cant pick schlages to save the business

[victorylocksmith]

Let's put those tools to work.

the story was relating to an experience about half a year ago, ive improved since then. however, i still have great difficulty with schalges although now, dealing with kwiksets are rarely an issue anymore. the main issues i have are when the lock is absolutely in terrible condition or if they have high tension springs in addition to security pins.

[KPick]

Let's put those tools to work.

the story was relating to an experience about half a year ago, ive improved since then. however, i still have great difficulty with schalges although now, dealing with kwiksets are rarely an issue anymore. the main issues i have are when the lock is absolutely in terrible condition or if they have high tension springs in addition to security pins.

If you're running into any primus, or everest, I don't blame you. lol.

Good thing is that you know better now. Good job amigo.

[victorylocksmith]

Let's put those tools to work.

the story was relating to an experience about half a year ago, ive improved since then. however, i still have great difficulty with schalges although now, dealing with kwiksets are rarely an issue anymore. the main issues i have are when the lock is absolutely in terrible condition or if they have high tension springs in addition to security pins.

If you're running into any primus, or everest, I don't blame you. lol.

Good thing is that you know better now. Good job amigo.

Hey let's not let your opinion get too high of me yet. I need a lot of work and I'm not going to lie, I would rather climb up a whole story in hopes of a sliding glass door being unlocked than attempt picking any kind of schlage lock. One time I was doing an eviction on a property with security doors everywhere, they even had security bars on the windows, all the locks were locked. Lucky for me one of the windows was open. I stacked up some leftover junk they left behind, opened the window all the way and unbolted the security bars, then jumped in through the window.

If there is anything I've learned, jump in through a window usually works, and the most likely unlocked window is a bathroom window. Lastly, if I can stack junk to reach a window or opening and then use rope to climb the rest of the way, then I'm going to do it

[1mrchristopher]

Victory,

The one tip that my mentor has given me (Schlage is kicking my butt around the block too) is to spray any lock I'm about to pick that I don't know the condition of with a squirt or two of Houdini. If you haven't got Houdini, then AeroKroil or WD-40 work too, basically something to get the pins moving freely so that you can really feel when a pin sets, rather than how many times it catches due to dirt and corrosion as it travels up and down. That said, I tried Houdini once, and decided it was well worth it's cost. As with any product though, your mileage may vary. The other tip he gave me, which was passed down to him by an old lockie from a few towns south of here, was to make custom tension wrenches for your common keyways out of allen wrenches. Basically grind or cut the short end of the L down until it protrudes 3/8" or less and then grind it flat just until it slips snugly into the base of the keyway. At that point you have a tension wrench that allows you to maneuver the cylinder in either direction as you pick with complete control. If you set a pin and you think you're out of order, you can gently release just the one pin, rather than starting over. My mentor's go-to tension wrench for fully 80% of his picking, he made from a square bend screw hook when he got started 12 years ago. It looked silly to me, until he knelt down at a lockout and had the door open in 15 seconds. Since then I've been working on an allen wrench tension tool for myself, specifically for Schlage. Like you Kwikset poses no real difficulty and older Weiser brings out a big smile every time, but I have to get to the point where Schlage just doesn't phase me.

[billdeserthills]

If you use a manual pickgun you just need more practice, took me years of practice to be as successful at picking the schlages I do & I still prolly drill 1-2 out of every ten I try to open. There are bunches of tools you can buy also which I have done. I got an A-1 schlage puller, but that only works on f series knobs, I bought a Singer-Tech, it pulls lever handles off by force, hpc makes a cheaper version. Lots of times, instead of being successful at picking the schlage deadbolt on a door I will pull off the knob cylinder and make a key to it, which winds up fitting the deadbolt.Take into consideration all your options, many times there is a way around the thing you are having trouble with.

[shaofutzer]

I treat most Schlages like Kwiksets. I can get into probably 75% of regular Schlages in under two minutes using a triple or double mountain rake. The ones that will not rake open are harder to pick than I would like to admit. The pin spring tension on them makes them difficult for me to SPP using the regular method, so when I encounter one of these, I usually start by reverse picking before finishing them off SPP. I've never tried a Primus. They scare me.

[billdeserthills]

There is only one way to get better at picking anything and that requires practice
If you use a pick gun make sure the pick needle is securely fastened in the gun--Before you start picking

[daniel22747]

I own a couple schalage deadbolts and both have all spool pins for their driver pins. They are best single pin picked with top of the key way tension.

They can be tricky at first but I can now single pin pick these guys with bobby pins in less than a minute!

Just takes some practice and they give really good feed back, which aids in picking.

