch bit? I'm sure the 'smiths here can give you some great basic advice on the bare minimum knowledge you have acquire before you actually go to a house call.

I think some basic training would go a long way and keep you from becoming a Dewalt Cowboy. We see these reports on TV of phony locksmiths coming to lockouts in their personal car with a trunk full of tools in the back of their 1992 Buick and they're drilling simple Kwiksets, and charging $200 bucks to do it. Work hard to not let your self get pulled down into that group of people.

Only quality work will save your business.. get a reputation for not being able to pick or drill a lock without looking like amateur hour, and customers will stop calling, that's just how it is. At least you notice that you currently have limits and want to learn to make it better, and that's a good thing.

just my 2 cents,
Squelchtone

currently i use a 1/8 but back when this occured, all my 1/8 drill bits broke and i was forced to bust out nothing else but the 1/2 bit. it was a terrible time. i am aware of the improvements that i must make and will keep working hard to improve. there is nothing i hate more than drilling locks! thanks again sir, i will take what you have said into account and keep improving.

Good man! first step to success is a good attitude!

[victorylocksmith]

Practiced bumping some ancient schlages, was incredibly unsuccessful. At this point there isn't a kwikset I can't bump open or pick. I will now attempt to go about what cuttingedge suggested and just keep working at getting the schlages open the only legit way there is, via manual picking. Might as well look into getting that circular tension wrench.

[2octops]

Invest in better drill bits and learn to use them.

Let the bit do the cutting. You should never have to put a lot of pressure on a bit for it to cut. If you do it needs to be sharpened or replaced. A few drops of oil while cutting will reduce the heat on the bit and help it to cut. I watched a guy shove a cheap 5/64" Dewalt bit through a piece of 1" thick steel plate with no issues.

I like a 9/64 or 5/32 instead of a 1/8 for drilling cylinders and buy them from supply houses like Grainger or McMaster Carr 100 at a time. They are cheap.

Are you having problems on all SC1 cylinders or specifically original Schlage cylinders and if so which ones? I hate the F-Series with the springy cap. I might have been lucky enough to pick 1 of those since they came out. Normally I just blow the spring cap off those and knock the pins out of the cylinder.

There are some very talented lock pickers here (much more talented than most locksmiths I know). There is a lot of valuable info on this site for learning to pick single pin style as well as dealing with spool and mushroom pins.

[critmass235]

before buying more, maybe showing a video of how you normally try to pick so others can see where you need help at the most.(im not a locksmith ....yet). i find top of key for the t-tool to work best for me if im messing with my schlages( i was given alot of schlage from a construction worker, when he was rebuild some office they just trashed them so he gave to me)
also i had to learn how to turn the hook or half diamond through the angle, and move the pick in the angle to get to the pins (1 at a time) i do like the circle alot but its whole different feel (true torque vs tension). its something that great for some but for me it was relearning how to tension( or torque really). it gives me more feedback but the smaller diameter makes it easy to over do it( dropping by over rotating) also try charting notes to find the setting order(i do it by drop order)

[billdeserthills]

I actually have the same trouble you have with the newer schlage deadbolts, I can't pick every one I come to & sometimes I need to get that dewalt drill out myself. On doors with a keyed F Series knob I use my A-1 puller (or a copy I made) to remove the knob cylinder & then I decode it, make a key & that key often fits the deadbolt as well. I like to have other choices to opening & it sounds like you do too. I even bought a set of bump keys, but I haven't had any luck (heh heh) yet with them. I suppose I need to practice. As far as picking skills go, I use a mechanical pick gun & when the pick needle gets loose it will not work, so you may need to check it from time to time. In the long ago I would, as you described, sit there attempting to pick open the same lock for 20-30 minutes, but no more. Now if the lock I'm picking hasn't opened in 1-2 minutes it's time to try something else, like tightening the pick gun blade, finding another lock to try or even another route inside.
On the bank job you had trouble with, had you drilled the deadbolt mounting screws off & made a key, it may have fit the other locks and that would have saved all that destruction. Far as destroying stuff goes, well I have had my share of bad days as well.

[jtucek]

A lot of other people have said it, but I'll pile on: improve your finesse game. Try the progressive Kaba Ilco set from Toool or the Schlage set from The Core Group; if Schlages specifically are giving you trouble the Core Group set might be better, but Toool is a good group to support.

As for destructive entry...

