Tools Needed?

[art1ll3ry]

Hi all;

I've recently decided to get into lock picking. I ordered a practice lock that is comes with 100 different pins some of which are spool pins and is designed to be easily re-pinned. This way I can set how many pins there are, change it up, and add spools as my abilities increase. It also came with a small set of picks to start me off with. I also took a couple pieces of wood and made a mount for me to put a two sided deadbolt onto. That way I can practice with left and right turning cylinders. Unfortunately the lock that I picked up had poorly drilled threads and wouldn't connect properly so I'll have to get a new one. The idea here is that I am hoping the pins can be interchanged (if I'm lucky) and that I can practice on a mounted lock the same way that I would if it were an actual door using the pins I get from the practice lock.

The application is where I need help. Since I need to buy a new lock anyway, I decided to go ahead and take out one of the cylinders on the deadbolt I got. It came out easy enough, but I did not know that I needed a tool to get them back in. Using a piece of wood and an index card I managed to make it work and get it back together, but I feel that if I had the proper tool that it would be an easier process. I've discovered that the tool that I need is called a plug follower and it seems that there is a different type for each manufacturer; or maybe just most.

Now on the first site recommended by this site - lockpickingshop.com - there are a bunch of different ones to choose from. Some seem size specific, some seem manufacturer specific. What am I going to need? I would assume to begin with I should get whatever works for the deadbolt I buy, but is there a one size fits most option? Also, am I going to need a micrometer? While I like having the tool I need when I need it, I don't really like to waste money on something that will just collect dust for the majority of its life.

So, all that said; any direction here would be appreciated. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska so anything I need will have to be either ordered online or something that I can make myself. Since I'm so new at this that I don't really know what I need, making it myself doesn't seem like the best idea. If you guys can just let me know what I might need and point me in the right direction it would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance

[cheerIO]

For a beginner re-pinning locks, these are the tools I use and recommend:

paper and pencil: to write stuff down and keep track of cuts, etc;

calipers: i use a set of nice digital calipers

tweezers: there are specialized "pinning tweezers" that have special shaped ends that go around the pins. I do not use those. They are expensive and it seems to me that they would limit the angle that you could grip the pin. But I've never tried them. What you want is a nice pair of really stiff tweezers. Skinny is best so they can get into small cylinders, and non-magnetic so they don't get springs stuck to them everytime you drop them in the bible.

pinning tray: Take an index card, fold it into an accordian shape, and write the pin numbers in the valleys.

plug follower: I use one commercial plug follower regularly because I got it for free. It fits most locks like kwikset, schlage, etc;. It is nice and convenient to use. But if I were beginning again and didn't have one, would I buy one? No. It's just a plastic rod with a notch cut out of one end. You can find different size plug followers all around you once you start looking for them. Pipe, tubing, hose, markers, pen bodies, dowels, roll pins, batteries. Not to mention making them on a lathe is a piece of cake. If you are in AK, I'm sure you know someone that would turn you a piece of a certain diameter. I would ask for delrin or nylon and buy them a beer. Anything with a weird tailpiece can be overcome with a thin metal shim used with the follower. If you used a piece of wood and a card already, you know how to do this.

If I were rich, or if I worked at a job where I could request tools, heck yeah, I would get a whole set of commercially available followers. But for right now and being a beginner. Just use what's around and put the money into something else that is less easy to make yourself, like some quality picks.

[YouLuckyFox]

+1 on everything, CheerIO. Here's some of my own observations on the subject.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=57276&hilit=plug+follower
Here's a good discussion on Plug Followers, really you can just buy tubing or use a 1/2" glue stick. I would save your money on something that is more demanding of quality than a plug follower; other than master followers, the only essential quality of a plug follower is that it be the common diameter of most lock plugs.

On calipers, some prefer the dial calipers and some prefer digital. The advantage of dial calipers is that you can visually see the needle on the dial going from tick mark to tick mark, so you kind of get a bit of a cheater on measuring an extra 0.0005" or whatever (in other words, the needle is between 0.0001" and 0.0002," but closer to the 0.0002" so you put down 0.00018 or maybe you put 0.00015" if the needle is right in the center. Though good digital calipers will have a "5" digit that displays to indicate .00005" which serves almost the same purpose. Here's a picture of the little "5" http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_12598.jpg
Just my two cents, as I've noticed machinists tend to favor one or the other. Of course, it is not common to even need to tend after that level of accuracy.

If you want to load a lock with pins, I agree that you'll want tweezers. I noticed Farmer Freak keeps his tweezers in his plug follower like a sheath, so I do that to hope to harness his power by emulating him. When I don't have tweezers, I just use needle nosed pliers and they serve the same purpose.

On pinning trays, I have never bought one until recently and I've been lockpicking for years. I bought one from GGPaintBaller and insisted on paying for shipping and materials for having it 3D printed, and it was still under $10. I'd recommend it, for certain, but an accordion-folded piece of anything will do just fine.

A tension-wrench that is top-of-the-keyway specific also did wonders in helping me move forward with lockpicking. Welcome to the site, Art1ll3ry!

[art1ll3ry]

Thanks for the direction, it is much appreciated. It's always good to find out when something is or isn't worth the money to purchase.