[GWiens2001]

Progressive pinning with a practice lock such as MrWizard's seven pin practice lock (which uses a Schlage C keyway) is a great way to learn to pick these locks.

Also - have at least one normal or serrated driver pin, as that helps to prevent the key having difficulties being inserted or withdrawn. (fgarci... stop that!)

Best of luck,

Gordon

[MolonLabe]

Just one thing I've noticed in the field. I am rarely able to pick a Schlage in a clockwise direction. However, I have an extremely easy time picking them counterclockwise and either pulling the knob/lever or using a plug spinner to flip it over clockwise.

Counterclockwise is as easy for me as a Kwikset and usually only takes a few seconds or a couple of minutes, tops.

I think it has to do with the shape of the keyway...it just works better for me in the opposite direction.

[billdeserthills]

I have noticed picking schlage is easier when I grind a bit off my HPC TR-4 tension wrench & then use top of keyway tension. Locks that never get used on the back doors are harder to pick

[daniel22747]

I think it has to do with the shape of the keyway...it just works better for me in the opposite direction.

Schlages do have an odd keyway. They kind of make you pick the pins at an angle. This can be odd if you are used to things like a quick set lock.

[frostypicker]

Just to add in my experience here...we do a lot of drilling at my work, since we're welder/fabricators and everything we do is custom.

I'm not a fan of drilling, as I seem to have crazy stuff happen to me wayy more often than it should. That said, drilling, especially with a hand drill, is a bit of an art in and of itself. A lot of it is feel, and I don't think I can accurately describe it in text; but like what has been said before, sometimes using more pressure on the drill will cause the bit to moreso spin in place than to actually bite and start making real headway. Getting the hang of the right amount of pressure you need to use takes practice.
Secondly, buy GOOD quality drill bits out of McMaster-Carr or Grainger, get yourself one of their gigantic, War and Peace-sized catalogs. They have literally everything you could ever need. Don't buy cheap China junk, because when it comes to blue collar trades, being penny smart and dollar stupid will cost you a lot more than it will save. You'll also definitely want to have at least one corded drill (I like Makita myself) because then you won't have to worry about batteries and since I'm assuming you do a lot of work in and around houses, you probably won't have too much trouble finding a wall outlet, especially if you buy yourself a 50ft extension cord or two.
Third, cutting lubricant really, really makes a difference. The brand we always use at work is called Tap Magic, and it really does work like magic. However, it's pricey, at $100 for roughly a gallon. We just put it into a small oil-squirt can and use it sparingly.

Some other things to note: When drilling make sure that the drill stays straight and aligned. Probably dumb advice but I've seen way too many people who seem to have trouble with this. It takes a lot of practice. Also, just like grinding with an angle grinder, don't try to rely on your arm strength alone. If you need some leverage to get a little extra umph, put your body weight into it by propping the back of the drill against your waist or stomach and leaning into it. Ideally this shouldn't be necessary, but I do it all the time. It's much less fatiguing.
Lastly, if you DO end up buying high-quality carbide drill bits and don't want to replace them every time they get dull, you're going to need something to sharpen your drill bits and the know-how to do it. If drilling is an art, it would be like sketching an apple and sharpening drill bits would be like painting the Mona Lisa. To do it free hand is something that's taken me over a year to get good at, although they do make tools to help with this. As far as what you'll sharpen them with, we use a bench grinder, but the wheel inside of it faces perpendicular to you instead of head on like with a normal bench grinder, and you use the side of it. No idea what it's called or what type it is, but if you google something like "drill bit grinder" or "drill sharpening grinder" you'll probably be able to find one. Ours is like a hundred years old so any pictures I provide may or may not be of much help, but I'll see about taking some pictures of it and posting later on today.


Really sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I figured I could at least give some tips on the drilling aspect in general. I wish I could give you more lock-related advice, or at least lock drilling advice, but I don't have enough experience in those areas.

Good luck.

[billdeserthills]

Thing about Grainger and likely the other catalog you mentioned is their prices are Tooo High. For example, if you check ENCO (800) use-enco
you will see a gallon of tap magic costs from $43 to $60. Same is true of drill bits and all the other tooling you need. As You said you need to be
aware of the pressure put upon the drill, especially if you aren't using a plug-in drill. My 18 volt drill sometimes feels like a childs toy, compared
to when I use a real, plug-in drill

[swampy3524]

On schlage locks I tend to use top of keyway tension to give myself the most room for the pick. Try and find the security pins and lightly back tension off raise the pin and move on. Some can be tricky. it does not look very impressive but If I can't pick it I will bump it. A clear practice lock that is rekeyable may be a big help to you so you can see what is happening on tough key cuts sometimes the pick handle is raising a pin you don't want raised. Hope this is helpfull