Let the bit do the cutting. You should never have to put a lot of pressure on a bit for it to cut. If you do it needs to be sharpened or replaced. A few drops of oil while cutting will reduce the heat on the bit and help it to cut. I watched a guy shove a cheap 5/64" Dewalt bit through a piece of 1" thick steel plate with no issues.

I like a 9/64 or 5/32 instead of a 1/8 for drilling cylinders and buy them from supply houses like Grainger or McMaster Carr 100 at a time. They are cheap.

2octops has it on the head; drills and batteries are expensive, bits are cheap, and smaller bits are better. Technique also helps a lot here too. My 2 cents is to get a DeWALT or Makita *corded* drill on top of the battery-powered drills you have. The portable battery-powered tools are convenient; with my corded Dewalt I've drilled holes with the drill running backwards. I was tired, it wasn't proper metal, and did wonder why it was taking so long, but it did go through eventually (%*$%-ed the drill bit up, though). Line power is *way* better than any battery.

(Edit) - To be fair, my dewalt is an older one, and I've heard bad things about the quality as of late, but that may just be "things were better back in the day". But any brand's corded drill will likely kick the pants off of the same brand's battery one.

[billdeserthills]

I was reading your original post again & the circular tension wrench I bought almost 25 years ago just sits in my toolbox. Thing is every lock is a little bit different and so is the tension required to pick them. I am sure that some locks do need to be drilled open and for the rest you need more practice with your picking tools. Impressioning is well worth the practice and back when my Dad would get pissed off if I drilled yet another lock I did impression a key instead of having him all mad at me. It isn't hard to impression if you prepare your blank correctly and thin down the brass so it will be more easily marked. Using a loupe or magnifying glass may also be a big help. I find buying old padlocks and impressioning keys is a big help as far as practicing my impressioning skills, even on wafer or warded padlocks, learning to read the marks is not difficult but it can be infuriating, so I only bother when I am in a decent mood for it.

[KPick]

Wow. VictoriaLocksmith, I'm surprised you haven't had trouble from customers. LoL. Learning lock picking is a CRUCIAL key to being a locksmith. It's like me saying I know landscaping and all I do is cut lawns and trim trees. . . You know? Locksmithing is a skill that no machine can replicate.

Buy a lock pick set. Southord, Peterson, HPC Lock Picks, etc. . .

[billdeserthills]

I saw the "deal" from TOOOL and it doesn't seem like a very good deal to me. I had to learn to impression with a very small vise-grips as I would get easily frustrated at first and I used to twist the heads off the keys. In order to compensate I began with a #4 long nose vise grips & over the years I have moved up to a #6 long nose. That is worth about $12-$15, now you need a #4 cut round file, get one in the Tool Special for $12 or get one at your distributor for double. Now I recommend you also get a #4 flat file, again, get one on sale from the Tool Special for $7. The last thing you need is a jewelers loupe, or a magnifying glass & at least 5 power tho I use a 10X. You can start out cheap from Harbor Freight or get a good one & you will still have only spent about $40. The $60 I saved you put towards blanks, you can't impression anything without a keyblank.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm in a rural area so there are lots of travel trailers and horse trailers to impression keys for. Trimark has been going nutty lately with their key selection so there are about 20 different Trimark keys I need to stock. Also Bauer is another popular key lock used on horse trailers and so is the FIC3. Cam locks are among the easiest locks to impression so are a good place to begin. Start by putting your keyblank all the way into the lock you wanna impression, then fasten your vise-grips within 1/8" of the lock face. Now prepare your key blank, you want to make the top of the key thinner than the wafers, so you can get a good mark on it. Using your flat file make a razor edge on top of the key, but don't take away all of the top, you might have some 0 cuts in your lock that will need it. I'm sure everyone is familiar with binding the pins in a lock you wish to impression and raising and lowering the key, both to the left & the right and then withdrawing the key for a look at the marks. It is very important to always keep your round file very level as you make cuts onto the blank, that way the marks you do get will remain more consistant. Practice is very necessary but I promise the feeling you'll get when that key is done & finally turns is Great.

[billdeserthills]

Wow. VictoriaLocksmith, I'm surprised you haven't had trouble from customers. LoL. Learning lock picking is a CRUCIAL key to being a locksmith. It's like me saying I know landscaping and all I do is cut lawns and trim trees. . . You know? Locksmithing is a skill that no machine can replicate.

Buy a lock pick set. Southord, Peterson, HPC Lock Picks, etc. . .

I'm pretty sure he has a pick set, the next thing ya need is practice.
And don't be too hard on yourself when the occaisonal stubborn lock needs a drill

[KPick]

Let's put those tools to work.